Haryana is a state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out in 1966 as a result of the partition of the former state of Punjab into two separate states – Punjabi speaking Punjab and Hindi speaking Haryana. The state capital is Chandigarh, which it shares with the neighboring state of Punjab.
Yadavindra Gardens, also known as Pinjore Gardens – While travelling from Chandigarh to Shimla, you hit the Haryana border with 20 km of driving and we stopped by the beautiful Yadavindra Gardens, also known as Pinjore Gardens located here. It is a historic 17th century Mughal garden built by Fidai Khan as a summer retreat for Aurangzeb. Fidai Khan was Aurangzeb’s master of ordnance which is a senior military position. It was abandoned a few years later.
The garden, covered with wild overgrowth, came under the territory ruled by the Maharaja of Patiala in the 19th century. The Maharaja Yadavindra Singh (1914–74) restored the garden to its former splendor. In recent times, it has been renamed as Yadavindra Garden in his memory and is used as a setting for filming Bollywood movies. You can easily spend 1-2 hours exploring the garden.
Built in a similar style to Shalimar gardens in Kashmir, the garden has been laid in seven terraces, with the main gate of the garden opening into the highest first terrace, which has a palace built in Rajasthani–Mughal style. It is called the Shish Mahal (palace of glass), which is adjoined by a romantic “Hawa Mahal” (airy palace).
The second terrace with arched doorways has the Rang Mahal (painted palace). The third terrace has cypress trees and flowerbeds leading to dense groves of fruit trees.
The next terrace has the Jal Mahal (palace of water) with a square fountain bed and a platform to relax.
The lowermost terrace has an open-air theatre, which is designed as a disc-like structure.
