Dhaka's Lost Paradise

Photos: Prabir Das

While Dhaka was losing its splendour after the fall of Mughal Empire, the local zamindars and nawabs under the British rule tried to revive its past splendour as the city of gardens. Dhaka's Baldha Garden is one of the most magnificent examples of this beautification effort. Still it is one of the richest botanical gardens of this subcontinent that spans 3.15 acres of land and boasts of eighteen thousand plant specimens of eight hundred different species. It has some of the rarest species of plants that can be found nowhere else in Bangladesh or even in this subcontinent.

In 1905, as Dhaka regained its status as the capital of East Bengal after several centuries, various efforts were taken to beautify the new capital. Narendra Narayan Chowdhury, zamindar of Dhaka's Baldha area (now in Gazipur) took the initiative to establish a massive botanical garden in Dhaka's Wari area which, at that time, was the city's richest part. Supervised by the world's best curators from England, the garden was established in 1909.

Besides thousands of terrestrial plants, there are also many beautiful ponds and pools for the preservation of aquatic plants. Baldha Garden is actually composed of two separate gardens: One is called Sibiley which is the name of a nature deity and another is called Psyche which means 'soul'. The Sibiley part of the garden is famous for its beautiful pond called Shankha Nod, rare African tulip, Papyrus, Raj Ashok and many other rare plant species. The famous Joy House and the sundial are also located in this part of the garden.

The Psyche part of the garden is famous for its exquisite Shapla House, a pool full of rare water lilies which also includes Amazon Lilly (Victoria Amazonica) the world's largest aquatic plant and species of cacti and orchids from all over the world. Once upon a time Baldha Garden was considered as the jewel of Dhaka city. Visitors from home and abroad used to come here to feel the garden's heavenly environment. Famous poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had visited this garden and spent sometimes in the bungalow called Joy House. From there Tagore wrote his famous poem titled 'Camellia' upon seeing trees full of beautiful Camellia flowers.

However, Baldha Garden is passing days with utter negligence and mismanagement. This heavenly precinct has become a hub of anti social activities. Robbing visitors and drug abuse in the garden have become regular incidents. High rise buildings surrounding the garden are blocking sunshine resulting in death of many plant species. From 1962, Forest Department has been in charge of the maintenance of the garden and in fact the reality is this rich, exquisite botanical garden receives no maintenance at all.

Baldha Garden is not only a magnificent botanical garden but it is also an important part of Dhaka's rich history. It is very unfortunate that our negligence has taken this beautiful garden on the verge of total extinction.