The gardens are a masterpiece from the time of the Mughal civilization, which reached its height during the reign of the Emperor Shah Jahan. The gardens were commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1637. The fort contains marble palaces and mosques decorated with mosaics and gilt. The elegance of these splendid gardens, built near the city of Lahore on three terraces with lodges, waterfalls and large ornamental ponds, is unequalled.
Each garden is divided by canals and flowerbeds, following the Persian tradition of the charbagh, or fourfold garden. Each of the 3 parts is on a different level, so that the upper parts are concealed from the view of people entering from below. The highest, and therefore the most private, section is thought to have been used by the imperial women. The channels of water that weave through the whole garden are fed by canals designed and administered by a defector from the Persian court, Ali Mardan Khan, or Inayat Khan, known for his architectural and building expertise. The gardens contain white marble buildings in typical Shah Jahani style. They are enclosed by a red sandstone wall interrupted by small decorative kiosks. The Shalimar Gardens are among the best preserved Mughal gardens.
The Shalimar Gardens are laid out in the form of an oblong parallelogram, surrounded by a high brick wall, which is famous for its intricate fretwork. The gardens measure 658 meters north to south and 258 meters east to west.
In 1981, Shalimar Gardens was included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, under the UNESCO Convention concerning the protection of the world’s cultural and natural heritage sites in 1972.
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