Anandpur Sahib, the City of Spiritual Bliss...By KBS Sidhu 

The decision of the Bhagwant Mann government to hold a special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha at Anandpur Sahib, coinciding with the 350th anniversary of the martyrdom of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, is not just an administrative novelty. It is the first time that the Assembly is meeting outside the state capital of Chandigarh, and the choice of venue is deeply symbolic. The birthplace of the Khalsa, the town from where Guru Gobind Singh Ji reshaped the spiritual and political destiny of the Punjabi and Sikh psyche, now becomes the backdrop for a contemporary debate on Punjab’s present and future. The question, however, is whether this symbolism will translate into a concrete, long-term institutional and developmental commitment to Anandpur Sahib, or whether it will remain yet another carefully choreographed event in a long line of missed opportunities.

Successive governments have, in fact, repeatedly turned to Anandpur Sahib whenever they needed a stage rich in symbolism. One recalls the mid-1970s, when the then Chief Minister Giani Zail Singh launched the Dashmesh Marg, later known as Guru Gobind Singh Marg, from Anandpur Sahib to Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda. This was conceived as both a spiritual and physical retracing of the route taken by Guru Gobind Singh Ji after he abandoned the fortress at Anandpur Sahib. It was an attempt to fuse the sanctity of the Guru’s journey with a modern political narrative of Punjab’s identity and aspirations. Yet, like so many other initiatives, it remained more powerful in symbolism than in its institutional or developmental follow-through.

Anandpur Sahib: Revered Yet Underdeveloped

The choice of Anandpur Sahib for the present special session has once again brought this historic town into focus. Anandpur Sahib, despite being the birthplace of the Khalsa and being intimately connected with the broader Sikh psyche as well as Punjabi culture in general, continues to remain a sleepy township—except on occasions like Hola Mohalla and other major festivals, when millions of pilgrims converge to seek the blessings of the Guru.

Even today, although it is now a subdivisional headquarters of Rupnagar (Ropar) district, Anandpur Sahib never really evolved into a vibrant township or a preferred destination for investment by people from across the globe, including the Sikh diaspora. This is in marked contrast to its spiritual and historical stature.

The Anandpur Sahib Resolution: Federalism Misread

Going back to 1978, before we came into service in 1984, the Anandpur Sahib Resolution was adopted here. It was, in essence, a true document of federalism, seeking to close the gaps and ambiguities in the Indian Constitution so that the states—India being a Union of States—were not treated merely as administrative units that could be created, bifurcated, trifurcated or converted into Union Territories by a simple Act of Parliament, without even requiring a constitutional amendment.

Even though the Sarkaria Commission on Centre–State Relations later endorsed many of the principles embedded in that Resolution, it continued to be misrepresented as a secessionist document and a proxy for the demand for Khalistan. From time to time, rhetorical noises have been made about it, but by and large it has been consigned to the archives and did not find any significant mention even in the Rajiv–Longowal Accord of 1985.

The Tercentenary Moment of 1999

It was in 1999, on the tercentenary of the birth of the Khalsa—around Baisakhi in April 1999—that Anandpur Sahib once again came into sharp focus. I was then serving as Director, State Transport, and we had to make massive transport arrangements for the flood of humanity and pilgrims who thronged the town. The Prime Minister could not come, but I distinctly remember Defence Minister George Fernandes visiting, and a slew of projects being announced.

One such proposal was the Anandgarh project, an ultra-modern township that was envisaged to offer world-class facilities and special amenities for non-resident Indians. Once the initial euphoria of the tercentenary celebrations subsided and the potential of the town was assessed in hard economic terms, it was soon realised that the Anandgarh project was not viable at Anandpur Sahib.

Anandgarh, New Chandigarh and Lost Opportunities

The then Badal government, acting on the advice of some key bureaucrats, decided—quietly—to shift the proposed township to the periphery of Chandigarh instead. A huge Special Authority was notified under the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995, to acquire land in a number of villages, starting right from the Kansal–Karoran belt adjacent to the Secretariat. I was then the Chief Administrator of the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA), but it was argued that a separate Special Authority was required to execute this prestigious project.

Very little due diligence was done. The periphery policy was not in place; no comprehensive master plan was prepared; the notification of large swathes of land under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) and the Indian Forest Act was conveniently ignored; no environmental impact assessment was undertaken; and the farmers concerned were not assured any reasonable compensation upfront. As a result, the project encountered tremendous resistance from all quarters—farmers, environmentalists and civil society alike. The matter eventually reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which struck down the project.

Although the Badal government did approach the Supreme Court of India by way of a Special Leave Petition, as the 2002 Assembly elections drew nearer it became clear that pressing ahead would entail a huge political cost. On the eve of the elections, the project was denotified, the SLPs were withdrawn, and the Anandgarh project was given a quiet burial.

As a footnote, it may be mentioned that when the Badal government returned to power later, Sukhbir Singh Badal was wiser. The concept of “New Chandigarh” was then envisaged, this time on the left side of the Chandigarh–Siswan road, with a more pragmatic mix of public and private partnership. This avoided the PLPA quagmire and led to a more successful execution, though the entire episode underlined what Anandpur Sahib had lost out on.

Dashmesh Academy of Martial Arts, Anadpur Sahib; sub-ptimally utlised. (File photo of 2021).

