Chashme Shahi, the smallest and often considered the most refined of Srinagar's three main Mughal gardens, is built around a natural spring believed locally to have health-giving properties, its terraced lawns rising in…
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Introduction
Chashme Shahi, the smallest and often considered the most refined of Srinagar's three main Mughal gardens, is built around a natural spring believed locally to have health-giving properties, its terraced lawns rising in tiers up a gentle hillside above Dal Lake. Compared to the grander scale of Shalimar and Nishat Bagh nearby, Chashme Shahi's more intimate size gives it a quieter, less crowded atmosphere while retaining the same formal Mughal terraced-garden design.
Fountains fed by the spring run down the garden's central axis, and the elevated position offers pleasant views over the lake and surrounding hills. Together with Shalimar Bagh and Nishat Bagh, Chashme Shahi forms part of Srinagar's wider Mughal garden circuit, a UNESCO tentative-list nomination that reflects the collective significance of Kashmir's Mughal-era garden architecture as a distinct regional interpretation of the classical Persian garden tradition.
History
Built in 1632 by Ali Mardan Khan, a governor under Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, around the natural spring that gives the garden its name, Chashme Shahi is the smallest of Srinagar's major Mughal-era gardens.
