One year, 100 walks: ‘Cubbon Walks’ inspires citizens to engage with Bengaluru’s diverse flora and fauna

Citizens take part in “Anniversary Walk”, a guided walk organised by the Horticulture Department at Cubbon Park in Bengaluru on July 28, 2026. | Photo Credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J Following the successful completion of one year of Cubbon Walks, the Karnataka State Department of Horticulture (KSDH) officials in association with Cubbon Park Walkers Association, Bangalore WALKS and The Naturalist School, organised an anniversary walk on Tuesday (July 28, 2026).Around 40 people participated in the walk. . Prasanna Kumar, one of the participants, said, “It was wonderful to walk through the entire park and the guide explained interesting facts about various trees present there. He explained about how a ficus fruit or atti hannu gets formed with the help of an insect, fig wasp. If this insect doesn’t exist, then fruit can never be formed. Such facts were not known to us.”Mr Prasanna added, “The State government along with department officials should stop concretising the park. Too many concrete structures have already come up. If such a heritage park has to be saved, then concretisation must stop inside the park.” People interested in future ‘Cubbon Walks’ can book tickets through the official website of Department of Horticulture. | Photo Credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J An educational strollCubbon Walks was launched by KSDH for the first time at Shri Chamarajendra (Cubbon) Park on July 27, 2025. The walk takes place every Saturday and Sunday from 7.30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and aims to educate participants on the flora and fauna in the park.M Jagadeesh, Joint Director, (Parks and Gardens), Horticulture department, said, “We want more people to participate in Cubbon Walks to know how special and old these trees are in addition to the diversity of flora and fauna. Till date, around 1,852 participants have taken part in the programme. Today’s walk was conducted by expert naturalist guides, Karthikeyan S, Ashish N. Patel and Suchi Govindaraj. They led the walk and and explained the significance of the park’s rich plant diversity and biodiversity. We spotted varieties of birds, mammals, studied some trees and flowers there.”“From lingering below the ancient trees to hearing stories of how Major General Richard Sankey, a British chief engineer, designed this park, people will get to know everything during the walk,” Mr. Jagadeesh added. The ‘anniversary walk’ was conducted by expert naturalist guides, Karthikeyan S, Ashish N. Patel and Suchi Govindaraj. | Photo Credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J Celebrating nature in BengaluruMeanwhile, Cubbon Park Walkers Association president Umesh S. reaffirmed their commitment to continuing the walks and inspiring more citizens to participate in it. “The enthusiastic response from participants reflects the growing interest in understanding and preserving the city’s natural and cultural heritage. We should celebrate the nature in Bengaluru through such activities,” he said.While the anniversary walk was conducted for free for participants, people interested in future walks can book tickets through the official website of Department of Horticulture.The participation fee is ₹200 for adults and ₹50 for children above 10 years of age. Only 30 people can be part of each walk which is conducted for 90 minutes, in both English and Kannada languages. Published - July 28, 2026 05:55 pm IST