Mughal Garden Wah
is an elaborate garden located near the city of Wah, Punjab, Pakistan. The
gardens are in the old village of Wah, close to the present garrison town of
Wah, located 50 km north west of Islamabad It is between Wah Cantt and Hasan Abdal on the
main Grand Trunk Road. Wah Gardens is located 12 km west of Taxila on the G.T. Road
.The gardens are in the old village of Wah, close to the present garrison town
of Wah.
The word "Wah
Garden" means "What a Garden". Wah is an Urdu sign of exclamation.
In history of this area word Wah is used by the Mughal Emperor Akbar, when he
first saw the clear, rushing water and greenery of the location, he said
"Wah" and after that the place is termed as Wah Garden. It is also
called as Mughal Garden.
The whole area is famous
for its spring, shrines and greenery. Its history traces back to Mughal
Emperors and the remains of them still visible in the area. There are many
archeological sites in the area, which reminds us the glorious Mughal era. These
gardens were initially used as a transit camp by Mughal emperors, but owing to
the natural beauty, the area was developed and cultivated. The gardens were developed with
magnificent trees and water channels by successive Mughal emperors.
Mughal emperors loved beautiful scenery, valleys and natural
water falls. This natural attachment created an idea in their minds to
establish gardens. Mughal Garden of Wah is the beautiful examples of their
great love with nature.
There are beautiful
twelve door structures, canals and waterfalls. There are bathrooms having
mixture of cold and hot water at the southern place of these twelve-door
structures. The inner portion of the twelve-door structures has been plastered
with some material. The walls of small rooms have been decorated with flowers
and petals.
Fed by clear, cool
springs from the nearby mountains, the water collects in a large square tank on
its upper terrace. The water originally flowed through a "Bara-Dari",
meaning a pavilion with twelve (bara) doors (dari), and two flanking pavilions,
one of which had elaborate bath chambers (hammam), over an inclined cascade
that was decorated in a typically Mogul black-and-yellow marble chevron
pattern. The water continued along a cypress-lined garden axis, through a
central water tank and platform, and ultimately through the main entrance gate
of the garden. The interior walls of the bara-dari were originally embellished
with stucco traceries depicting fruits, vases, foliage and trees, of which
remains can still be seen. Seven watchtowers were discovered along the perimeter
wall, and a hammam, or bath, is attached to the southern wing of the bara-dari.
The gardens have two
terraces, the upper and the lower one. It is famous for its beautiful ponds,
reflecting pools, water channels, cascades and fountains built during the reign
of Shah Jahan. A large water tank to the eastern end supplies its three water
channels that run parallel to the length of the garden. Fifteen fountains flow
from the central water channel.
The lower terrace has
tapering cypress trees, the canals through which once cool water flowed between
elegant romantic pavilions and cascading into large reflecting basins.
In old era this garden
were declared to be as a trustee of heaven and substitute for heaven's garden
on earth. One can easily visit Wah Gardens, when traveling to Taxila, Peshawar
or Abottabad, and enjoy the beauty of the area and the gardens.
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