Looking at the 80,000-odd tulips on Shanti Path is to get lost in simple beauty. Most imported from the Netherlands, the flower has its origin in Central Asia, from where it was brought to Europe by the Turks, where they became a symbol of wealth and power. They also sparked a craze known as ‘tulip mania‘ in 17th-century Europe, when people traded fortunes for rare and exotic bulbs.
No wonder tulips have different meanings in different cultures – true love, royalty, forgiveness, cheerful thoughts,… apart from us wondering about the secrets and mysteries that lie within their petals.
Looking at tulips benefits our innermost aesthete and can, indeed, enhance our lives and ways of seeing the world. They connect us with nature and with ourselves. You stand enthralled by their colours, shapes and standing together witness to the beauty of the world.