Is This The Most Beautiful Botanical Garden In Mumbai?

Bombay Port Trust Garden

There is a huge botanical garden, Bombay Port Trust {or Sagar Upvan}, hidden away in Colaba, with a view of the sea, a glass-covered cactus garden and huge trees with butterflies hovering around.

Butterfly, Flutter By

This is a 12-acre park, with huge green lawns, beautiful trees and through it a wide running track covering a distance of 650 metres all the way around. We began our expedition into this with awe and wonderment that such a huge green space exists Mumbai and walked our way through. To our side, there were rolling hills and slopes in the landscape that reminded us of the tumble down games that we played as children. We liked that the park understood our non-athleticism so well, and kept ready benches and single-seats to collapse on {or sit and admire the view from} every few metres. There are also quite a few gazebos which we could sit inside. It was a bit like an enchanted forest, there was just rustling of the leaves, a soft sound of the waves and the loud chatter of the birds are what you would hear here. Tree trunks were horizontally placed on the grass to sit on, huge trees under which to have a picnic and stone walls to walk past with big pink flowers on a creepers were hanging down.

What Makes It Different?

Our favourite bit? The view of the Arabian Sea. We sat on the beautiful benches facing the sea, and could see the fishermen at bay with their colourful boats. While the view was calming, we would happily like to report, that the stench of fish is absent here. We also loved the massive trees reminding us of the whomping willow, adding to the own-worldness of it all. There was also a structure with a winding staircase to go stand atop and look down upon the whole garden, and the butterflies that would touch and disappear into the leaves. Lastly, as we were about to make an exit out of the garden we came across a greenhouse with a covered roof and inside it were cacti of all shapes and sizes, with less thorny, succulent leaves, and baby cacti too.

Anything Else?

It was safe, with a reasonable number of people present there, buut not too crowded. Keep in mind though that in the rush hours of the workout life, morning and evening may get too busy. But then again, this place is big enough to happily have every body in it.

So, We’re Saying

We were surprised that some place so big and beautiful can be tucked away from the eyes of the city. If you ever want to escape the madness, take a run, catch a butterfly {and let it go}, walk around, tumble down hills or just gaze at the sea, you know where to be, don’t you?

Kedarnath: Where Modernity Meets Spirituality

After the massive flash floods and landslides hit north India and particularly Kedarnath in 2013, pilgrims were apprehensive about the Char Dham Yatra. But owing to the remarkable reconstruction administered by the government of India, the number of pilgrims witnessed a stupendous increase since 2018.

Char Dham is a set of four pilgrimage sites in India - Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. The number of pilgrims visiting the sites in 2018 was recorded at 26 lakh while the figures are equally impressive this year. Till August 25, the count was 28, 04,000 out of which 7,32,000 people registered through photometric registration while 30,000 pilgrims registered online. 26,000 people registered through the mobile application.

The Char Dham Highway - Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream project - is also expected to increase the number of pilgrims two folds after its inauguration.

Pilgrims Prefer Walkways

After the devastating floods, Kedarnath was in the depths of despair as roads and paths leading to the Uttarakhand town were completely destroyed. However, reconstruction commenced soon after the disaster and due to the swift pace of work, walkways and roads have been restored. Pilgrims hence, opt for walkways over motorways.

Prior to the disaster, the axis on the main entrance was a footpath, less than 10 metres wide. It was destroyed as a result of the floods and got buried in debris along with some of the monuments on this path.

The footpath has now been reconstructed into stairways as 2,660 local stones have been carved and placed on it. A special arrival platform has been developed as well that enables tourists and international pilgrims to view Kedarnath from a distance if they desire to avoid the crowd and discomfort.

Improved Facilities for Pilgrims

The Char Dham Highway, the foundation stone of which was laid down by PM Modi in December 2016, has started taking shape in Kedarnath. There is a visible difference on the way leading to the Uttarakhand town as well as the main monument. Moreover, almost 3000 pilgrims can stand in the temple premises. The confluence of river Saraswati and Mandakini, that was earlier inaccessible, has now been opened and pilgrims can view Kedar Puri from here as well.

The 270 metre long path leading to the main temple has also been broadened to 50 metres. New ghats have been constructed over Mandakini and Saraswati rivers. Changing rooms and seating areas are available at the ghats as well.

PM Modi wants that reconstruction should cater to the needs of the pilgrims. He is personally monitoring the restoration.

Meanwhile, free medical facilities for pilgrims have been arranged at base camps in Kedarnath. The Swami Vivekananda hospital was inaugurated on September 2 by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. With 12 beds, the hospital will treat pilgrims for free and also has amenities such as X-ray, ventilator and ICU.

The medical department has set up medical relief points (MRP) and warm rooms on the Gaurikund- Kedarnath walkway. At a stretch of 17kms, nine MRPs and warm rooms have been established and Kedarnath will also get two warm rooms. These rooms will help combat hypothermia (a condition where the rapidly decreasing temperature leads to stressful breathing) among pilgrims.

The second leg of the Kedarnath Heli service began from September 10. The service will be up and running till October 20 and it can be booked online by passengers. The Heli service can be availed from Guptkashi.

The government has taken it upon itself to make sure the pilgrims have the best of facilities and comfort while going for Kedarnath darshan. All the district magistrates have been given special orders to pay special attention to the pilgrims. Being a warm host, banning the usage of single use plastic products and monitoring the health facilities of all four dhams including Kedarnath are some of the orders given.