Sunder Nursery
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Sunder Nursery, formerly called Azim Bagh or Bagh-e-Azeem, is a 16th-century heritage park complex adjacent to the
Humayun's Tomb Humayun's tomb (Persian language, Persian: ''Maqbara-i Humayun'') is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun in Delhi, India. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's first wife and chief consort, Empress Bega Begum under her patronage in 1558, an ...
, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
. Originally known as Azim Bagh and built by the Mughals in the 16th century, it lies on the Mughal-era
Grand Trunk Road The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...
, and is spread over 90 acres (36 hectare). Future plans aim to link nearby areas to develop it into India's largest park covering 900 acres. Today Sunder Nursery contains fifteen heritage monuments of which 6 are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including
Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...
(ASI) protected Sundarwala Burj, Sundarwala Mahal and Lakkarwala Burj. After renovations starting in 2007, the nursery reopened to public as a heritage park on 21 February 2018. Now it contains over 300 types of trees, making it Delhi's first
arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...
. During the British rule, the nursery was established to grow experimental plants, it also has a lake. which gave it its current designation as a nursery. The "Sunder" part of the name comes from the Sunder Burj
tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...
located in the same premises. Although the name Sunder Nursery has still held, the park has been quoted to be a 'Delhi's Central Park' after renovations (though not to be confused with the central park in
Connaught Place, New Delhi Connaught Place, officially known as Rajiv Chowk, is one of the main financial, commercial and business centres in New Delhi, Delhi, India. It houses the headquarters of several noted Indian firms and is a major shopping, nightlife and tourist ...
).


Restoration


Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Project

Sunder nursey is part of the larger Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Project master plan of the Aga Khan Trust, which involves restoration work on 30 nearby heritage structures. Once complete, the park and resorted monuments will cover 900 acres (3.64 km sq). Since 2007 conservation of over 50 monuments have taken place of which 12 were designated
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
s by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
in 2016. Future plans aim to run the area as a public-private partnership (PPP) between the various government authorities in India and the Aga Khan Trust.


Organisation and agencies involved

The garden complex is undergoing an extensive restoration project, undertaken by
Aga Khan Trust for Culture The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a family of institutions created by Aga Khan IV with distinct but complementary mandates to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developin ...
India, jointly with
Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...
(ASI) and
Central Public Works Department The Central Public Works Department (Hindi: केंद्रीय लोक निर्माण विभाग), commonly referred to as the CPWD, is a premier Central Government authority in charge of public sector works. The Central Public ...
(CPWD) which currently runs the garden. All the agencies involved in this extensive restoration project are - *
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is a ministry of the Government of India with executive authority over the formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to the housing and urban development in Ind ...
, Government of India *
Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...
*
Central Public Works Department The Central Public Works Department (Hindi: केंद्रीय लोक निर्माण विभाग), commonly referred to as the CPWD, is a premier Central Government authority in charge of public sector works. The Central Public ...
*
South Delhi Municipal Corporation South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) was one of the municipal corporations in Delhi, India created after the former Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2012. It occupied an area of which was further divided into 4 Zones (Ce ...
* US Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation *
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In matters regarding Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), Norad reports to the Norwegian Ministry ...


Restoration of nursery

Plans for the project were drawn in 2007, and work on the third phase was initiated in 2010 and completed in 2018, with 90 acres of the park being opened to the public on 21 February 2018. The
vice-president of India The vice president of India (IAST: ) is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in the ...
, M Venkaiah Naidu, was present during the inauguration along with various other dignitaries including the Aga Khan founder and chairman of the
Aga Khan Development Network The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a network of private, non-denominational (de jure) development agencies founded by the Aga Khan that work primarily in the poorest parts of Asia and Africa. Aga Khan IV succeeded to the office of the 49t ...
. Lying abandoned for decades much of the area was overgrown, and during the initial work some 1,000 trucks of rubble was removed, before the ground was levelled and subsequently classical
Persian garden The tradition and style of garden design represented by Persian gardens or Iranian gardens ( fa, باغ ایرانی), an example of the paradise garden, has influenced the design of gardens from Andalusia to India and beyond. The gardens of the ...
s were recreated, with fountains and water channels. Two main architectural features were restored. The Lakkarwala Burj tomb is now set in a new rose garden, while the 16th-century Sunderwala Burj tomb was restored as per the orange sandstone and white lime mortar used in its original design. Its red sandstone interior walls saw entire sections of white Quranic verses being recreated. The garden replicates the four micro-habitat zones which were part of Delhi's original landscape namely ''Kohi'' (ridge), '' Bangar'' (
alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
), '' Khadar'' (
riverine A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
) and ''Dabar'' (
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
).


Important features


Monuments

UNESCO World Heritage status has been given to the following six structures within Sunder Nursery - Sunder Burj, Sundarwala Mahal, Lakkarwala Burj, Mirza Muazzafar Hussain's Tomb, Chotta Bateshewala and the Unknown Mughal's tomb.


Wildlife


Flora

The area contains over 280 native tree species. Using GIS 4200 trees have been mapped. Apart from this there are around 80 types of bird species and 36 types of butterflies. The Bonsai House is home to some ''bonsai'' over 80 years old.


= Trees

= Sunder Nursery is Delhi's first
arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...
. It is home to some rare trees such as a Pink Cedar ( Acrocarpus fraxinifolius), the only one in Delhi. Various other trees in the nursery are also only found here and nowhere else in Delhi such as Chukka (Croton roxburghii) and Carrotwood (
Cupaniopsis anacardioides ''Cupaniopsis anacardioides'', with common names tuckeroo, carrotwood, beach tamarind and green-leaved tamarind, is a species of flowering tree in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, that is native to eastern and northern Australia. The usual ...
). A partial listing of trees and plants found -


= Roses

= The rose gardens host various types of roses. A partial list of rose varieties - HT RosesMiniature Roses * Don Don * Merlin


Fauna


= Birds

= 80 different species of birds have been located in the area through bird mapping. In 2014, the rare Ultramarine Flycatcher was spotted in the park area, a bird never seen before in New Delhi for many years. 36 types of butterfly have also been spotted in the park. A partial listing of birds include -


= Butterflies

= A partial listing of butterfly varieties found -


Gallery

File:Sunderwala Burj in the Sunder Nursery Gardens.JPG, Sunderwala Burj File:Unknown Graves Sunder Nursery.jpg, Unknown Mughal graves File:Artificial Lake Structure Sunder Nursery.jpg, Artificial lake File:Ampitheatre Sunder Nursery.jpg, Amphitheatre, with Sunder Burj visible in the background File:Sunder Burj, Delhi.jpg, Sunder Burj, front view


See also

*
Lodi Gardens Lodi Gardens is a city park situated in New Delhi, India. Spread over , it contains Mohammed Shah's Tomb, the Tomb of Sikandar Lodi, the Shisha Gumbad and the Bara Gumbad, architectural works of the 15th century by Lodis - who ruled parts of n ...


References


External links

* * * {{Delhi Gardens in India Tourist attractions in Delhi Aga Khan Trust for Culture projects 16th-century establishments in India Monuments of National Importance in Delhi