Japan- Pune Okayama Friendship Garden

The Largest Japanese Garden Outside Japan- Pune Okayama Friendship Garden

          When you approach towards Sinhagad road from Dandekar Bridge, you are most likely to meet slums, street hawkers & lots of traffic. But, on this same road lies the largest japanese garden outside Japan- Pune Okayama Friendship Garden or Pu La Deshpande Garden as it is famously known. 

         Basically, japanese gardens are built to bring people closer to the nature. They are the most developed gardens. According to Wikipedia- Japanese gardens are traditional gardens that create miniature idealized landscapes, often in a highly abstract and stylized way. The gardens of the Emperors and nobles were designed for recreation and aesthetic pleasure, while the gardens of Buddhist temples were designed for contemplation and meditation. Pune Okayama Friendship Garden is based on one of the major gardens in Okayama city 'The Korakuen Garden'. Since the Friendship Garden is based on the garden in Okayama and is in Pune, it bridges the gap between the two cities giving people of India a small insight of the Japanese Garden, & maybe, thus the name Pune Okayama Friendship Garden.

           The garden offers a variety of natural elements from luscious green meadows to calmly flowing streams. It is based on the Yin Yan philosophy. The garden characterizes the composition of fire, harmony, spirit world and water, it thus, expresses the various elements to speak about light and darkness, soft and hard, stillness and motion, warm and cold. The garden recreates the spirit of Zen. 

         The entry fees for the garden is ₹5. There is path on which visitors can walk in the garden. There are benches all over for seating. The garden has green meadows, a flowing stream and different kinds of plants. Many species of birds and insects can also be found here. There are caretakers all around the garden who stop people from walking on the lawn which is strictly not allowed in the garden. Photography and videography is also strictly prohibited, but there won't be a single person who will follow this, each one can be seen clicking pictures. A scene from Salman Khan's Bodyguard was also shot at this garden. 

          This garden depicts the spirit of Japanese gardens. It is a pure form of nature and helps people come closer to nature. The most important thing, unlike other gardens, this garden is maintained professional and very well which helps restore its true aura.