Vandalisation of border heritage

Neglect of the Samadh and haveli of Punjab Singh Kumedan is one such case, says Varinder Walia

The disappearance of heritage sites have caused colossal damage to the tourism potential of this border district.

Few people know that Amritsar has remains of prehistoric and medieval period, which could not be preserved by the departments concerned.

A big mound containing pot shreds in Rasulpur village has been levelled and converted into green fields, leaving no archaeological traces behind.

Nobody bothered to protect it (mound) from getting obliterated. At present, the mound has been completely been levelled by the landowners.

With most of the heritage sites having vanished from Amritsar, a tourist now prefers to leave the district the same day after following the routine trail of Golden Temple, Durgiana Temple, Jallianwala Bagh and retreat ceremony at the Wagah.

The tourist would have had spent a few more days in Amritsar had the heritage sites been preserved.

The ancient buildings, once nurtured by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his army commanders, were neglected by their descendants and the sucessive state governments as well.

A visit to Rasulpur village, few kilometres from the Pakistan border, revealed that frescos of the Samadh of Sardar Punjab Singh Kumedan, a commander in Ranjit Singh’s army, has been damaged beyond repair. An attempt to restore the wall paintings by cleaning ruined the frescos.

Many frescos have disappeared after the lower portion of the Samadh was white washed.

Floral designs and imitation of small domes could also be seen near the neck of the Samadh’s dome. The Samadh is built of Nanakshahi bricks. It has openings in the east, west, north and south. The mortal remains of Sardar Punjab Singh are buried underneath.

Rasulpur village, known as Bir Teja Singh in the revenue records, is situated on Attari-Jhabal road at a distance of five km on the western side of the road near Indo-Pak international border. Sardar Teja Singh, a commander in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army, owned this area. He gifted this land to Punjab Singh, a Kumedan (commander) who had built a fort-type haveli for residing in the village. The remnants of the haveli could still be seen.

However, a large portion of the majestic building of Punjab Singh Kumedan has been converted into modern dwellings by his descendants.

Sometime back, a team of the Punjab Archeological Department visited the site at behest of Dev Dard, a heritage lover.

Prem Singh Hotimardan, a famous Sikh historian in his acclaimed book, “Sikh Raj De Usraie” (The Builders of Sikh Rule) eulogised the contribution of Punjab Singh Kumedan during the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He claimed that Kumedan was a close confidant of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He was one of the few great Sikh Sardars who were gifted “big jagirs” during the Sikh Raj.

He fought 32 battles for Maharaja Ranjit Singh. His sons— Jawala Singh and Ala Singh— too were great Sikh warriors.

Harbagh Singh, a descendant of Punjab Singh Kumedan, has been residing in one of the portions of the old haveli by converting the heritage building into a modern house.

He took the Amritsar Plus team around the remains of the old building. He also showed the place where the gate of the haveli and big walls existed. The haveli and the gates were built with Nanakshahi bricks. Dev Dard showed some of the portions of the haveli which are still intact. He said the heritage building was once occupied by Muslims who migrated to Pakistan after Partition. The original design of the building had started changing before Partition.

The majestic haveli was destroyed in a phased manner. Outside the building, a regal serai was built, now in a dilapidated condition.

Near the Samadh, there is a well built with the Nanakshahi bricks. The well has dried up with the depleting water table.

Another old building of that era belongs to Baba Hira Das, considered the founder of Rasulpur village. The Baba commands great respect among the descendants of Sardar Punjab Singh. The gurdwara and the shrine, built in the memory of Baba Hira Das too have frescos.

According to a survey conducted by a state Archeological Department team, the Samadh of Sardar Punjab Singh Kumedan has been built on an elevated platform which is 3’-8” high and 31x31 feet in length and breadth with brick pavement. It is an octagonal Samadh surmounted by a fluted dome with an inverted lotus and kalasha on the top of the building.

Amritsar, like other parts of the Kingdom of Lahore, suffered persistent disorders during the period of anarchy, after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The decade from 1839 to 1849 was thus marked by chronic civil commotion, which had become the order of the day on the rapid deterioration of the central authority under weak and inefficient successors of the “Lion of the Punjab”. The unbridled armed forces had created a dangerous situation in respect of law and order. Hence it was difficult to preserve the rich heritage sites, in such bizarre conditions.

