Akali Market, Bagh Akalian fall into decay

Once a bustling centre of trade and heritage, the historic Akali Market and the adjoining Bagh Akalian, near the Darbar Sahib complex, now lie in utter neglect. Shopkeepers allege that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), custodian of the property, has abandoned maintenance in a bid to displace tenants and push ahead with its plan to build a multi-storey inn on the site.

Constructed in the late 1930s under the initiative of the then Akal Takht Jathedar Mohan Singh Nagoke, the Akali Market was meant to generate revenue for the Akal Takht soon after the SGPC took control of shrines from mahants. With more than 100 shops, most dealing in iron and steel, the market was once regarded as one of the busiest commercial hubs of the city. The triple-storey ‘deodhi’ at the Paparan Walla Chowk and Misri Bazaar still attracts visitors, but the internal lanes of the market today present a dismal picture.

Local residents complain that debris and garbage are deliberately left on roads outside shops, while sewerage and drainage arrangements are missing. “The garden and market have turned into a dump. Earlier, gardeners used to maintain the Bagh, but now there is no upkeep,” said Ravinder Kumar.

The adjoining Bagh Akalian, once among the most prominent gardens of Amritsar, also bears testimony to this neglect. Historians record that it was attached to Akal Bunga (now Akal Takht) and even mapped by the British administration in 1849. Sikh warrior Akali Phoola Singh had nurtured the garden, which later became an assembly point for Akali activists during the anti-British Akali Morchas in the early 19th century.

Despite its glorious past, the Bagh today lies abandoned. “There were not many resources to support shrines after the Akalis took possession in 1920. Akali Market was built in this Bagh to generate income. Now, both heritage and trade face decline due to apathy,” explained Dr Kulwinder Singh Bajwa,

historian and former head of Punjabi University’s history department.

Meanwhile, the SGPC’s long-pending plan to raise a 1,000-room inn with parking space on five acres of the market land remains stalled. Although SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal laid a foundation stone in April 2018 and earmarked Rs 10 crore in the budget for its first phase, legal disputes with tenants have prevented construction.