Amritsar forgets Maharaja Ranjit Singh on his birth anniversary

GS Paul

Amritsar, November 13

Even as the Central and state governments intend to make Amritsar a world-class city under the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) and announced crores for maintaining its rich cultural heritage, its existing inheritance has been a picture of neglect.

This ignorance was visible on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (November 13). Ironically, there was no government or district-level programme organised in Amritsar to mark this special day.

Treasure house of history

• It is indeed a treasure house of history, art and architecture of the Sikhs of 18th and 19th century
• The museum offers insights into the life of the Maharaja with special multimedia touch panels in each gallery
• The rare coins and manuscripts displayed at the museum reflect the spirit of secularism and the rich history of Sikh province
• The Punjab Heritage & Tourism Board had carried out its preservation work

Even the Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the historic Ram Bagh here, which was transformed into a museum after 15 years of conservation and spending crores of rupees, paints a picture of negligence.

Though the museum was opened for public on January 27, 2022, both tourists and locals would hardly know about this significant spots that depict the history of Maharaja’s era through rare of the rarest artefacts, paintings and weapons, including swords, kataars and rifles of those times.

The Punjab Heritage and Tourism Board, the custodian of this site, had carried out its preservation work that began in 2007. Yodh Singh, in-charge of the museum, says: “It is sheer lack of publicity, public convenience services and poor access that has made this noteworthy tourist site redundant. Hardly 10-11 visitors come here daily. There is no regular support staff. The class IV employees are on a temporary basis, leading to poor maintenance,” he said.

He said that no thought was spared for the motorable access and parking lot at the site. “Tourists avoid it for lack of any approach passage for vehicles and parking. They would have to abandon the vehicle on the roadside and walk up to 500-600 metres to gain access to the museum. In addition to this, there is no arrangement for drinking water. All these shortcomings discourage even the tourist planners to put this spot on their itinerary plan for guests,” he said.

Incidentally, as the conservation work was underway, the heritage artefacts were shifted to Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama located some distance away. The panorama witnessed reasonable number of tourists daily as it possessed all facilities, easy approach, parking and public conveniences, besides being publicised.

Now, when the same artefacts were shifted back to its original place (museum), it finds very few visitors.