Amritsar, August 4
The panorama on Maharaja Ranjit Singh, coming up on a war footing in his Summer Palace here, has recreated the life and great battles of the legendary Maharaja, through rare pictures and mannequins.

The panorama, which is near completion, is likely to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, during his forthcoming visit to the Holy City. The panorama will coincide with the bicentenary celebrations of the coronation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who had built a garden as a summer palace based on the design of the famous Nishad Bagh.

It is an ambitious project, undertaken by the National Council of Science Museum (NCSM), Kolkata, the largest networking science museum in the world. It has already completed creation of 28 such panoramas in the country, including the Mahabharata at Kurukshetra (Haryana).

The Punjab Government had denotified a part of the historic Ram Bagh of the Maharaja, to pave the way for the construction of a Rs 5 crore panorama in his memory. In the notification, the 20-kanal “protected” area was rendered “unprotected”.

Earlier, under the Punjab Ancient and Historical Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1964, Section 4, sub-section 3, the entire Ram Bagh was declared a protected area (728 kanals, three marlas) in 1997.

Mr D. Pal, Technical Officer of the project, said, “Unlike the Kurukshetra Panorama, this panorama will not have a science centre.” Mr Pal said the scene of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s darbar was a replica of a rare picture adorning the walls of Lahore Fort. Similarly, the scenes of the famous battles of the Maharaja were based on historical portraits and facts, accessed from reliable primary sources. Special care was taken to depict the soldiers of the Maharaja’s army and their weapons. The panorama would become a centre of attraction for foreign tourists who thronged the city to visit the Golden Temple and the Jallianwala Bagh.

The six battles which have been depicted sequence wise in the panorama include seizure of Lahore Fort, Kangra, Attack, Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar. The scene of Maharaja Ranjit Singh crossing the Attack river on horseback to infuse courage into his soldiers, confronting Afghanis, is fascinating. The last battle of Peshawar depicts the soldiers using modern weapons.

A casual visitor will come across the childhood days of the Maharaja, his marriage and capturing of ‘Zam Zama canon’ and gold plating of Harmandir Sahib, when he enters the panorama site. Four historical scenes, including acquisition of the Kohinoor, French Generals inspecting the Sikh Army and the famous Ropar Treaty, are depicted in the exit gallery.