KHOJ Naranpura
Biodiversity Park
A nature trail of more than 2,500 plants, turned from unutilised land into a learning space for children.
Establishment of Garden
From unused ground to a learning space
The Biodiversity Park was transformed from a completely unutilised and damaged piece of land into a learning space for children. It forms part of the KHOJ Naranpura experience.
2,500+ Plants
The nature trail was designed with over 2,500 different plants, giving children a living collection to walk through, look closely at and learn from.
70–80 Species
Among them, 70 to 80 species serve particular purposes, including medicinal plants, vegetables and butterfly host plants.
Learning by Doing
Rather than a display to look at, the park invites children to walk, notice and ask questions — the same participatory spirit as the museum galleries.
Why it matters
Plants that do something
Each plant in the park was chosen for a reason. Some are used as medicines, some are grown as vegetables, and some act as host plants for butterflies — so the trail doubles as an introduction to how a living landscape supports health, food and wildlife.
For young visitors, that makes the garden a place where everyday objects — a leaf, a seed, a caterpillar — become starting points for questions about the natural world.
Where to find it
The Biodiversity Park sits within the KHOJ Naranpura campus, at Vedhshala, near Naranpura Railway Crossing, Ahmedabad.
Working hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 – 18:00. Mondays are closed, and special sessions may follow their own timings.
Plan Your VisitWider story
The garden is one milestone in the KHOJ timeline, alongside KHOJ Naranpura, KHOJ Riverfront (inaugurated on January 21, 2022), KHOJ Social (started on April 13, 2022) and KHOJ Surat in its developing stage.
See the Full Timeline| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Nature trail | Over 2,500 different plants |
| Notable species | 70 to 80 species serving distinct purposes |
| Uses | Medicine, vegetables, butterfly host plants |
| Setting | Part of the KHOJ Naranpura experience in Ahmedabad, Gujarat |
KHOJ Naranpura Biodiversity Park began as a piece of unused, damaged ground and was reimagined as a nature trail where children can walk, look closely, and learn from living collections of plants. The transformation reflects the museum's wider philosophy: that inquiry starts with curiosity, and that learning is strongest when it is grounded in everyday experience. Rather than presenting information behind glass, the park invites visitors to move through it, touching, observing, and asking their own questions as they go.
More than 2,500 plants shape the trail, with seventy to eighty species playing particular roles in the design. Among them are soap plants, whose bubbles turn ordinary play into a chemistry lesson, and specimens connected to local history and the moon, showing how a single garden can hold scientific, cultural, and ecological threads at once. The planting is layered, so the route rewards slow attention: visitors encounter simple reasons for why each plant sits where it does.
The park functions as an extension of KHOJ's participatory approach, where exhibits are built around the process of exploration rather than finished answers. Children are encouraged to participate rather than simply observe, moving between themed displays, activity stations, and open ground that supports unplanned discovery. This inquirious, play-filled design helps concepts of science and biodiversity remain connected to daily lives and to the senses, making abstract ideas tangible through contact with growing things.
Regular programming links the garden to the museum's other offerings, including exhibitions, films, workshops, and online explorations, so that a visit can unfold across media. Civic and community partnerships support the site, and events hosted here allow families and school groups to build on themes introduced in the galleries. The result is an engaging, dynamic experience in which the museum's growing body of work stays accessible to visitors of different ages and backgrounds.
More broadly, the Biodiversity Park demonstrates how a museum can set design and building processes in motion for an entire neighbourhood. Turning neglected land into a shared learning space means that children, families, and local residents become collaborators rather than audience members alone. The park's philosophy of connection, depth, and movement suggests a museum that continues to grow: each trail, activity, and question adds another layer to a story about science, art, and the creative lives of everyday communities.