Amritsar, October 25, 2016
The ‘Guru Ki Nagri’ Sri Amritsar Sahib has been transformed back into a bygone era which has been recreated by giving heritage facades to buildings from the Town Hall to the Harmandir Sahib besides installing massive structures representing Sikh pride, creating a partition museum as well as a first of its kind interpretation centre which depicts the story of the Sikh religion and its humanitarian philosophy.
And the man behind all this - Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal - who walked with Editors and senior journalists to showcase the entire set of works, including a grand entry gate to the holy city - says he has not done all this for credit. "The all mighty has blessed me with the good fortune to do this Sewa. I have done it with full sincerity at my command", he said adding he would like to take this initiative further.
"In the second phase of the project all streets leading to Darbar Sahib would be given a similar heritage look". He also disclosed that in the next five years the whole city would witness a facelift and transformation in true traditional style.
The Deputy CM's interactive tour with media persons on the occasion first saw him showcasing the entry gate to the city which is a huge architecture marvel in its own right. The gate which symbolises Sikh architecture, has a huge golden dome and pillars adorned with Nanakshahi bricks.
After this the entire cavalcade moved to the Town Hall which has been completely restored to its old glory. The building will now house a partition museum which will be run by a Trust headed by Lord Meghnad Desai and Kishwar Desai. The museum will have memorabilia in shape of photos, files, recorded memories, artefacts and documents related to partition.
The visit became a sublime experience from this juncture with lights shining on heritage facades created in buildings from the Town Hall to Harmandir Sahib in all their myriad hues. The heritage street, which has been built at a cost of Rs 160 crore showcases the art and heritage of Punjab.
The highlight of the visit was a round of the narrative-based Multimedia Interpretation Centre built at a cost of Rs. 50 crore in the Entrance Plaza of Shri Harmandir Sahib. The centre conveys the story of Sikh religion and it’s humanitarian philosophy to the visitors in a comprehensive manner using latest state of the art technologies. The unique feature is that Punjabi, and two other Indian language options open up the history of the Darbar Sahib to people of other communities and faiths as they move through four galleries. The first gallery will narrate the story of the birth and establishment of Sikhism from the time of Guru Nanak Dev ji to Guru Gobind Singh ji. Another gallery features a life-like model of the Golden Temple and its precincts around which visitors will gather to learn of the daily and seasonal activities of the Temple on large overhead screens from actual video footage shot in the premises. Still another one features holographic and video projections, along with reproduced, artistic interiors of the Golden Temple on its walls and will give visitors an actual feel of the activities conducted at Harmandir Sahib from morning to night.
Mr Sukhbir Badal also showcases visual spectacles including a grand statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh alongwith multilevel stone fountains carved out in beautiful art work depicting Sikh religion and culture.
He also informed the media-persons that the biggest LED screen in our country is being installed on this street at Saragarhi Parking, which will screen the gurbani recital from Harmandir Sahib to the people for one hour daily. A dilapidated building of Dharam Singh market has been face lifted to spell the grandeur of Amritsar market. Also the grand statues of Akali Phula Singh Ji and Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa in front of the Amritsar Town Hall are a true tribute to these stalwarts of Punjab.