This garden is one of the Paradise Garden Collection at Hamilton Gardens in New Zealand and follows on from my previous post.
Indian Char Bagh Garden
The ‘char bagh’ or ‘enclosed four part’ garden has been one of the most significant types of traditional garden. Between the 8th and 18th centuries these gardens spread throughout the Muslim world from Asia to North Africa to Spain. They were the original ‘Paradise Gardens‘.
The complex symbolism behind this form of garden has its very ancient roots in three of the world’s great religions – Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. A small hunting palace near Agra, called Lal Mahal, has inspired the Hamilton Garden’s Char Bagh garden.
The Entrance
Detail
Char Bagh
Jewel-like planting
Earth laughs in flowers 
I love the header. You have a knack for seeing through to beyond.
I think I am a more considered photographer these days, if that is the correct word.
I love the vibrant colours!!
Yes, you immediately think of saris when you see this.
Magnificent Jude I didn’t see this garden as it was under maintenance when we visited so I’m really looking forward to seeing it now it is finished.
I shall be interested to see how you capture these gardens.
I’m looking forward to seeing them again, you have whetted my appetite…
This reminds me of a garden in a palace in Jaipur, gorgeous!
Very small scale Gilly, but a nice concept garden. Could do with a few more benches 🙂
The colour is so striking against the clean lines of the white walls! Fabulous design and beautifully photographed 🙂
Ah, thank you Sarah. It’s a neat little garden and I was amused to watch a school party come through. The kids walked all around the edge then back out the doorway without even stopping once to actually look and process the scene! I often wonder at the value of these school trips. Will those kids even know they have been there?
I think it all depends on the educators taking kids on trips! I know the trips around Wisley are really good and the kids get involved and are taught lots as they go around. They also have the Clore Learning centre there which was specifically set up for their educational programmes. I had some great trips as a kid to many museums and galleries! The outing you saw just speaks volumes about disinterested educators which I think is probably a growing problem in some schools.
Such a beautiful mix of colours. Another gorgeous garden to visit.
You could spend days in these gardens.
I sit back and smile at your gallery with the variety yet one more time.The detail is the one that most catches my eye yet I imagine in real life one would be drawn to all of the colorful flowers.
Cleverly planted summer annuals provide the colour – I wonder what it is like in the winter? I was intrigued by the mock pietra dura – quite well done considering it is painted on.
Those vibrant colors are fabulous.
An extremely interesting garden this one with so many different concept gardens to visit. I could spend a very long time here!
I saw the Indian Char Bagh Garden just two weeks ago, when I was in Hamilton.
I’m hoping you will be able to help me out with some of the plants I wasn’t able to identify 😉
I feel like a stranger in a strange land too, Jude. I’ve found a few sites that could be useful:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-plants/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_of_New_Zealand
http://www.gardens.co.nz/natives.cfm
I’ve done a lot of searching but some still evade me, probably because they are not native!
I just remembered that the night before our visit to the gardens we ate at an Indian restaurant that had a picture of the Char Bagh Garden on its place mat or menu (I can’t recall which).