The Garden Magazine, September, 1921 



37 



save and except just where, at one end, 

 an audacious and flaring Bougainvillea 

 leans in lambent magenta and dark olive- 

 green over the top-most and most se- 

 cluded court of all-white, white, and from 

 end to end, white." 



In several gardens waterfalls or chutes 

 are to be seen to this day, and in the 

 ruins of others they may still be traced. 

 In some cases the water has been lifted 

 out of deep wells outside and rushes over 

 the carved stones into the garden. These 

 marble or stone chutes are carved in 

 different patterns, cut ingeniously at an 

 angle so that the water running over them, 

 was thrown up and broken into splashes 

 and ripples. Shell and wave designs 

 were the favorites. In most gardens, 

 even the small ones that allowed only 

 a drop of a foot or two, these chutes 

 were to be found, and certainly are one 

 of the characteristics of ancient Indian 

 gardens. 



Stonework as an Equal Feature 



SECOND only to the water schemes, 

 as an important feature of ancient 

 Indian gardens, is ornamental stone work. 

 All along the channels are pavements, generally of white marble, 

 while geometrical patterns are worked out between the long 

 slabs. One of the most interesting of these design gardens is 

 that known as the Anguri Bagh, in the Agra Fort. The pity is 

 that it has been so long neglected, and no attempt has been made 

 to restore it to its old beautiful condition. But it is one of the 

 most perfect examples of the kind of garden the Mughal rulers 

 loved to make. " The Anguri Bagh in the Agra Fort is the one 

 garden in the three great Mughal Palaces left complete with its 

 old stone and marble details; and yet there it lies, bare and 

 empty, with only grass between its masonry, like some great, 

 elaborate, jewelled design rifled of its colored gems, turning 

 its gaping empty setting to the sun." If this could be restored 

 it would afford one of the finest examples of the possibilities 

 of such gardens. The garden is divided into four squares, and 

 each has its separate border and central plot, like the old carpets, 

 full of brightly colored flowers woven into a close geometrical 

 shape. They were boldly massed flowers of varying heights 



THE GARDENS OF THE TAJ MAHAL 



Where plants played a minor part and the chief 

 claim to beauty rested on symmetry of design 



and beautifully chosen colors, the Lily beds, the Roses, the Nar- 

 cissus, Anemone, and Tulips. The surrounding border was 

 treated differently in oblong beds of alternate coloring, or else 

 with single flowers like the groups of Hollyhock and Tuberoses. 

 In the larger gardens it was possible to introduce the larger 

 trees, but in the smaller ones, a few small Cypresses had to suf- 

 fice. A stone trellis used to enclose the flower-beds, and it is 

 thought that this supported large vines. 



Gardens Associated with Tombs 



IT MAY be noted in passing that the finest gardens are those 

 opened around the tombs of the great, for these buildings are 

 usually erected before the death of the one to rest here, and are 

 used as a kind of summer house. In the case of Sikandra, where 

 the remains of Akbar lie, we have a fine example of a Mughal 

 garden, though many parts have been allowed to deteriorate. 

 It is laid out on the plan of a cosmic cross, in a huge, square 

 enclosure with high battlemented walls. In the middle, raised 

 on a wide platform, stands the mausoleum, 

 on each side of which are tanks with 

 central fountains supplying the water for 

 the narrow canals which once ran down 

 the centre of the raised stone pathways. 

 Though much has been lost, the effect 

 is still very impressive and affords another 

 striking example of how effective the ex- 

 tremely artificial geometrical old so-called 

 gardens could be. 



HINDU ZENANA 

 GARDEN INUDAIPUR 



Water everywhere, reflect- 

 ing the brightly lighted 

 walls of the surrounding 

 buildings and becoming 

 the dominant feature of 

 what is called a garden 



