Srinagar: A record 4.46 lakh visitors visited Asia's largest tulip garden, located between the Dal Lake and Zabarwan hills here, which was closed to the public on Wednesday after being open for more than a month, officials said. Was.

Garden's floriculture officer Javid Masood said, "This year the garden remained open for 33 days and 4,46,15 tourists came."

This is the highest number ever recorded in the park since its establishment in 2007.

Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden, earlier known as Siraj Bagh, was opened to the public on March 23 this year.

Masood said the visitors included 3,204 foreigners, 3,35,636 domestic tourists and 1,07,314 locals.

He said the highest number of footfalls to the garden was on April 11, a day after Eid-ul-Fitr, when a total of 30,659 people visited the garden. Visitors that day included 18,888 locals.

Last year, more than 3.65 lakh visitors, both domestic and foreign, visited the park, while 2022 will see a footfall of 3.60 lakh.

This year, the Department of Floriculture added five new varieties of tulips to the existing 68. It also increased the area of ​​the tulip garden by adding two lakh bulbs.

A record 17 lakh tulip bulbs were planted in the garden spread over 55 hectares.