A bagh of rare beauty

Not many may know that there are over 6,000 species of cacti in the world and Panchkula alone has over 3,500 species. Amazed? So were we to see as many as 3,500 varieties of cacti, 450 species from all over the world, 57 plants families and more than 1,000 species including umbrella at the National Cactus and Succulent Botanical Garden and Research Centre, situated in Sector 5, Panchkula.


The Cactus Garden is Asia’s biggest garden devoted to rare and endangered species of Indian succulents, which was named after its founder Dr JS Sarkaria. The love of these people is evident from the number of plants they own. The garden is a sprawling seven-and-a-half acres expanse of greens. It was established while Dr Sarkaria, the founder of the Cactus Garden and himself a connoisseur of cacti, was trying to dispose off his personal collection owing to ill health.



It was then that HUDA offered to allot him land for setting up the garden, besides infrastructural support. It also provided him monetary aid for maintenance of the garden. Other than the indigenous varieties of Caralluma Sarkariae and Caralluma Bhupindrian created by Dr Sarkaria, almost all known varieties of Caralluma, and over 70 per cent of the varieties of Haworthias and Genus Mamammillaria are present in this unique garden. The ‘National Cactus and Succulent Botanical Garden and Research Centre’ which is formerly called Cactus Garden, was set up in 1987, as a result of the vision and hard work of Dr Sarkaria.



The main objective behind the establishment of the garden was the preservation and conservation of endangered species, some of which are used in traditional Indian healing systems of Ayurveda and Unani. It has the world’s largest collection of Indian succulents, including the species belonging to the extremely rare Genus Caralluma family and also number of international cacti donors from UK, USA, Austria and Namibia. It is a great source of attraction for not only tourists but also for botanists, with over a hundred visitors visit the garden. The visitors are allowed between 8 am till 7.30 pm in the summers and from 8 am to 6 pm in winters.


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