Pinjore Heritage festival held

Popular as the oldest Mughal Garden of the Indian sub-continent and also a heritage site, the four centuries old Yadavendra Gardens (or the Pinjore Gardens) came alive recently during the Pinjore Heritage festival.

By Ashwini Kaushal

Chandigarh, Dec.17 : Popular as the oldest Mughal Garden of the Indian sub-continent and also a heritage site, the four centuries old Yadavendra Gardens (or the Pinjore Gardens) came alive recently during the Pinjore Heritage festival.

Three-day Pinjore Heritage festival provided an opportunity to visitors to relax, relish delectable cuisine and enjoy live performances showcasing Indian culture and heritage at its traditional best.

The place is nestled in the foothills of the majestic Shivalik hills near Chandigarh. And, the festival was an attempt to bring alive the rich and glorious heritage of Pinjore at the Yadavendra Gardens here.

On this special occasion, Kiran Choudhary, the State Minister for Tourism, said: "We hope to focus the attention of entire tourism circuit and also to bring the heritage to the grass-roots of the people in this part of the country and also in the future to explore this place as the world heritage site. The entire focus is on this so that the world focus could be brought in and we make this into a calendar event for future.

Held for the second time, the Pinjore Heritage Festival successfully portrayed Pinjore Gardens as a World Heritage Site that has carved out its rightful place in the tourists' itinerary. It was held to showcase the restored and revitalized ancient heritage of Pinjore.

`Anarkali Bazaar', an old street market, provided an opportunity for tourists to have a close look at the rich Indian arts and crafts.

Reminiscent of the Mughal era, the Bazaar provides a platform for artisans and craftsmen to display their products that range from traditional ornaments to clothing. "We have come to Pinjore earlier also but then it was not so attractive. They have decorated the garden and everything very nicely. Altogether, it's very good experience being here," said one of the tourists.She added: "Here, we got stuff from different States that we don't get in cities like Chandigarh. So that's how we all feel good and elevated with traditional folk stuff." The Pinjore Festival, which will now be a calendar event, provides a platform to artists showcase their talent.

Yadavendra Gardens is located Pinjore Village, 22 kilometres from Chandigarh on the Ambala-Shimla road. Nawab Fidal Khan, an architect and foster brother of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb is known to have designed it at 7 levels on a descending scale.

Once a pleasure garden for royal families, the picturesque Pinjore garden is now a major crowd puller reflects India's glorious past and swinging present.

ANI