A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden and requested people to visit the place and "witness the scenic Tulip festival", the Tulip Garden received an overwhelming response from the tourists on the first day of its opening in Srinagar on Thursday.
PM Modi had on March 24, tweeted, "Tomorrow, 25th March is special for Jammu and Kashmir. A majestic tulip garden on the foothills of the Zabarwan Mountains will open for visitors. The Garden will see over 15 lakh flowers of more than 64 varieties in bloom."
"Whenever you get the opportunity, do visit Jammu and Kashmir and witness the scenic Tulip festival. In addition to the tulips, you will experience the warm hospitality of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," he wrote in another tweet.
Speaking to , Farooq Ahamd Rather, Director, Floriculture, Kashmir, said, "This Tulip garden has become one of the major tourist spots in the Kashmir valley. In 2015, this garden was awarded the title of 'Best Tulip Garden' which means it is already present on the tourist map of India.
"You might also know that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tweeted about this Tulip Garden yesterday which signifies how important the garden is," said Rather.
He further stated, "Today is the first day of the opening of this garden and despite the rainy weather, we received an overwhelming response from the tourists on the first day itself."
"Before the pandemic, in 2019, the garden was visited by around two to 2.5 lakh tourists. I am confident that this year too the garden will report a record-breaking number of visitors which will boost the tourism industry of Jammu and Kashmir, he added.
Vikas Sharma, a tourist said, "I was about to leave yesterday but I extended my stay just to visit this place. It's a lifetime experience and I will surely plan for next year too. Kashmir is more beautiful than I had heard of. I came to know that this is the largest Tulip garden in Asia which is why I came to visit it."
Kanak Sharma, another tourist said that visiting the garden gave her a mesmerising experience. "It is like heaven on earth," she said.
Another tourist said that she feels blessed to have visited the place on the first day of the opening of the garden. "I would like to request all the people coming to Kashmir to definitely visit this place for sure," she added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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