Projects Announced, Projects Shelved

Among the projects announced by Defence Minister George Fernandes in 1999 was also a Junior Leaders’ Academy at Anandpur Sahib—effectively a training centre for Subedars and other Junior Commissioned Officers of the armed forces. Despite the best efforts of the Badal government to secure or acquire land, the project never really took off and appears, for all practical purposes, to have been shelved.

Another brainchild of Sardar Parkash Singh Badal at that time was the Dashmesh Academy of Martial Arts, conceived as a state-of-the-art institution for training youth in modern martial disciplines. The engineering wing of PUDA, of which I was the Chief Executive, was commissioned to construct the complex, and we completed the building in record time to coincide with its proposed inauguration.

However, once the building was ready, there was no clear institutional framework either to take over the facility or to provide recurring funds for its operation. The idea oscillated between handing it over to the Sports Authority of India—since Sardar Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa was then the Sports Minister—or to the Punjab Police, which could have used it to train its sportspersons. In the absence of a firm decision, the complex lay abandoned for years. One now understands that it has been handed over to the Dashmesh Academy, a semi-government autonomous school, which has added the facility to its campus, though whether it is being optimally utilised, or even maintained, is open to question.

Virasat-e-Khalsa is a museum of Sikhism, located in the town of Anandpur Sahib

Virasat-e-Khalsa: A Rare Institutional Achievement

From 1999 until about 2011, Anandpur Sahib rarely made national headlines, but Sardar Parkash Singh Badal remained keen on creating a world-class museum—the Khalsa Heritage Memorial, later known as Virasat-e-Khalsa—at Anandpur Sahib. He had been inspired by the work of the Israeli architect, Moshe Safdie, on one of his visits to Israel, and Safdie was commissioned to design the project, with Larsen & Toubro engaged for the civil works.

A truly striking structure slowly rose from the Shivalik foothills, and a senior lady IAS officer was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Anandpur Sahib Foundation, an autonomous trust-cum-society created with the Chief Minister as Chairman and the Finance Minister, Captain Kanwaljit Singh, as Executive Vice-Chairman. The inauguration was planned to coincide with the Parkash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in November 2011, symbolically linking the Guru’s eternal message with the saga of the Khalsa whose birthplace Anandpur Sahib is.

As the inauguration drew nearer, however, it became evident—around Baisakhi of 2011—that at the prevailing pace the museum would not be ready to open to the public in time in November. I was then posted as Principal Secretary, Finance, and was entrusted with the additional charge of Principal Secretary, Cultural Affairs, with the liberty to choose my own Chief Executive. I did so, and brought in Dr Karamjit Singh Sra, a medical doctor by training and an IAS officer, to assist me. Working together, we were able to push through the remaining work in a strictly time-bound manner so that the essential components of the project were ready for the November inauguration.

Virasat-e-Khalsa today stands as one of the very few examples where a grand announcement at Anandpur Sahib actually translated into a tangible, enduring institution. Yet, even this iconic complex has not been leveraged to its full potential in terms of academic linkages, heritage tourism circuits, or a larger ecosystem of employment and investment in the town.

Anandpur Sahib and the Politics of Administrative Status

Over the decades, there have also been sporadic demands to upgrade Anandpur Sahib from a subdivisional headquarters to a full-fledged district headquarters. On paper, such a move would seem to do justice to its historical and religious stature. In practice, however, these proposals have run into sharp resistance from various quarters.

Lawyers based in Ropar (Rupnagar), in particular, have been vocal in opposing any reorganisation that might erode the existing importance of their district. They have already seen a major slice of their erstwhile jurisdiction and influence move away with the creation and rise of SAS Nagar (Mohali) as a separate district and major urban centre. Against that background, any attempt to carve out Anandpur Sahib as a separate district has been viewed with suspicion and resisted with considerable force. The result is that even the modest administrative upgradation that could have catalysed better infrastructure, services and investment has failed to materialise.

Symbolism Without Structures?

Seen in this historical continuum, the current special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha at Anandpur Sahib is both an opportunity and a warning. The opportunity lies in using the occasion to honestly acknowledge that Anandpur Sahib has, for far too long, been treated as a stage for high symbolism—whether it was the Anandpur Sahib Resolution of 1978, the Dashmesh Marg / Guru Gobind Singh Marg initiative of the 1970s, the tercentenary announcements of 1999, the aborted Anandgarh township, or the half-implemented military and sports projects. The warning lies in the risk that this session too may end up as a well-documented event in the archives, with resolutions passed, photographs taken and speeches delivered, but little by way of durable institutional follow-up.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Anandpur Sahib continues to be a powerful symbolic and spiritual beacon, but when it comes to actual investment, permanent institutions or a coherent long-term developmental framework, it still remains a distant dream. This is so despite decades of lip service and glowing eulogies paid to it by personalities—both political and non-political—who have used its backdrop to lend weight to their respective agendas.

The real test of the present government, and of the political class more broadly, will be whether this historic sitting of the Vidhan Sabha can mark a break from that pattern. Will Anandpur Sahib finally be treated not just as a sacred stage, but as a living town deserving of sustained investment, thoughtful planning and robust institutions? Or will it once again be remembered only as the site of a grand gesture that faded as soon as the microphones were switched off and the cavalcades rolled back to Chandigarh?

Author credentials:

K.B.S. Sidhu, IAS (Retd.), former Special Chief Secretary, Punjab, has been associated with several key projects and commemorations at Anandpur Sahib during his 37-year service in the Punjab cadre.