The park covers around a hundred and thirty acres in the middle of the city and was known as Alfred Park under the British. It was renamed for Chandrashekhar Azad, who died here in February 1931 in a shootout with police, taking his own life with his last round rather than being captured.

A statue marks the spot. The tree he was standing beside became a place of pilgrimage in its own right.

The park holds the Allahabad Museum and the Public Library, and the Madan Mohan Malaviya Stadium adjoins it. In the mornings it fills with walkers, and the athletics track sees serious use.