Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bengaluru

The garden lies in the south of Bengaluru and is run by the Karnataka Department of Horticulture. Hyder Ali, ruler of Mysore, commissioned it in 1760 and his son Tipu Sultan completed it. The name means red garden.

Under British rule a series of superintendents managed the grounds and brought in plants from many parts of the world, turning a royal pleasure garden into a botanical collection. It now covers about 240 acres.

The Glass House is the best known structure. Its foundation stone was laid on 30 November 1889 and it was built in 1890 and 1891, modelled on the Crystal Palace in London. It hosts the flower shows held around Republic Day and Independence Day, each built around a theme.

Lalbagh Rock rises in one corner, an outcrop of gneiss estimated at about 3,000 million years old, topped by a small watchtower said to date from the time of Kempe Gowda. The garden also has a lake, long avenues of old trees, lawns and themed plant collections that draw walkers and birdwatchers.

Entry is paid at the gates, with an extra charge for cameras, and flower show weeks usually have separate tickets and heavy crowds. Early morning is the best time, when walkers fill the paths and the light is soft. Two to three hours covers the main areas, and the metro station near the west gate is easier than parking.

Century-old trees and the British superintendents

Lalbagh holds more than 1,000 plant species, and many of its trees are over a century old. Much of that collection dates from the British superintendents. John Cameron, trained at Kew, ran the garden until 1908, introduced araucarias and cypresses along with commercial vegetables, and oversaw the laying of the Glass House foundation stone in 1889. Gustav Krumbiegel followed him as the last superintendent before independence, and Krumbiegel Road inside the garden carries his name.

A bandstand was added beside the Glass House in 1890 and 1891. Near it stands a statue of Chamarajendra Wodeyar, the ruler of Mysore who sponsored Swami Vivekananda's journey to Chicago in 1893. A bonsai garden opened in 2002, and the garden can claim India's first lawn clock.

The lake beside Lalbagh Rock is the best spot for birdwatching, and an artificial waterfall was added at its eastern end in 2017. The tower on the rock is one of the boundary towers credited to Kempe Gowda, founder of Bengaluru, and the climb gives a view across the city.