INTACH to hold event to celebrate history of Attari, Sikh warrior Sham Singh Attariwala
Amritsar, July 19
An Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) team, led by Punjab convenor Major General (retd) Balwinder Singh visited the memorial of Sham Singh Attariwala, a Sikh general in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army. The team took a tour of heritage structures in Attari and shared how the organisation would host annual memorial event to celebrate the history of Attari and Sikh warrior Sham Singh Attariwala.
Attariwala was born in 1790, in the home of a well-known family of Nihal Singh in the town of Attari, Amritsar. He was employed in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army and participated in numerous campaigns, including Multan and Kashmir. He was a member of Maharaja Duleep Singh’s regency council. Sham Singh was cremated outside his village on February 12, 1846. A samadh was built on the site to commemorate his death. Dr Baljit Kaur, Tarn Taran INTACH convener and Dr Harbilas Randhawa shared that on February 10 every year, the death anniversary of Sham Singh Attariwala, INTACH would be organising an event to remember the contribution of ancestors for the Sikh community.
They said, “Attari is a popular tourist place as Beating the Retreat ceremony held at the Attari-Wagah border. Off late, tourists have been visiting the memorial of Sham Singh Attariwala.”
“There are many built heritage structures in and around the village that require attention. We will be focusing on expanding the heritage tourism potential of the village through our activities,” said Dr Baljit Kaur.
The team is also visited samadh of another Sikh warrior, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia at Sri Hargobindpur (Gurdaspur) to conduct a recce for conservation on the request of the Punjab Ramgarhia foundation. Major General (retd) Balwinder Singh said two temples in Batala, where ancient wall paintings were on the verge of extinction and needed immediate preservation would be restored by the INTACH team. “The Krishna Temple at Dapaia and Batala’s ancient temple next to Achal Sahib Gurdwara would be preserved by the INTACH as we have full expertise in it,” he said.
