Lal Bagh – A botanical garden

Last Updated on June 12, 2023

A botanical garden for a botanist and a giant park for a common man has a history of more than 250 years. This park is the granddaddy of all the parks in Karnataka, if not India. I say this not only because it is one of the oldest but saplings from the nursery of this park have created many more parks and gardens all over Karnataka.

Trees

It is said there are more than 2000 species of trees and plants. Some are older than 200 years. There is a mango tree on the side of the main tarmac road between Glasshouse and Tree Fossil. This mango tree is more than 200 years old and still bears fruit every 2 years or so. There is also a home for an owl to roost on this tree and it can be seen resting in the morning next to its home.

Animals

I am no botanist. Though there are more than 2000 species of trees and plants, they all looked the same to me. I have to admit, in some cases, they do look different if they are too big, or too different in shape and structure. The trees are all too tall in Lal Bagh to be noticed by humans anyway. So, What got my attention is not trees, but animals.

Kites

In the morning, Brahminy Kite doing an acrobatic stunt and taking a dive at the surface of the water to catch the food fed by visitors can be seen near the waterfall.

Parrots

Parrots are “officially” first-class citizens here. If you spend at least half an hour you wouldn’t miss the sight of parrots worrying about which animal or bird is going to steal their next meal away.

Squirrel

They rule the land space or terrestrial part of Lal Bagh after Dogs.

Dogs

Dogs rule Lal Bagh. They think Lal Bagh is for them without any regard to humans as long as they continue to feed them. They are easily seen lying around anywhere they want. Without buying tickets they visit any time they want, and they are well-fed with biscuits and other homemade food items, especially yesterday’s left-overs, by visitors.

Owls

These birds are seen resting next to their roost peacefully. Meditating and introspecting about why they couldn’t go to sleep the previous night.

Crows

These are the antithesis of owls, having no sense of grace and always fighting among themselves, they have become a serious threat to the peace of Lal Bagh, especially in the evenings before sunsets. No one is a friend of crow. Even a crow is not a friend to another crow.

Pigeon

Pigeons are like crows with a less aggressive attitude and less noisy too. They live in groups just like crows. But unlike crows, there is some goodness left in them to leave others peacefully.

Myna

These are like flying rats. Not following customs, norms, and boundaries respected by other birds. They are constantly in fight with parrots for stealing their food. All birds hate them.

Rats

With good maintenance by Lal Bagh staff, almost no rats can be found. But, I have to say that in a few less visited places, rats have taken refuge and they thrive on the leftovers of birds and dogs.

Fish

A large school of fish, so large that we might as well call it a university of fish, is fed every day by visitors from the bridge facing the waterfall.

Waterbirds

Herons, waterfowls, storks, pelicans, and other water birds live and co-exist peacefully in and around the lake. These are the only animals who don’t live on humans feeding. They hunt and live on their own.

Snakes

There are snakes, but very rarely seen. They are shy and also angry as they are not fed by humans when they do for other animals.

People

Morning and evening walking or jogging

People of all ages and all kinds flock to the Lal Bagh on Weekends. Fitness enthusiasts and old people come here to walk, jog, and even some for Yoga. Most people visit in the morning before 9 are for some exercise.

In the evening, there aren’t as many people as in the morning for walking and jogging.

A Daylong trip for friends and family

Unless you are a botanist or you want some semi-getaway and temporary peace, it is not worth spending the whole day. It gets hotter after 10 AM in winter and 9 AM in the summer. If you are not under the shade, you will burn up. This may be the reason why it is called Lal Bag – “Red” Garden.

Again after 5 PM in the evening, it cools down and you can stay up to 7 PM in the evening.

Important places and shows

Rock-hill facing the east gate

Earth is estimated to be ~4.5 billion years old. And, This hill is almost as old as the earth itself and has been verified by the geological department. Many prominent geologists have been known to come here to study the rock formation on this hill.

There is also a Mantapa or Watchtower set up by the founder of Bengaluru himself, Kempegowda, 500 years ago. It is said that this watchtower was set up because it marked the end of the Banglore city.

This is the best place to hang out in the morning before it gets hotter and in the evening after sunsets.

Waterfall in the morning at 7:30 AM

The waterfall near the south gate is turned on and available at 7:30. Even if you are not visiting at this time you can still go there and feed the fish from the bridge facing the waterfall.

Glasshouse is older than a century

You can take a couple of selfies here to let people know that you have been to Lal Bagh. That is all the value it holds now, but except for, on Independence Day and Republic day, there is a Flower show hosted here.

This place along with the rock hill facing the east gate are the two iconic symbols of the Lal Bagh.

Garden watch by HMT

In front of the life-size statue of Sri Jayachamarajendara Wodeyar on a horse facing the north gate, there is a watch on the garden set up by HMT. It still works but is rarely turned on. If you are lucky you get to see it running.

In this post, I might have treated the Botanical garden as a Zoological garden by focusing more on animals than trees. I have mentioned only one species – The mango tree out of 2000 in Lal Bagh, whereas 12 animal species, 13 if you include humans.

There cannot be more misrepresentation and misleading than this post. Take this with a grain of salt.