Secularism on the walls

Secularism was the hallmark of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s rule. His commanders and coterie also followed the same principles of secularism. This message of secularism is written inside the walls of the buildings of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s period including the Samadh of Sardar Punjab Singh Kumedan. The inner walls of the Samadh have been profusely painted with floral and other scenes in multiple colours. The upper panels depict the paintings of Guru Nanak with Bala and Mardana and other Sikh Gurus along with the Chaur bearers, Lord Rama and Sita Mata with Lord Hanumana. Kumedan Sardar Punjab Singh and Baba Hira Das have also been depicted on the wall of the Samadh. The wall paintings are based entirely on floral designs and motifs.

Another Samadh, also called the shrine of Baba Hira Das, has been converted into a gurdwara. The archeological department believes that this shrine has a square base surmounted by a fluted elongated dome. On the top of the dome, an inverted lotus can be seen. The interiors of the square temple have been abundantly painted with floral and motifs designs and scenes such as Krishna Leela along with Gopis, Siva-Parvati with the lion and the bull, Guru Gobind Singh along with Chauri bearer and flag bearer and Durga Mata on lion with different stories. The multicolor painting of Baba Hira Das is also there on the walls.

Mata Lal Devi Temple: Replica of Vaishno Devi shrine
Tribune News Service

Mata Lal Devi temple has become a significant destination for the Hindu devotees. Situated at Lal Bhavan, Model Town, Rani Ka Bagh, and built in a small area of 80’ x 20’, the temple is now being considered an important pilgrimage center.

The temple was built in 1989 by Sant Suraj Prakash, general secretary of Pujya Mata Lal Devi Trust. Mata Lal Devi ji was born on February 21, 1923, in Kasoor, Lahore (Pakistan). A brahmcharni, she lived on fruits and milk. After Partition, she came to Amritsar. She attained nirvana on January 9, 1994.

The head priest of the temple said that Mata Lal Devi had initially hired an architect for constructing the replica of the Vaishno Devi shrine at the site. He said that the architect after making a survey of the Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra had showed his unwillingness in the project due to the space constraint. He added that Mata Ji then asked a mason, Swarn Singh, to construct the shrine. The priest further said that Swarn Singh took up the challenge and constructed the temple.

During Navratras in March-April and September-October, pilgrims not only from the Holy City, but also from across the country, flock in a large number to the city to visit the temple, he added.

Mata Lal Devi spearheaded the replication of other shrines also in Lal Bhavan, as she desired that no one should be deprived of visiting these shrines. These included Tirupati Balaji, Shri Laddu Gopal, Meenakshi Devi, Puri Jagannath, Kanyakumari, Shri Rangamji, Sri Amarnath Dham, Sri Badrinath, Mandir Mata Chintpurni, Kedarnath, Pashupati Nath, Shri Rameswaram Dham, Shri Dwarka, Shri Laxmi Narayan and Sri Satya Narayan.The Pindis of Mahakali, Mahasaraswati and Mahalakshmi are duly placed and the miniatures of Deva Maiya, Charan Paduka, Ad Kuwari, Garab Joon, Shree Dharji temple and Bhairavji temple have been replicated.

The Mata Lal Devi Trust is now managing the temple complex. The Mata Lal Devi Charitable Hospital is rendering valuable service free of cost to most of the people. The Trust also runs a langar daily.

CPI member Mangal Singh passes away
Sanjay Bumbroo
Tribune News Service

Mangal Singh, Council Member, Communist Party of India (CPI), known for fighting for the rights of industrial workers and working for the upliftment of the women, passed away recently.

He was born in Madh village near Rayya in Amritsar district and shifted to Chheharta in 1956. He joined the Naujawan Sabha in 1958 under the leadership of Mr Bishan Dass and became member of the CPI in 1960. During this period, he was also the Council member of the party. He had also participated in the Patiala and Gobindgarh conferences as a delegate.

