Maharaja Duleep Singh Memorial kothi cries for attention

A decade after Bassian Kothi was renovated and dedicated to the memory of the last Maharaja of Sarkar Khalsa, Maharaja Duleep Singh, the memorial is crying for attention.

Besides carrying various other historical memories, the kothi is popular in the Sikh world as the 11-year-old Maharaja spent a night her on December 31, 1849, before being exiled by

the British.

Built around 1800, the kothi was the headquarters of Lord Hardinge during the battles of Ferozeshah and Mudqi while it emerged as an artillery storehouse for the British Indian Army. Some members of the Kuka Movement were also imprisoned here.

The premises were also allegedly later used as a torture unit by the state police during the post-Independence era of militancy.

In 2015, the kothi was fully restored as a memorial by the SAD government in collaboration with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and opened to the public as a museum.

Visitors including students of various educational institutes started coming on excursion tours and the kothi became a centre of attraction for art lovers and filmmakers seeking to shoot celebratory episodes.

However, the administration’s failure to undertake regular repairs and maintenance works has resulted in a situation where some doors have fallen prey to termites and others have broken.

The whole building, including fixtures and statues require immediate restoration. The paint-job is flaking and cracks have started appearing on some walls. Repair of flood and focus lights, upkeep of lawns and highlighting of various avenues are among the areas requiring immediate attention. Models of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s throne, a sword, chairs, robes and other articles are losing sheen due to administrative apathy.

Facilities for the upkeep and watering of lawns and gardens spread over

five acres are proving to be insufficient.

The staff posted at the kothi said that Cabinet Minister and former Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora had announced a grant worth Rs 20 lakh for the kothi’s renovation, besides a Rs 5 lakh grant to the village panchayat, during a function held three years ago.

Bassian Sarpanch Sukhwinder Singh Kaler confirmed that the Rs 5-lakh-grant had been received by the civic body and would soon be used to construct a memorial gate leading to the kothi.

However, Junior Engineer Jagtar Singh said the grant received had already been spent on various miscellaneous works.

Workers Gobind Singh and Manpreet Singh said they were yet to receive salary for the last five months, regarding which a memorandum had been sent to the Raikot SDM.

Maintaining that necessary action for requisitioning the pending salary of staff had been taken, SDM Upinder Jit Kaur Brar said best efforts were being made to maintain facilities according to available resources.