Serenity in Kabul

Today’s pick for unlikely tourist attraction: Kabul, Afghanistan.

Though the war zone’s issues run the gamut from serious safety concerns to severely polluted air quality, the Globe and Mail reports on the recent re-opening of  “a corner of loveliness in the heart of Kabul,” the 27-acre (11-hectare) beech tree-lined Babur Garden. The green space is modeled after an ancestral garden fashioned by the founder of the Moghul empire, 16th century Emperor Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur. After $5 million in restoration work, the revamped park is once again a much-needed haven of tranquility for locals.

The Globe and Mail explains the garden’s significance:

The Baghe Babur (Babur's Garden) became a symbol of Kabul's devastation. The Aga Khan, spiritual head of the world's Ismaili Muslims and a friend of the government of President Hamid Karzai, led the effort to fix it up. The German government pitched in. The hope was that the garden, restored to its former splendor, would become a symbol of the city's renaissance.

That now seems idealistic, given all of Afghanistan's troubles. Even so, if a fractious people such as the Afghans are to succeed, they will need more than new bridges and a better electrical supply. They will need a shared history and culture. Babur and his garden are part of that heritage.

In addition to extensive landscape work, excavators fixed up two historic buildings: the Queen’s Palace and a 17th-century marble mosque. And according to the Globe and Mail, the garden has quickly become a thriving hub: “People come not just to picnic, but to attend cultural events such as theater festivals and recitals by traditional Afghan musicians—little touches of civilization in a country shattered by decades of turmoil and civil war.”

Here's hoping that more illuminating spots like this one crop up elsewhere in Afghanistan.

Photo: Javaid Zeerak

Comments

[Jim Benning]

Great piece. It's fascinating to watch Afghanistan slowly come back, isn't it? Let's just hope that peace can prevail throughout the country so more of these stories pop up. I'd love to visit one day. Unfortunaely, I just don't think now is the best time.

We've been covering the Afghanistan story a bit at World Hum, too:

http://www.worldhum.com/weblog/category/C43/

[Josh Knorovsky]

This article was kind of boring... Please write about more interesting places, please.