Lalbhagh Gardens is a well-liked destination for nature lovers. It covers an area of over 240 acres in the heart of Bangalore and accommodates 1854 plant species. Lalbhagh is close to the city centre and easily accessible by car, taxi, auto and metro.
The gardens are open daily from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm. Many people turn up in the mornings and evenings for jogging and walking. The area is huge and you will need many hours to see it all. It is advisable to wear walking shoes.
Hyder Ali, sultan of Mysore, commissioned the garden in 1760. His son, Tipu Sultan, later completed it. Lalbhagh has a huge floral clock, which is one of the most accurate of such clocks in the world. It has a glass house which hosts biannual flower shows, on Republic Day and Independence Day.
Glass House
Glass House of Lalbhagh Botanical Gardens commemorates the visit of Prince of Wales in 1889. Sir John Cameron was the Lalbhagh Superintendent at that time. The Glass House was designed on the lines of Crystal Palace in London and has an area of 17,000 sq. ft.
Formerly Glass House served the function of acclimatising different exotic plant species from other countries.
SausageTree
Lalbhagh has India’s biggest collection of tropical plants. It also houses trees from all over the world. One among them is the Sausage Tree. The sausage tree grows in sub-Saharan tropical Africa and as far south as South Africa. It is a tall tree with beautiful bell-shaped flowers and smooth grey bark. The flowers open only at night. Bats and hawk-moths pollinate them. The tree bears a fruit that grows up to 0.60 m long, weighs about 6.80 kg and resembles a sausage. It is used as an ornamental tree in the USA, parts of South-East Asia and Australia.
Going Round Botanical Gardens
When we visited the gardens, the sky was overcast with a hint of rain. But luckily the rains held back. We did a lot of walking. There are electric vehicles to ferry weary visitors. There is also a toy train which is popular with kids. MTR (Mavalli Tiffin Room), the ever- popular restaurant, is a 14 minute walk from Lalbhagh West Gate.
White Silk Cotton Tree
This White Silk Cotton Tree in Lalbhagh Botanical Gardens is about 200 years old. It has a buttressed trunk and grows to a height of 25 to 30 m. It blooms in spring and has huge orange scarlet flowers with five petals.
Pillows and beds make use of white silk cotton from the fruits. Wood of the tree is very light and often employed to make packing cases.
Getting There
Lalbhagh Gardens is 36.2 km (58 min) from Bangalore Kempegowda International airport, via Bellary Road. Lalbagh Botanical Garden is a metro station on the Green Line in Bangalore. The garden is a short walk of 210 m from the metro station, via Rashtriya Vidyalaya road. The busy Brigade Road is a drive of 3.1 km{11 min). Bangalore City Jn (SBC) is the nearest railway station, 4.58 km.