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 of around eighteen hundred 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 hectade 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.

What you actually see

• Around eighteen hundred 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.

Honest expectations

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.