Expressing grief over the demise of the leader, Mr Sat Pal Dang, a senior communist leader, said that not only the people of Chhehata, but all the industrial workers of the Amritsar district would remember Mangal Singh. He said the leader had a strong will and whatever work he took in his hand he would not take rest till he completed the job. Besides collecting funds for the party, he also played a major role in helping the people in police cases, domestic feuds and old-age pensions, he added.

He also took part in various trade union activities. He also remained busy in redressing the grievances of the common man. He, along with the Istri Sabha, participated in the canteen service launched by the party and the Istri Sabha for distributing food, tea and fruits free of cost to the soldiers during the 1965 war.

He also volunteered to distribute the relief items to the victims of the 1965 and 1971 war. He played a major role in organising blood donation camps and helping the refugees during the war.

He also took part in the relief operations when the Pakistan jets after the close of war threw bombs at Chheharta injuring 53 people.

Besides, Mr Dang, Mrs Vimla Dang, former MLA, Mr Sunil Datti, Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Mr Amarjit Singh Asal, Mr Hansraj Mahajan, Master were among those who attended the ‘bhog’ ceremony and paid rich floral tributes to the departed soul. 

Sidhu presents high-tech fire tender to samiti
Ashok Sethi

The city MP, Mr Navjot Singh Sidhu, has gifted a state-of-the-art fire engine with a tag of Rs 11 lakh to the fire brigade unit of Amritsar Seva Samiti in recognition of its exceptional services.

Praising the yeoman’s service provided by the Society, Mr Sidhu said, “This organisation is first of its kind in India where the volunteers are the true heroes who put their lives in danger to save others fighting fire”.

Mr Sidhu, who himself drove the fire engine, said that it was equipped with a high-tech engine and mounted on Tata Chassis 407 and was fully capable of handling minor and major fires in the narrow lanes as well. He said it can pump 1,000 litres of water in a minute and could store large quantity of water.

The patron of the Society, Mr Ram Murti Sabarwal and Mr Ram Sethi, were also present on the occasion.

Attending another function, Mr Sidhu presented a cheque of Rs 2.5 lakh for the establishment of new computer wing in Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School.

Telling the students about the importance of sports in education, he highlighted that the sports teachers taught about cooperation, tolerance, self-confidence and discipline.

He said a sports person excelled in every field. He also gave away the prizes to the national and state-level players.

In another incident, Mr Sidhu, gave Rs 1.5 lakh out to All India Women’s Conference as first installment of the Rs three lakh grant as announced earlier for the construction of a hostel.

He also attended a workshop-cum-training programme for Alliance India HIV-AIDS. 

Weekly round-up
Book fair, quiz contest

ICFAI National College, a constituent of ICFAI, Hyderabad, organised a two-day INC-FEST Book Fair and Quiz Contest in the college premises. The college offers a two-year postgraduate programme in Business Administration. Teams from various colleges participated in the event. Ms Shivani Soni, Ms Suman Khanna and Ms Sonam Mahajan of BBK DAV College bagged the first position in the team quiz event, while Mr Raveen Sharma won first prize in paper presentation.

Office-bearers elected

The following have been elected office-bearers of the District Sales Tax Bar Association. Mr Laxmi Naryan Dua, president, Mr Gurmeet Singh, vice-president, Mr Rajinder Sharma, secretary, and Mr Rohi Paul, finance secretary.

DGP’s alma mater

Ms Kanchan Choudhary, DGP, Uttranchal, visited her alma mater, Shri Ram Ashram Senior Secondary School here. Presiding over the annual prize distribution function, she laid emphasis on the development of discipline and moral values of success. She exhorted the students to work hard and become useful citizens of the country.

UTI ATM

The UTI Bank opened its seventh ATM at the Northern Railway Mechanical Workshop near Putlighar here recently. Mr Gurdeep Singh, Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer of the Northern Railway, New Delhi, inaugurated the ATM. Mr L. M. Sharma, Assistant Vice-President, UTI Bank, said the bank started its operations in Amritsar in January 2004.

NCC cadets

The week-long personality development programme being conducted by the NCC’s Naval Unit concluded at Khalsa College here recently. A group of 40 cadets drawn from Army, Navy and Air Wing from the districts of Amritsar and Gurdaspur took part in the programme. — TNS

Nizam and his group perform Gurbani 
Ashok Sethi

It was a rare opportunity for a select local audience to listen to Gurbani being performed by the renowned group of Nizam Premi from New Delhi.

