Relocate Kos Minars of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s era to proper place, say commuters

Amritsar, March 11

For those of us who have often wondered as to why two pillar-like structures stand in the middle of the GT Road near the exit gate of the local railway station, these are the Kos Minars constructed during the era of Maharaja Ranjit Singh on the Ajnala-Gobindgarh road.

These are the only Kos Minar’s from Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s era which have withstood the test of time. And these too are standing in middle of one of the main arteries of the city. The former head of Sri Guru Ram Das School of Planning at Guru Nanak Dev University said, “These minars should be relocated to a place where they do not pose any problem to traffic. Besides, people need to be made aware of the importance and history of these minars.”

Kos Minars alongside the major roads were first built during the period of Sher Shah Suri when he was constructing the ‘GT Road’ from Lahore to Delhi. While most believe that the present GT Road is the same which Sher Shah had built. The original road passed through Sarai Amanat Khan, Taran Taran, Ludhiana and then on to Delhi.

The Kos Minars near Sarai Amanant Khan, Noordi and other places are the proof of the route of Sher Shah Suri’s road. Many of the Kos Minars on the road, which are much bigger in size, are still being preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Commuters say that a huge rush of vehicles can be seen at the place. They say that the Kos Minars should be shifted to some suitable place so that space can be freed and vehicles can pass the space without any hurdle.

Advocate Kuljeet Singh Malawali said, “Most of the residents are not aware of the history of these monuments. The administration must make efforts to preserve these. Looking at the present position of these minars, it is hard to believe that there used to a road which went towards Gobindgarh Fort.