Mughal Gardens

Erica jumps for joy in front of Rashtrapati Bhavan

Rashtrapati Bhavan is the Presidential Residence of India.  According to Wikipedia, it is the largest residence of any head of state in the world.  It was originally built as the home of the British Viceroy when Delhi became the capital of India in the early 1900s.  The 330-acre estate includes the 15-acre Mughal Gardens, which are open free to the public in February/March every year.

Erica at the Musical Garden

One of the first stops on the Mughal Garden tour was the Musical Garden.  I absolutely love musical fountains, so I was ecstatic!  The others in my group commented that it's the only fountain they've ever seen that danced to Bollywood music.  Unfortunately, the music stopped just as I was about to record a video.

Rashtrapati Bhavan from the Mughal Gardens

From there, we moved on to the Main Garden, which is designed in the Mughal style with water canals symmetrically dividing the garden sections.  From here, we also took lots of great photos of the Rashtrapati Bhavan building.

Erica by a Mughal canal in the Main Garden

The weather was absolutely beautiful for our visit.  We seemed to have finally emerged from the Delhi winter.  Yes, we actually have winter here, although many of you will scoff at winter lows in the 40s. More importantly, the main winter pollution season has also passed and the air quality was good, the skies were blue, and the sun was warm.

Circular Garden

The final stop on the tour was the Circular Garden.  This was a section where you could actually get close to the flowers without being blocked by ropes or long expanses of grass.  Everything was in full bloom so I felt immersed in color, with flowers on both sides of the walkway.  Thank you to India's President for allowing us into your garden each spring!