Agri-Horticultural Garden Kolkata

Location: Alipur Road.

Time to Visit: 7 A.M. - 10 A.M. & 2 P.M. - 6 P.M.

Preferred Timings: Any convenient time. Try to avoid visiting the garden in the afternoon especially during the scorching summer months.

Admission Fee: Nil.

How to Reach: Local buses, mini buses and metered taxis and cabs are easily available from different parts of the city.

Photography / Video charges: Nil.

Nearest Railway Station: Howrah.

Nearest Metro Station: Esplanade

Nearest Functional Metro Station: Esplanade

Nearest International Airport: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Intrnational Airport.

Time required for sightseeing: About One and half hours.

The Agri-Horticultural garden located in a sylvan 63 bighas stretch of land at Alipur is any nature lover's dream come true. This marvelous garden is the brainchild of a devout Danish Baptist Missionary - William Carey who set up this garden way back in the year 1820.

William Carey's contribution towards Bengal's horticultural landscape is immense. Though European by birth, he had embraced the rich Bengali culture and could speak fluent Bengali. With a view to showcase Bengal's rich fauna and flora under one roof, he conceived the idea of setting up the Agri-Horticultural garden. His plan was readily accepted by the East India company and he was granted 63 bighas of land wherein he set up this dream garden.

This sprawling estate has a bewildering variety of trees and plants. Some rare tree species too can be found in this garden like the Monodora Grandiflora, Amherstia Nobiles, Saraca Thaipingensis and Pterygota alta Diversifolia (Mad Tree) to name just a few.

An early morning walk through the garden's meandering paths and alleyways brings you face to face with lush green shrubs, climbers, medicinal and aromatic plants, garden plants, cactus and rare varieties of Bonsai. To the left hand side of the garden, the state-of-the-art Greenhouse comes like a breath of fresh air. The greenhouse was donated to the Agri-Horticultural Garden by the royal family of Darbhanga and is aptly named Darbhanga House.

Kolkata with a population of 20 million people, the ever increasing umbers of vehicular traffic and countless factories that emit noxious gases is indeed a recipe for disaster. No wonder, then, local Kolkatans make a beeline to the lush expanse of the Agri-Horticultural gardens where they spend quality time basking in sunshine and pure oxygen, which is at premium in chaotic Kolkata.

The Agri-Horticultural Garden is undoubtedly one of Eastern India's best maintained gardens. Thanks to the Society's progressive and visionary outlook towards providing Kolkatans with a world class garden recreation experience , they have rightly embraced new age mechanized gardening instruments and are ably backed up by high the hgh quality In-house Horticultural Research Center.

Over the years, this marvelous garden which is run by a Society has gradually evolved from a purely recreational center to an all encompassing Horticultural Research & Training hotbed. With the ever growing passion of people towards nature based activities like gardening, the Society conducts a wide variety of new age courses ranging from nature study to photography. For the diehard gardener, there are exotic courses on home gardening, Bonsai, Mushroom production and a comprehensive one year course on Horticulture.

By far, the most important event that takes place at the sprawling greens of the Agri Horticultural Garden is the annual Flower Show which is a riot of colors and attracts competitors from distant places of Bengal and India. Normally the Flower is held in the month of February. Apart from winter flowers, on display at the Flower Show are stalls that display rare varieties of Bonsai, Cacti, Succulents, Indoor Ornamental plants, potted fruits and vegetables to name just a few. Needless to say, there is intense competition and the winners are judged by a team f experts based on parameters like general design, quantity and quality of bloom as well as cleanliness.

Try to coincide your trip to the Garden when there is any special event. Apart from the Annual Flower Show, there are a number of other events that are held in summer months as well. For instance, the Summer Garden Competition in the month of June and the Foliage Plant Show in the month of September.

And before you step out of this green paradise, don't forget to drop in at the gorgeous florist shop . A stupendous array of freshly plucked flowers blooming in all their glory awaits you. Choose the most gorgeous flowers from the lot and bid adieu to the garden with a paean to the god of flowers.

Special Event / Annual Event

Annual Flower show in the month of February.

Nearby Tourist Attractions

Alipur Zoo.