Asia's largest Tulip garden on the foothills of Zabarwan range overlooking famous Dal Lake in northern India was thrown open for public Thursday.
The garden has taken a lead over similar ones across the world, including the fields of Holland and China, with early bloom this season due to unusual temperature.
According to Director Floriculture G Sarwar Naqash, Dutch tulips will take three weeks more to bloom while tulips of China will take more than a month's time.
Srinagar is experiencing unusual hot temperature this spring. The maximum temperature touched 26.2 degrees celsius -- 11 degrees above normal -- while minimum temperature was
8.6 degrees which is four degrees above normal.
The normal temperature during this part of the season in the city is 15 degrees Celsius (maximum) and four degrees Celsius (minimum), Met office said.
As the garden, the brain child of Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, was declared open for visitors, locals and tourists were seen enjoying its vast expanse having over 15 lakh tulips of different varieties and colours.
Floriculture Minister Sham Lal Sharma and his deputy minister were the first to visit the garden around 9.30 am.
"Over 500 people, mostly tourists, have visited the garden till afternoon," Floriculture officer of the garden Javed Ahmad said.
The tulip garden, spread over 35 hectares, was first thrown open by Congress President Sonia Gandhi on March 29, 2008. A couple of Bollywood films have also been shot here.
Ahmad said the department has planted different varieties of flowers to ensure its opening all the year round.
"The garden will remain open till late autumn. We want tourists to come and visit Kashmir," he said, adding it will remain open throughout the week from 9.30 am to 6.30 pm and the tickets are for Rs 20 and Rs 50 for children and adults, respectively.
Ahmad said a 10-day tulip festival is also planned this season to attract visitors. It is being organised by the department of Tourism in collaboration with the Floriculture department from April 1.
The festival would showcase Kashmiri culture and arts, especially handicrafts, music and cuisines.
"We are expecting a large number of visitors this season," Ahmad said, adding while over 80,000 people visited the garden in the first year, the number came down in view of incessant rains which curtailed the life of the tulips last year.