The picture that you are seeing is of 1868 but the Chashma Shahi, or the royal spring, has been serving the royalty and tourists to Kashmir since 1632. Chashme Shahi is one of the Mughal gardens built in 1632 around a spring by Ali Mardan Khan, a governor of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as per the orders of the Emperor, as a gift for his eldest son Prince Dara Shikoh. The garden is located in the Zabarwan Range, near the present Raj Bhawan, the residence and officer of the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. The Chashma Shahi is at a height overlooking the magnificent Dal Lake of Srinagar.
The garden was constructed around the spring by the Mughal Governor Ali Mardan Khan in 1632. It was commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his eldest son, Dara Sikoh. In the east of Chashma Shahi the Pari Mahal lies where Dara Sikoh used to learn astrology. The garden is 108 m long and 38 m wide and is spread over one acre of land. It is the smallest garden among the three Mughal gardens of Srinagar; the Shalimar garden is the largest and the Nishat garden is the second largest.
The main focus of the garden is the spring which flows down in terraces and is divided into three sections. A two-storeyed Kashmiri hut stands at the first terrace which is the origin of the spring. The water then flows down through a water ramp (chadar) into the second terrace. The second terrace serves as a water pool and a large fountain stands at its centre. The water again flows down through a water ramp into the third terrace, which is a square five-fountain pool. It is the lowest pool at the entrance of the garden. The visitors are received through a flight of stairs on both sides of the terraces which leads up to the origin of the spring.
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