Indian Botanical Gardens Kolkata (Calcutta)

If you are a nature lover and like surprising yourself with the splendors of Nature then the Indian Botanical Gardens, Kolkata (Calcutta) must be on your destination list. The garden takes pride in displaying the innumerous species of plants and the brilliant natural habitat for the growth and development of the total flora world. The Indian Botanical Gardens Kolkata (Calcutta) is located on the other side of the Kolkata city in a suburb of Kolkata named Shibpur, an area in the Howrah District.

The garden was originally established in 1786. Colonel Kyd was the brainchild behind this mammoth project which presently is home to a massive 12,000 living plants and over two and half million dried out plant specimens. These varieties are collected from all over the globe and are kept securely in the herbarium. The Indian Botanical Gardens, Kolkata is the oldest botanical garden in the country and is the home for the development of the tea that is grown presently in Assam and Darjeeling. The garden has a massive and amazing collection of the rarest of species of plants and tress from Nepal, Brazil, Penang, Java and Sumatra. The garden is punctuated by the towering Mahogany trees, a beautiful avenue of the Cuban Palms and an amazing house of the rare Orchids. The stretch of the grass lawns are brilliantly shaded by the Mango and Tamarind trees. The garden was developed for the production of different species of plants of the indigenous variety in the Indian climate. The garden remains open from sunrise to sunset and is truly a magical destination for the tourists to the city.

The chief attraction of the Botanical garden though is the famous Banyan Tree and the lake. The massive Banyan tree is expected to be the oldest in the world and covers a huge area of 404 sq metres. The main trunk of the tree got infected and had to be removed in 1945, but the supporting branches which counts to 1573 supported the tree brilliantly. It is the largest Banyan tree of the world with a massive circumference of 330m. The aquatic plants of the garden also make up a good view in the garden.