Trees of Empress Botanical Garden

Empress Botanical Garden, a green paradise in the heart of Pune

Empress Botanical Garden, a green paradise in the heart of Pune is a 39 acre bio-diverse expanse situated near Pune racecourse. A rare & towering trees with dense green foliage, giant climbers is a green heritage site not only to this city but for the state of Maharashtra. It is an institution of living collection of plants, a centre of public education, major recreational place for the citizens and most of all, conserve Pune’s natural environment & biodiversity for the generations to come. Our mission for the Empress Botanical Garden is to conserve native biodiversity, establish a centre for scientific research and environmental education with to provide an unique ecotourism destination for the citizens of Pune. HISTORY Sir John Malcolm, then Governor of Bombay state established a trust called Agri-Horticultural Society of Western India in the year 1830. Some of the earlier members of the trust were famous botanist Dr. Birdwood, Dr. Heddle, Dr. Jagannath Shankar Seth, David Sasoon, Jamsheji Jijabhoy & others. It was ten years later, Bombay’s Rani Baug was also established under the Society. In 1853, Botanical Garden in Kirkee was established. For number of years the Society was looked after by various committees. At a later stage, it was under Dr. C. D. Deshmukh and Sardar Mudaliar. Later on, Sir Jamshedji Jijibhoy established Bund Garden in Pune. During Queen Victoria’s visit to India, in her honour, the present garden was christened as Empress Botanical Garden. In the year 1892 the Agri-Horticultural Society of Western India took over the management of Empress Botanical Garden Pune and it is being maintained presently without any financial assistance from the Govt.