Rashtrapati Bhavan's Mughal Gardens renamed Amrit Udyan

The Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens on Saturday was renamed Amrit Udyan, news reports said. The step was taken on the occasion of the celebrations of 75 years of India's Independence, 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'. 'Amrit Udyan', earlier known as Mughal Gardens, will open for the public from January 31, 2023.

"On the occasion of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence as 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', the President of India has given a common name to the Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens as 'Amrit Udyan', Navika Gupta, Deputy Press Secretary to President told news agency ANI.

The Amrit Udyan is spread over a vast expanse of 15 acres and has been portrayed as the soul of the Presidential Palace. The Amrit Udyan draw its inspiration from the Mughal Gardens of Jammu and Kashmir, the gardens around the Taj Mahal and even miniature paintings of India and Persia, the website says.


The Amrit Udyan had up till now been opened for the public only during the annual festival, Udyan Utsav, held in the months of February-March but Mughal Gardens, which forms the third Circuit of Rashtrapati Bhavan tour, will now be open for the public from August till March.

"Sir Edwin Lutyens had finalized the designs of the Amrit Udyan as early as 1917, however, it was only during the year 1928-1929 that plantings were done. His collaborator for the gardens was Director of Horticulture, William Mustoe. Like the building of Rashtrapati Bhavan have two different styles of architecture, Indian and western, similarly, Sir Lutyens brought together two different horticulture traditions together for the gardens, the Mughal style and the English flower garden. Mughal canals, terraces and flowering shrubs are beautifully blended with European flowerbeds, lawns and private hedges," the website additionally states.