Performing at the Nowshehra House at a solemn function, Nizam and his group captivated the gathering with their complete range of Gurbani Kirtan rendered in various ragas, including Baharavi, Bhagyeshwari and Malkaus, much to the delight of the people present.

The four-member group, led by Nizam, included his 20-year-old son Farid Hassan, Sarfaraz on Tabla and Azhar Khan on violin. It brought back memories of traditional performance of Gurbani.

Nizam said he took to performing Gurbani some 20 years back since he was closely associated with Sikh families.

He said he was impressed by the way Gurbani was performed and started picking up the threads from Ustad Nazir Ahmad Khan of the Delhi Gharana.

Nizam said his father, Great Banne Khan, was a Sarangi exponent.

The group has performed at various concerts, including the ones where legendary classical artistes like Pandit Jasraj and Amzad Ali Khan were present.

He said he also had the opportunity to participate in the Urs symposium at Ajmer Sharif.

He had performed in hundreds of kirtan durbars across the country.

Apart from singing, he has penned a book of bhajans titled “Shri Sadguru Sainath Bhajan Amrit” and has been singing Sai Bhajans regularly at the Sai Temple in New Delhi.

Amritsar poultry farmers urge J&K govt to lift ban

Amritsar Poultry Industry Assciation (APIA) has written a letter to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Gulam Nabi Azad, urging him to lift the ban on importing chicken, hens and parent flocks from Punjab.

The ban on importing chicken and hens by Jammu and Kashmir government has broken the back of the Amritsar poultry industry, the association said.

In the letter, with copies to Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, Mr G S Bedi, president of the APIA, said that even as there was no bird flu in Punjab, the ban was still continuing, which was hurting the poultry industry of Punjab, especially of Amritsar.

The J & K government had imposed the ban on February 20 after the suspected threat of bird flu hit the country this year.

Although the Ministry of Agriculture, in a letter to chief secretaries of all the states, had advised not to ban the entry of poultry products, the Chief Secretary of J&K government imposed the ban, Mr Bedi claimed.

He claimed that even Captain Amarinder Singh had written to the J&K government on the issue, but the technical committee of J&K turned down his request.

This is despite the fact that the people of the neighbouring state continued to smuggle eggs from Punjab and that the poultry products there were being sold at high prices, he further claimed.

He said that even their efforts to convince the J&K authorities through the political leaders and friends were of no use.

Due to the ban, the Punjab poultry industry was unable to supply its products to Army jawans sitting on high peaks of J&K and guarding the borders in extreme cold temperature.

He urged the J&K Chief Minister to intervene in the matter and do the needful in this regard. — OC

World Bio-diversity Day observed
Tribune News Service

Kheti Virasat, in association with Lok Kalyan Samiti and the NSS department of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), observed the World Bio-diversity Day here to generate awareness about the depleting and extinction of bio-diversity.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Chander Parkash of Kheti Virasat told the students and NSS volunteers that India was one of the 12 mega-diversity countries in the world. Covering 2.4 per cent of the geographical area of the total land, the country accounts for 7 to 8 per cent of the reported bio-diversity of the world. He said that till date only 1.75 million species had been described, whereas Global Biodiversity Assessment estimates 13 to 14 million species, that meant that a large number of species remained unexplored on the earth.

Mr Parkash said that the importance of bio-diversity could be understood by defining their values, both direct and indirect. He further said that the direct values implied the uses of bio-diversity for consumptive, productive and non-consumptive purposes such as food source, medicines, wood and household items, while indirect value was in its role in various ecological processes.

Dr Adarsh Pal Vig from the Department of Environment Sciences held that habitat destruction, over-exploitation, pollution, introduction of exotic species, epidemics and floods were the reasons for the decline in bio-diversity. 

Bolero jeeps handed over to police
P. K. Jaiswar

To increase the mobility and check the crime rate, the police department is going high tech. The whole department is being computerised and new vehicles and techniques were being introduced to make its services more efficient.

Informing this, the SSP, Mr SS Srivastava, handed over about 16 new Bolero jeeps to various police stations. He said this would help the department rendering its services more efficiently.

