Sayaji Baug (Kamati Baug)

Garden By HoVB 2 Comments

Imagine a sprawling park with pathways shaded by huge leafy trees and lawns bordered with lush green bushes, in the center of the city. Sayaji Baug is one such park located in the heart of Vadodara. Also known as “Kamati Baug”, it was commissioned by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III in 1879, as a gift to the citizens of his Baroda State.

A Floral Clock and two brave boys :

Earlier the site of a village called Kamatipura, the park is situated on banks of river Vishwamitri. Sayaji Baug, (also known as Public Park in olden time) is spread over 113 acres of land and is the largest garden in Western India. Apart from being rich in flora and fauna with over 98 species of trees, the park houses a huge museum, a zoo, a planetarium, and a miniature toy train.

The park is dotted with water fountains, several bronze sculptures, and groups of fitness equipment and children’s playground equipment. It also the home to an open-air theatre and an enormous floral clock. The machinery of the clock is underground, and its hour, minute and second’s hands move on a dial that is 20 feet in diameter!

While roaming through the park, one will come statues of two small boys, (one located at the gate in front of MSU Fine Arts & other is located in the garden area near the bandstand). These statues were actually commissioned as a tribute to the two boys from Dhari, Amreli, by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. These were the boys who saved the Maharaja from a tiger during a hunting expedition.

Cable-stayed Suspension Bridge :

A cable-stayed Suspension Bridge over the Vishwamitri River is too a part of the garden. The present bridge is a later addition on the site of an old cable-stayed suspension bridge. The old bridge was built by John Fleming & Co Engineers, Bombay, at the time when the garden was also being set up. But in a tragic turn of events, the bridge broke down due to heavy rush on the day of Fugga Agiyaras in 1964. The bridge currently standing on the site is a new Cable Bridge constructed by the VMC in the year 2016.

An Egyptian Mummy and Whale’s skeleton & a Health museum :

Housed in a cozy corner of the park behind towering palm trees, the Baroda Museum was built in 1894, with the Picture Gallery being added in 1921. Designed by Robert Chisholm the Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery preserves a rich collection of art, sculpture, ethnography, and ethnology. The four feet tall Egyptian Mummy and the skeleton of a Blue Whale are some of the most famous exhibits of the museum. Along with these, the Picture Gallery exhibits artworks of some British Painters.

In a white bungalow across the Baroda Museum, was housed the Health Museum. Built during 1878/79 for Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, it was used by him while visiting the park. It is said that earlier, this building was given to the Parsi community for events. Built in the Victorian style, the building has wooden flooring and staircase along with a small terrace and wrought iron embellishments. Over the years, the health museum was closed down and the pavilion is now occasionally used for organizing workshops. Recently an exhibition on the works of the famed architect Robert Fellows Chisolm was organized there.

A Zoo, a Planetarium, and a Toy Train :

Want to learn about outer space? Look no further !!! The Sardar Patel Planetarium at Sayaji Baug will answer all your questions about the space. The huge pyramidal building standing on the premises of the Park houses the Planetarium. Educating people about space for many years, it organizes shows in three languages namely Hindi, Gujarati, and English.

Picture yourself sitting in a small train that is running alongside shaded pathways on one side and huge fenced areas with different animals in them, on the other side, this would be the Sayaji Baug Zoo. One gets two options to traverse through the Zoo at the Sayaji Baug and to see different types of animals housed in it. One can stroll through the zoo either via the shaded pathways or via the miniature train.

Peep peep, Watch out !!! the Joy Train is coming through!!! For years, the Baug has been the home to a miniature railway line. Earlier called the Ajayab Ghar (The House of Wonders) the Toy Train was a scaled-down version of the trains normally seen running in India, and its bogies could only fit small children. A few years ago this was changed and the miniature train and its bogies were replaced with a Joy Train which could also fit grown people. The station’s name was also changed from Ajayab Ghar to Swami Vivekanada Station and the Toy Train became the Joy Train.

The park is ever full of people even in the mornings, people looking to stay fit, people looking for an escape from their busy lives and people simply looking for some happiness. Flocks of people especially crowd the park on the weekends. If you are lucky enough, you may even get to see the glee on the faces of little children out on a field trip from school, lining up outside the Ajayab Ghar waiting for the Toy Train to arrive at the station !!!

Even today after almost a 140 years, this gift by the visionary Maharaja is the joy and pride of the citizens of Baroda. A park full of joy and ever waiting to be discovered and rediscovered by its people. It is full of joy even outside its premises, with the Ballon-walas doing rounds outside the park with colorful balloons soaring the sky and the air filled with the tantalizing aromas arising from the street food carts from across the road. But wait there is some more left to be discovered! A visit to the park is never complete without the evening ride of the city in the decorated horse-drawn carts, taking you to a bygone era. So visit the Sayaji Baug to simply escape to a different world taking you from a concrete jungle to an almost real one !!!