{"id":32942,"date":"2023-01-29T12:37:40","date_gmt":"2023-01-29T07:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=32942"},"modified":"2025-04-19T17:20:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T11:50:30","slug":"mughal-gardens-renamed-as-amrit-udyan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/mughal-gardens-renamed-as-amrit-udyan\/","title":{"rendered":"Mughal Gardens renamed as Amrit Udyan"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the history of Mughal Gardens in India?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How did the Rashtrapati Bhavan get Mughal Gardens?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Evolution of Mughal Garden at Rshtrapati Bhavan<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The iconic Mughal Gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President\u2019s House) in Delhi have been renamed as Amrit Udyan.<\/li>\n<li>The cluster of about 15 gardens will collectively be known as Amrit Udyan.\n<ul>\n<li>Individual gardens within the sprawling Presidential Estate \u2014 Herbal Garden, Musical Garden and Spiritual Garden \u2014 will retain their names.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the history of Mughal Gardens in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Mughals were known to appreciate gardens. In <i>Babur Nama<\/i>, Babur says that his favourite kind of garden is the Persian <strong>Charbagh style<\/strong> (literally, four gardens).<\/li>\n<li>Defined by its rectilinear layouts, d\u00a0ivided in four equal sections, these gardens can be found across lands previously ruled by the Mughals.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>From the gardens surrounding Humanyun\u2019s Tomb in Delhi to the Nishat Bagh in Srinagar, all are built in this style \u2013 giving them the moniker of Mughal Gardens.<\/li>\n<li>A defining feature of these gardens is the use of waterways, often to demarcate the various \u00a0quadrants of the garden.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>These were not only crucial to maintain the flora of the garden, they also were an important part of its aesthetic.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Fountains were often built, symbolising the cycle of life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>How did the Rashtrapati Bhavan get Mughal Gardens?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In 1911, the British decided to shift the Indian capital from Calcutta to Delhi.<\/li>\n<li>About 4,000 acres of land was acquired to construct the Viceroy\u2019s House with <strong>Sir Edwin Lutyens<\/strong> being given the task of designing the building on Raisina Hill.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>Lutyens\u2019 designs combined elements of classical European architecture with Indian styles, producing a unique aesthetic that defines Lutyens\u2019 Delhi till date.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Crucial in the design of the Viceroy\u2019s House was a large garden in its rear. The initial plans involved creating a garden with traditional British architecture.<\/li>\n<li>However, the wife of the then Viceroy wanted something in the Mughal style and urged the planners to create a garden in that style.\n<ul>\n<li>It is believed that she was inspired by the book <i><strong>Gardens of the Great Mughals<\/strong><\/i> (1913) by Constance Villiers-Stuart as well as her visits to Mughal gardens in Lahore and Srinagar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Evolution of Mughal Garden at Rshtrapati Bhavan<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The gardens have evolved over time. While roses remain the star attraction, residents of the Rashtrapati Bhavan have all added their own personal touch to the garden.<\/li>\n<li>E.g., C Rajagopalachari, the last Governor General of India, made a political statement when during a period of food shortage in the country, he himself ploughed the lands and dedicated a section of the garden to foodgrains.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Today, the <strong>Nutrition Garden<\/strong>, popularly known as <i>Dalikhana<\/i>, stands in that spot, organically cultivating a variety of vegetables for consumption at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.<\/li>\n<li>President R Venkatraman added a cactus garden and APJ Abdul Kalam added many theme based gardens: from the musical garden to the spiritual garden.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1)<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Who was the last Mughal emperor?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>The last Mughal emperor was Bahadur Shah II, also known as Zafar. He died in a British prison in Burma in 1862.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0<strong>Q2)\u00a0What was built by Edwin Lutyens?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>English architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (March 29, 1869 &#8211; January 1, 1944) has been credited with shaping the pre-independence British capital of New Delhi, with iconic buildings such as the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Viceroy&#8217;s House, Lutyens&#8217; Bungalow Zone, Baroda House, Bikaner House, Hyderabad House, and Patiala House.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/rashtrapati-bhavans-mughal-gardens-renamed-a-brief-history-8409859\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Rashtrapati Bhavan\u2019s Mughal Gardens renamed: a brief history<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesnownews.com\/india\/mughal-gardens-is-now-amrit-udyan-brief-history-of-rashtrapati-bhavans-soul-in-5-points-article-97411614\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Times Now<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/mughal-gardens-will-now-be-renamed-as-amrit-udyan\/article66443593.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>The Hindu<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India has renamed Rashtrapati Bhavan\u2019s Mughal Gardens and it will be called Amrit Udyan from now on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":32943,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}