The Garden of Five Senses is not just a park, it is a space with a variety of activities, inviting public interaction and exploration. The project, developed by Delhi Tourism Transportation Development Corporation, was conceptualized to answer to the city’s need for leisure space for the public, for people to socialize and unwind. Such spaces add atmosphere and life to a city and cater to all sections of the society.

The twenty-acre site, located at Said-Ul-Azaib village, close to the Mehrauli heritage area in New Delhi, is spectacular area in New Delhi, is spectacular. The Garden was inaugurated in February 2003. Majestic rocks stand silhouetted against the sky, others lie strewn upon the ground in a casual yet alluring display of nature’s sculptural genius. It was the ideal ground on which to realize the concept of a public leisure space that would awaken a sensory response and thereby a sensitivity to the environment.

Soaring stainless-steel birds mounted on slate-clad pillars welcome you into the park. An expansive plaza, set on the natural slope of the site, invites you up the spiral walkway. Across, a troop of elephants, cut in stone, regaling in a water bath, tempts exploration.

The garden itself is divided into distinct areas. On one side of the spiral walkway is the Khas Bagh, a formal garden patterned on the lines of the Mughal Garden. Slow-moving water cascades in channels along its length, while flowering and fragrant shrubs and trees line its paths. The Central axis leads to a series of fountains, some of which are lit up by fibreoptic lighting systems. Encapsulating the expression here is the sculpture of ‘A Fountain Tree”.

Secluded, away from the heart of the garden, on the other side of the walkway is the food and shopping court. A series of terraces provided with seating face the food court.

The heady Trail of Fragrance leads away to a rocky ridge to the north, where elevated amongst the rocks, a sculpture in stainless-steel, inspired by a pin-wheel, dances in joyous abandon.

Wander down the meandering paths to Neel Bagh, a pool of water-lilies encircled by pergols covered with climbing plants of different colours and textures.

Overhead, hundreds of ceraminc bells chime, whispering secrets to the breeze, teasing you with their gentle laughter.

There are Colour Gardens - beautiful compositions of flowering shrubs and ground covers that have you looking at familiar plants with new eyes. The Courts of Specimen Plants display not so frequently seen species - of bamboo, for instance, or cactii, or herbs.

Nestled amongst the natural slope of the site is the amphitheatre with blocks of sandstone to serve as seating. At the rear of the garden is an open exhibition area for displaying art and for holding art workshops.

Almost two hundred varieties of plants are introduced. In addition, there are large areas where the existing vegetarian , consisting mostly of trees such as the local Kikar and he thorny Ber bush, has been left untouched.

The Garden has been designed to the imagery suggested by the name Garden of Five Senses. Colour, fragrances, texture and form all come together in an evocative bouquet that awakens the mind to the beauty of life and invokes a grateful prayer for the gift of sight, sound, touch , smell and taste.

About twenty-five different sculptures and murals for this project comprised one of the largest commissions of public art in the country. Following the norm of art in public spaces, the artists were selected by a special committee set up for this purpose.

Featured are some remarkable terracotta pots by master craftspersons Smt Angoori Devi and Shri Giri Raj Shah, and a phad wall-hanging by the Rajasthani master craftspersons Shri Shantilal Joshi.

Most of the works of art are, however, contemporary. They include sculptures by Enaz, Radhakrishnan, Subodh Kerkar and John Bowman, Kristine Michael and Ratnabali Kant. In addition, there are also a large number of works by young aspiring students from the Delhi College of Art.

Said-ul-Ajaib, Off: M.B. Road,
(T-Point_CISF Camp) Near Saket
New Delhi-110 030
Tel. : 26534401, 26510519

As the time passes by I find Panchkula more and more suitable as a place to live in. Lack of traffic, pollution and other nuisance and what not! I found stuff I was more used to in the Delhi NCR area. I got a multiplex to watch movies which came as a big surprise. There is a full fledged market place to geri maroing in Sector 17 Chandigarh. Shimla is like 2 hours away in case someday I just want to go on a looong ride on my bike, though Splendor is not supposed to be a good vehicle to use in hills. And today I went to Pinjore Garden. Constructed by some Maharaja of Patiala, it was a nice place to visit. You can actually watch the whole of Kasauli from there. It is so cool living so near to the hills. Earlier it used to be only when I visited Vaishno Devi that I saw these hills. I would definitely do the un-recommended action of going to Shimla on my phatphatiya!

What else was so cool at the Pinjore Garden? They have a full fledged entertainment center built there. Pretty decent video arcade, bowling and believe it or not Go-Karting. This is so leet…