I have never seen anything like this, other than the art of Henry Dudley Murphey, I thought to myself, as I entered Asia’s largest tulip garden in the early hours of the morning. The vast ocean of colours was just tulips, swaying gracefully in the breeze.

The Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden in Srinagar opened for the season on Sunday. This year, 1.2 million tulips across 60 varieties have been cultivated in the garden that has the most perfect setting: on the banks of the Dal Lake with the lower slopes of the Zabarwan Hills for backdrop.