Coffee table book captures historic journey of holy city

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 7

A pictorial coffee table book, `Amritsar-A city in remembrance’, depicting all aspects of the holy city’s rich cultural and heritage life was unveiled at a function, here on Sunday. Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu and Cabinet Minister Om Parkash Soni, along with other dignitaries, released the book stating that it was an attempt to highlight how city eveolved and all aspects of life in the holy city.

MLAs, including Municipal Corporation, Commissioner Komal Mittal and others, were present during the function. The Municipal Corporation, as part of its ambitious Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojna (HRIDAY), has come up with this beautiful historical account of Amritsar, which aims to be developed as world-class heritage site for the pilgrims and tourists.

The book contains pictures by legendry photographer Raghu Rai and is edited by noted conservation artist Gurmeet Rai. A 280 page-book is well designed and portrays the religious, cultural, commercial and ordinary life of the city and visiting pilgrims and tourists.

Apart from the book, a high-tech mobile app for the tourists and locals `Amritsar- Guide` was also launched during the function. Both the projects are part of the HRIDAY project, a central and state government’s flagship programme for developing Amritsar into a major tourist destination on world tourism map.

Cabinet Minister OP Soni, while congratulating the MC Mayor and his team for developing such a beautiful book said, Amritsar has immense potential to emerge on world tourism map. He said the book provides all necessary information to visitors about the city, its historical attractions and tourist spots.

Mayor Rintu, while welcoming the dignitaries, said, the book was a portrayal of city’s multi-layered narrative, connecting the material life of the city with its rich history and heritage. He said the mobile app is latest technology tool in the hands of the visitors about historical places and will be guide tour for pilgrims and tourists.

He further said the app would provide information about the places visited and would act as a storehouse of the photos clicked and tourism map for future references. “We are committed to project Amritsar to the world through new technology and tools, said Mayor Rintu, adding that the app is geostationary positioning (GP) based tool giving the person his or her location, tourists and historical locations nearby, how to reach there and also save tours and travels places for future references.

The dignitaries present included MLAs Sunil Datti, Inderbir Singh Bolaria, Deputy Commissioner, Commissioner of Police, GNDU VC Dr Jaspal Singh, Prof. Sarbjot Singh Behal, Prof Sukhdev Singh, State Convenor, INTACH, former head and Dilbir Foundation chief CII Gunbir Singh, Khalsa College Principal Dr. Mehal Singh, DS Rataul, Principal Nanak Singh, MC Additional Commissioner, SE, Dr Jatinder Brar, president Natshala and others.

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