Thursday 4th April 2019 – Afternoon Jallianwala Bagh is close to the Golden Temple and was the scene of an infamous and bloody massacre, on 13 April 1919 by British troops under the command of General Dyer, of unarmed Indian men, women and children who were gathered in a walled garden to celebrate a festival. Many were killed or wounded and others jumped into an open well [below, bottom right] to escape the firing and were drowned. The bullet marks are still visible on the walls [below, bottom left] and it is said that this horrific and unjustifiable incident was a deciding factor in hastening the end of British rule in India. Strangely, this is a calm and tranquil park, as it must surely have been on the day of the massacre before the troops arrived. The topiary provides an ingenious and poignant commemoration of the event, using organic natural forms to create figures of firing and advancing soldiers. Robert had identified the Maharajah Ranjit Singh Panorama museum as somewhere he wanted to visit. Our guide was obviously nonplussed by this request but took us there nonetheless. It was not at all what we had expected but the formal gardens […]
Daily Archives: 04/04/2019
Thursday 4th April 2019 – Morning We had secured a guide the day before to show us round the Golden Temple and the very knowledgeable, polite and solicitous Mr Singh met us in the hotel lobby at 10:00. Turning left out of the hotel we soon saw a different side to Amritsar. The streets opened out and we passed the statue of last king of Punjab, Maharajah Ranjit Singh, also known as the Lion of Punjab who provided the gold to bedeck the Golden Temple. We also passed the Partition Museum, housed in part of the imposing red-brick Town Hall building, and originally the headquarters of General Dyer [more about him in the next post]. Other parts of the Town Hall are being renovated in an on-going programme of restoration. The museum was opened in August 2017 and is intended to document the post-partition riots following the British withdrawal and the creation of Pakistan and India. On our way to the Golden Temple, Mr Singh pointed out a vegetarian McDonalds which, situated in close proximity to this holiest of shrines for Sikhs, does not serve any meat. It is in fact, the first ever vegetarian McDonalds in the world. Before […]