NEW DELHI: Close on the heels of the renaming of Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Mughal Gardens, the University of Delhi has changed the name of Mughal Garden on the North Campus to ‘Gautam Buddha Centenary Garden’.
Justifying the rechristening, a university official said the garden did not have a Mughal design. “The competent authority of the University of Delhi has approved the garden’s name (opposite the Vice Regal Lodge) with the statue of Gautam Buddha at its centre as Gautam Buddha Centenary Garden,” Registrar Vikas Gupta said in a notification dated January 27. The statue of Gautam Buddha has been present in the area for 15 years.
The university authorities claimed that neither the garden’s creation nor its design can be attributed to the Mughals. Many botanists and garden experts had brought the issue to the university’s attention, they added. When questioned about the timing of the name change, the official said the park was renamed ahead of the university hosting a flower show in March.
“For the flower display, we want to create brochures and booklets. It is merely coincidental that the Mughal Garden’s name was also changed; the recommendation for the name change was made to the vice-chancellor 15 days ago,” the official said. Earlier on Saturday, the Rashtrapati Bhavan had changed the name of iconic Mughal Gardens to ‘Amrit Udyan.’ The university, however, said the renaming of garden on its campus has no relation to that decision.