Historic Gobindgarh Fort likely to be thrown open to public in December

Neeraj Bagga

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 25

The 18th century Gobindgarh Fort, a fine specimen of war preparation during the period of Sikh Misls and Maharaja Ranjit Singh, is expected to be thrown open to the public in December.

Presently, conservation and restoration of the fort is underway at a war-foot level. The fort is situated next to the Lohgarh Gate, one of the 12 gates to the Sikh holy city.

The fort will have two separate museums. One of them will show Sikh soldiers and the other one will show coins used during various periods of the Sikh rule.

Punjab Heritage Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) project in charge, AR Mishra, said about 400 artisans, workers and other categories of staff were engaged at the site. He added that restoration of the core area, demanding minute observation and precision, had been finished. He recalled that the actual work started in January 2012 with funds from the state government and the Asian Development Bank.

Its core area includes a circular bungalow, durbar hall, two bastions at north east and south east of the fort and a toshakhana.

The circular-shaped bungalow with colonial architecture was raised on the plinth of the Sikh period. This bungalow will house a museum displaying mannequins of Sikh soldiers of various periods, their weapons, a replica of Zamzama canon, the original of which is in Pakistan. Besides, the building of toshakhana is also ready, which will house a museum on coins, reflecting different stages of the Sikh rule.

Following the state government’s request, former Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, during his visit to the city, had personally given the keys to the then Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in December 2006. After the conclusion of all formalities, the Army garrison stationed in the fort handed over its possession to the Department of Tourism, Punjab, in October 2008.

Originally raised by the Bhangi misl rulers, one of the 12 Sikh misls, in 1760, the fort was conquered by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1825 and it remained under his occupation till the British took over in 1845. The maharaja had named the fort as Qila Gobindgarh after the name of the tenth Sikh master, Guru Gobind Singh.

Later, the maharaja’s european generals and advisers had introduced new features, especially european defence mechanism, in the fort. For instance, the fort had extensive moats dug around it as last-ditch defences and the outer walls were inwardly inclined to facilitate the deflection of cannon ball. During the conservation work, a drain was discovered underneath which falls in the moat.