Mata Kaulan Ji Botanical Garden in full bloom

Mata Kaulan Ji Botanical Garden on the GNDU campus covers an area of 25 acres. There are 12 different sections in the garden, which have been developed according to the Bentham and Hooker system of classification. There are approximately 200 species belonging to 84 families in the garden, of which 56 have recently been introduced.

GNDU Botanical Garden was recently funded by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEF & CC), Government of India, to the tune of Rs72 lakh under the ABG scheme. The garden is now focussing on the conservation and propagation of rare, endangered and threatened (RET) plant species besides enriching its biodiversity. Providing a huge diversity of plants, the Botanical Garden has expanded significantly to include new structures such as conservatory, shade house, moss house for rescuing plant diversity and creating aesthetically pleasing refuge from modern life. The handbook on “Plant Diversity of GNDU Botanical Garden” was released by the varsity a few months ago to create awareness regarding the plant diversity.

The Botanical Garden project is being looked after by Prof Satwinderjeet Kaur (Principal investigator) along with co-investigators Prof Avinash Kaur Nagpal, Prof Renu Bhardwaj, Prof Saroj Arora, Prof AP Vig of the department of the botanical and environmental sciences. The conservatory inside the garden was made especially with a purpose of conserving the green wealth of the region. It has 19 RET (rare and endangered trees) that were once native of Punjab. It has rare species including Gingko Biloba, known as the living fossil, and Khejri Tree or the Jandh that finds a special mention in the popular Punjabi folkore of Heer-Ranjha.

The Moss House and Fern House are two spaces created for growing different species of Himalayan moss and ferns. The Fern House also has three species of Kashmiri ferns that are known for their high medicinal value in traditional Kashmiri medicines that have gained massive popularity in European markets. Apart from the flora, the Lotus Pond inside the garden has ducks that have now become a popular sight to behold. The restricted area of the garden has abundant peacocks and birds of rare species.