Alright, so we know that in the Indian culture, trees were considered important and were attached with a religious importance so as to protect them. But there were also the Patrons of Gardens, who greatly contributed to the cultural and artistic development of gardens in India. In the Mauryan period of Indian history, by the time of King Ashoka, i.e 270 to 250 B.C., royal orders ensured that there were gardens and parks being developed all through his kingdom. So what were these gardens like?
Each park was expected to have water pools, creeper arbors and shaded walks.
More emphasis was laid on shade, and the cooling effects of water; then, there were the utilitarian elements like the trees, shrubs and creepers, that were given importance for their fragrance and fruits.
Another interesting fact that helps us in imagining these early gardens is that the concept and technique of irrigation had been existing and applied in India since as early as 1200 to 1000 B.C.
A description of this can be found in the information given to us by Kālidāsa; in his works he describes a machine which is similar to our present day water sprayers.
So, these gardens were probably watered from a main tank by well laid out water channels, and were laid in a grid iron pattern, much like the cities of the Harappa civilization.
These simple technique of irrigation is found in use even today, as I recently had the pleasure of observing, on a trip to the coast of Guhaghar in Maharashtra.
It was a ‘Wadi‘, adjoining the sea beach, with a system of 2 water tanks connected by a channel. The channel had spouts at regular intervals, and when flooded, the channel would overflow into these spouts. The spouts in turn were connected to mud waterways that terminated in circular pits. At the centre of each pit, was a tree.
Bāghorama Landscape Architects 