Baldha Garden

Narendra Narayan Roy Chowdhury, a landowner, began collecting plants at his Dhaka house in 1909 and built the collection up over three decades into a garden that now holds 672 plant species in two walled sections, Psyche and Cybele, laid out with a rose garden, a lily pond, glasshouses, a sundial and a set of specimen trees. It passed to the state in 1962. The garden is small, about a hectare and a third in total, and it is dense rather than spacious, with paths between beds and mature trees closing overhead. Rabindranath Tagore is said to have written here. In a city with very little green space it functions as a refuge, and it is one of the older botanical collections in the region.

History

Narendra Narayan Roy Chaudhury, landlord of the Balda estate, began the garden in 1909 and went on adding to it until his death in 1943, making it one of the oldest botanical gardens in this part of Bengal. At the same time he built up a collection known as the Balda Museum, now held by the Bangladesh National Museum, and the garden is today run by the Department of Forestry as a satellite of the National Botanical Garden (Wikipedia, Baldha Garden).

What you'll find

• 672 plant species - a dense collection in a small space.
• The Psyche and Cybele sections - the two walled halves of the garden.
• The lily pond and glasshouses - the water and covered planting.
• Mature specimen trees - the canopy over the paths.

When to go

November to March. One hour. It closes on some days and has restricted Friday hours. Mornings are cooler and quieter. It is small and does not take long.

Practical notes

It is small and somewhat run-down, with labelling in poor condition and some beds neglected. It is crowded at weekends. The surrounding Wari streets are congested. Maintenance has declined.

Nearby

Old Dhaka is west; Sadarghat lies south-west.

Key facts