Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has taken up the challenge of creating a Japanese garden in the city. It has finalised 12 acres of land in its proposed Pu La Deshpande Udyan along the Sinhagad road by using the backdrop of Parvati hills. This will be the first big Japanese garden in the country!

The idea of recreating the original Japanese garden in Pune is, of course, inspired from the 300-year old Okayama Korakuen Garden developed by Ikeda royal family in the 12 specious hectares in Okayama. PMC garden superintendent Yashwant Khaire, landscape designers for the Pune project- architect Shobha Bhopatkar, Mahesh Nampurkar and Samir Khale from the Association of Friends of Japan visited Korakuen Garden last month. They discussed with experts on Japanese gardens there. Now they are charged with many new ideas to transform PMC's dream into reality!

"This style is devised in such a way that if you take a walk through a Japanese garden enjoying the landscape, which changes along the garden paths, you will experience a picture scroll", Bhopatkar and Nampurkar described Korekuen. The garden has been designed in a manner that you can enjoy the changing landscape as you walk around it!

Entire garden seems bright and lively. A large pond and a mount were made at the centre of the garden and surrounded with lawn areas succeeded in giving an open and sunny impression as a whole, they observed.

Japanese gardens are play of shades, light and dark. According to Bhopatkar, Korakuen is no exception and the wide lawn areas constitute the light part, whereas the dense forest represents dark shades to maintain comparative harmony. It is exclusively one-type tree forest style in which long paths connects the central part intersect crosswise in X shape.

Nampurkar says, "Korakuen have taken in the historical trends of gardens of gardens and incorporated features from each era, in which spiritual aspects were also incorporated in many areas. It also served as an aid for agricultural promotion by taking in pastoral scenery such as paddy fields fro growing rice plants and tea gardens."

Korakuen is a masterpiece per excellence which was constructed having been examined from every angle also represents precious cultural heritage of Japan, Bhopatkar and Nampurkar point out.

"This is an all seasons, all days and nights garden! We want to make it also as a pride of Pune. Like a classical Japanese garden, Pu La Deshpande Garden's this section will also create an in-depth satisfying experience for a spectator. The wall and gates will also be designed with the help of bamboo," says Bhopatkar. "Pu. La.'s literature had given an immense satisfaction to the readers. The Puneri Japanese Garden will be a true tribute to the master of wards and wit!" she concludes.