The famous and magnificent Mughal Garden will now be known as ‘Amrit Udyan’. Keeping in line with the theme of ‘Amrit Mahotsav’ marking 75 years of India’s Independence, the name of Mughal Gardens has been changed to Amrit Udyan.

Navika Gupta, deputy press secretary to President Droupadi Murmu, said: “On the occasion of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence as ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the President of India is pleased to give a common name to the Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens as ‘Amrit Udyan’.”

Murmu will grace the opening of the Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan — Udyan Utsav 2023 — on January 29. At this year’s Udyan Utsav, among several other attractions, visitors will be able to see specially cultivated tulips of 12 unique varieties which are expected to bloom in phases.

People can scan the QR code placed in the Gardens to get more information about any particular flower, plant or tree during the visit. Rashtrapati Bhavan is home to a rich variety of gardens. Originally, they included East Lawn, Central Lawn, Long Garden and Circular Garden.

During the terms of former presidents A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Ram Nath Kovind, more gardens were developed, namely — Herbal-I, Herbal-II, Tactile Garden, Bonsai Garden and Arogya Vanam. This time, the Gardens (Herbal Garden, Bonsai Garden, Central Lawn, Long Garden and Circular Garden) will be open for about two months.

The Gardens will open to the general public on January 31, 2023, and will remain open till March 26, 2023 (except on Mondays, which are maintenance days, and on March 8 on account of Holi).

From March 28 to 31, the Gardens will be open for special categories, for farmers on March 28, for differently abled persons on March 29, for personnel of Defence Forces, Paramilitary Forces and Police on March 30,and for women, including tribal women’s SHGs, on March 31.

Another step towards making Rashtrapati Bhavan accessible to more and more people is through the increase in capacity of each hourly slot. Visitors will be allowed to visit in six hourly slots between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The capacity for the two forenoon slots (10 a.m. to 12 p.m.) will be 7,500 visitors during weekdays and 10,000 visitors in each slot on weekends. The capacity for the four afternoon slots (12 p.m. to 4 p.m.) will be 5,000 visitors in each slot during weekdays and 7,500 visitors on weekends.

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