Nepal, officially the
Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia. It
is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the
Indo-Gangetic Plain, bordering Tibet of China to the north, and India in the
south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the
Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a
diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and
eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the
highest point on Earth. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious
and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language. Kathmandu is
the nation's capital and the largest city.
The Garden of Dreams also,
the Garden of Six Seasons, is a neo-classical garden in Kaiser Mahal Kathmandu,
Nepal, built in 1920. Designed by Kishore Narshingh, it consists of 6,895
square metres (74,220 sq ft) of gardens with three pavilions, an amphitheater,
ponds, pergolas, and urns. From the mid-1960s, upon the death of its patron,
Kaiser Sumsher Rana, it lay in neglect but was recently restored with the help
of the Austrian government.
The formal and axial
arrangement of the architectural features stands in contrast to the more
informal and natural planting – a juxtaposition consistent with that of the
gardens created in England during the reign of Edward VII. Built in 1920, the
garden was remarkably modern in its time, comparable to other garden designs in
the first quarter of the 20th century. The architectural sophistication of the
individual pavilions suggests that they were inspired by pattern books, with
minor local adaptations. Surrounding the planting areas along the path's
perimeter are sunken flower gardens with large ponds at their center.
Located in Kaiser Mahal
which is across the street from the former Royal Palace at the entrance to the
Thamel tourist area, the Garden was made famous as the Garden of Six Seasons
created for Field Marshal Kaiser Sumsher Rana (1892–1964), in early 1920. The
Garden, which featured a design inspired by the Edwardian style, was considered
one of the most sophisticated private gardens of that time. Landscape architect
Kishore Narshingh, designer of Singha Durbar and architect to Shumsher's
father, the Maharaja, designed and supervised the construction of the Garden of
Dreams.
Within the Garden walls
are pavilions, fountains, decorative garden furniture, and European-inspired
features such as verandas, pergolas, balustrades, urns, and birdhouses. Each of
the six pavilions, which provide the Garden's architectural framework, is
dedicated to one of the six seasons in Nepal. After the death of Kaiser
Sumsher, the garden was handed over to the government of Nepal, but it was not
properly managed for decades. Today, only half of the original garden remains.
After decades of neglect
resulting in crumbling pavilions, overgrown paths and loss of the subtropical
flora, restorations were undertaken between 2000 and 2007 with the support of
Austrian Development Aid (the Austrian Government) in collaboration with the
Nepal Ministry of Education. Implemented by Eco Himal. the renovation project
has become a model project for the sustainable development of other historic
sites. The garden, in its design and literary allusions, is linked to the
collections of books about gardening, architecture, and literature, in Kaiser
Shumsher's library. With the restoration now complete, the garden has also been
updated with the addition of modern facilities as well. In its reformed state
it provides an oasis of peace and tranquility within the urban bustle of
Kathmandu, and continues to be a tourist landmark.
The current cost to enter
the Garden of Dreams is 400 Nepali rupees for a non-Nepali. Nepali pay 150
rupees. The Garden of Dreams is open daily from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. It's
located in the Kaiser Mahal complex in the busy Thamel neighborhood of
Kathmandu. Admission to the garden costs Rs. 400 per person for tourists and
Rs. 100 for Nepali residents. Wifi is available throughout the garden for Rs.
50 an hour.
Sources :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Dreams
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-garden-of-dreams
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