Psyche, the soul of Baldah
Baldah Garden in Dhaka's Wari is one among the few green spots in the city. Founded by the late
Zamindar Narendra Narayan Chowdhury in 1909, the arboretum had a rich collection from some 50 nations.
The garden is managed as an annexe of the National Botanical Gardens in Mirpur. The flora include over 600 species along with near-extinct ones.
Narendra Narayan divided the garden in two sections and named one after the Greek goddesses of Psyche, goddess of soul, and the other after Cybele, goddess of nature.
The Psyche section has some rare and exotic flowering plants including Amazon water lily, gustava, dhoop, vujpattra, bhootnag, kanaklata, bichitra bakul and more.
This section has various kinds of cacti also. An employee of the garden Reazul said cactus grows in hot climates and so special arrangements are made to ensure adequate heat for the plants.
Reazul showed the soft-barked vujpattra and said, "The bark of this tree was used as paper in the past."
Prothom Alo's camera captured pictures of the local and exotic species of plants in the garden recently.
Proper heat is ensured in the house for various kinds of cacti.
Cacti are seen in the Baldah Garden.
The bark of a vujpattra tree. The bark of the tree is soft and thin.
New species of flowering plants have been planted in the garden, including the beautiful white flower.
Amazon water lily is quite an attraction of Baldah Garden. In this picture a tiny dragon fly perched on an Amazon water lily bloom in the Baldah Garden.
An Amazon water lily bud floating amidst leaves in a pond of the garden.
The monsoon greenery of the Psyche section, Baldah Garden is soothing to the eyes of the weary city dwellers.
Bhootnag blooms and leaves in the Psyche section of Baldah Garden.
An employee of the Baldah Garden displays a leaf of bichitra bakul. The colour of the bakul leaves changes with time.
Two birds perched on a bichitra bakul branch in the arboretum.
The sundial of the Baldah Garden is one among its historical structures.