Earlier, the police authorities usually complained of old vehicles. The police, in various incidents, failed to nab the culprits owing to slow speed of these vehicles, he added.

He said the police department needed such vehicles for patrolling and the modern gadgets for information transmission. He said new vehicles, including motorcycles, would also be provided to other police ‘chowkis’. He said the PCR wing of the department would also be strengthened.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Srivastava said that the police department needed active support of the public to control the anti-social elements in the district. He said it was the active support of people, which helped in cracking many grievous crimes. He said the people who helped the police in solving various cases would also be honoured.

Meanwhile, the SSP directed the SHOs of all the police stations to prepare a list of gangs of looters active in their areas. He added that it would be the responsibility of the SHO of the concerned area if any such incident of snatching or looting was reported. He said those police officers would not be spared who were found to be negligent in their duties. He also exhorted the police officers who strictly deal with criminals and behave politely with the public.

Inter-state training camp concludes
Tribune News Service

About 342 students and teachers from about 14 states and 20 teams from Punjab took part in the Inter-State Junior Red Cross Training cum Study Camp organised by the state unit of the Indian Red Cross Society at Government Girls Senior Secondary School here recently.

Juniors were imparted training on first aid, drug abuse prevention, blood donation and HIV/AIDS awareness among others. Dr Sadhu Singh, who presided over the valedictory function of camp, said that such national camps were a right platform for awakening national integration among students.

During the camp, various competitions such as quiz contest, on-the-spot painting, essay writing, extempore speech and sports events were organised and prizes were distributed to the winners of these competitions. All the campers were presented a replica of Golden Temple donated by Ahluwalia International Samaj.

Saurabh Khanna stands first in CBSE Plus Two exams
Our Correspondent

Once again girls outshine boys, as they claimed top nine positions out of ten in the CBSE Plus Two exams achieved by DAV Public School here. The solitary boy in the top honour was Saurabh Khanna who secured first position in the state getting 95.8 per cent in Commerce stream.

Meanwhile, Abhishek Kathuria of Springdale School also from commerce secured 95.2 per cent to secure second position in the district.

Giving details of the results, Principal of DAV Public School, Ms Neera Sharma, said that Samita Mehra topped among girl students in the school securing 95 per cent. She added that a total of 26 students crossed 90 per cent marks out of which 20 were girls. The other highest scorers are Nazuk Arora (94.4 per cent), Deepali Mehra (94 per cent), Kirandeep Kaur and Harleen Arora (both 93.8 per cent), Manavi Goel (93.4 per cent), Kaveri Khanna (93 per cent), Tamanna Mehra (92.8 per cent) and Neha Mahajan (92.6 per cent).

Lifetime achievement award to doctor

Indian Medical Association (IMA), Amritsar, has honoured Dr Harcharan Singh, former Head of Department of Medicine in Government Medical College here, with ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.

Born in 1921 at Sargodha, Pakistan, Dr Harcharan Singh, even at the age of 84, remains active continuing his practice by treating patients.

Dr Harcharan Singh was awarded with “Boots Oration Award” by Indian Rheumatism Association in 1976. He was also conferred with “Bhai Mohan Singh Puraskar” for propagating holistic medicine in chronic diseases. Besides, he also provides his expertise to various universities. The Department of Medicine, GMC, Patiala, bestowed an award of honour on him. He did MBBS from King Edward College, Lahore, in 1943 and joined army service at Sargodha. At the time of Partition, he served in Gurgaon refugee camp. He followed it with a Diploma of Tropical Medicine (DTM) from Kolkata. To gain broader prospective in internal medicine, he left for Edinburgh, UK, in 1956 and did his MRCP and later on FRCP.

In 1949, he joined Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College, Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Later on, he joined Medical College and in 1956, he proceeded to England for higher studies.

His undergraduate and postgraduate career was distinguished with five honours, certificates and four silver and gold medals.

On his return to India, Dr Harcharan Singh chose to serve the people of Punjab in the best possible way.

He joined the government medical college at Amritsar to pass on his experience and knowledge to the new breed of doctors. He taught for a glorious 25 years, where he guided 43 PG thesis in general medicine, and published 52 research papers in various national and international journals. — TNS