125-year-old well-kept havelis fetch Gurdaspur village tourism award

Tribune News Service

Ravi Dhaliwal

Gurdaspur, September 27

Nawanpind Sardaran village shot into prominence when film actor Sunny Deol evinced a keen interest to stay in the hamlet in the run-up to the elections in 2019.

Deol’s aides had made arrangements for the actor to stay for just two days. However, the actor and his entourage fell so much in love with the ancestral houses, known as havelis, that they ended up staying for nearly two months. His father Dharmendra and other well-known Bollywood personalities, who accompanied Deol during his campaign, were all praise for the village. A film-maker even went to the extent of saying that soon he would make a film on the havelis.

The village was conferred with the ‘Best Tourism Award’ by the Union Ministry of Tourism at Pragati Maidan today. The award assumes significance for the unassuming Sangha sisters who have done a lot of hard work to maintain these havelis. A total of 750 villages from 31 states and UTs applied for the award and 35 were shortlisted of which Nawanpind Sardaran took the top slot. Only those villages were shortlisted which had preserved their havelis in collaboration with the Tourism Department.

The village is located on the banks of the UBDC canal, 10 km from the city, on the Sri-Hargobindpur road.

“Our hard work has finally been recognised by the Union government. It is a red-letter day for my family,” said Gursimran Sangha, one of the five sisters. The award was given to Satwant Sangha by Secretary (Tourism) V Vidyavathi and Additional Secretary (Tourism) Rakesh Verma. Punjab’s Secretary (Tourism) Rakhee Bhandari and Gurdaspur DC Himamshu Aggarwal, too, were present.

The construction of the havelis — ‘The Kothi’ and ‘The Pipal Haveli’ — was started 125 years ago by a family headed by Sardar Narian Singh. It was followed by his son Sardar Bahadur Beant Singh, who was also the founder of the cooperative societies in Punjab. These kothis are visited by domestic and foreign tourists.

After Narian Singh, the upkeep of the ancestral houses was the responsibility of ex-IAF officer Gupreet Singh Sangha and his wife Satwant Sangha. Now, the sisters look after the havelis.

“The main thing about living in a 125-year-old house is that its walls are alive. Our havelis do not belong to people, people belong to them,” said Gursimran.

Credit goes to Sangha sisters

• Havelis, maintained by the Sangha sisters, are visited by foreign tourists
• A total of 750 villages from 31 states and UTs applied for the award
• 35 were shortlisted of which Nawanpind Sardaran took the top slot
• Only those villages were shortlisted which had preserved their havelis

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