Enter the city of Amritsar and there is a golden gate looming over the skyline shaped like the dome of the Golden Temple (Sri Darbar Sahib).
Fuwara Chowk, which once had the statue of Queen Victoria, has now got a grand statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, with multi-level fountains.
The highest pedestal of white marble has intricate carving of elephants and war scenes and small statues of Sikh generals and a huge statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh riding a horse with a sword in hand on the top. This symbolises the great period of the Sikh glory.
Outside the Jallianwala Bagh is yet another flame-shaped marble memorial in to martyrs who lost their lives in the 1919 massacre. And all these sculptures are spread out on a grand plaza paved with Makrana marble in white and ochre designs and a huge central fountain. There is more stone paving the paths; kota tiles here and katni bricks there.
The marble is bound to catch the heat and some green is required, so huge planters with flowering shrubs have been placed along the paths.
The long stretch from Town Hall to Jallianwala Bagh has nothing of the old familiar bustle. For a moment, one wonders if it is our old “Ambarsar” or a newly renovated heritage palace from the Pink City of Jaipur. Well, the marvel has indeed come up in less than a record one year, thanks to Jaipur architect Anup Bartaria and his firm called Sincere Architects.
The facades of all buildings are blushing pink in Kota stone tiles and trellis screens and this includes the market places and shops selling the city’s famous “pappar-warhian”, Punjabi “juttis”, religious artefacts and much more. It is disbelief for a moment that one is perhaps a trespasser into a cinema studio all painted and unreal waiting for directors to call the shots. Even shopkeepers look like some junior artistes who do not know how to play their part and what lines to say. The grimy Dharam Singh Market on the Golden Temple road has been turned into pretty pink, and right in front is a rectangular block on which life-size bhangra dancers, carved out of black marble, are jeering and striking poses.
Old order changeth
There is no choice but to pinch oneself and say this is no cinema studio, carnival or theatre set, but something for real and then one cries out a la poet Alfred Tennyson: “The old order changeth yielding place to new”. Change is inevitable, but that it can happen so quickly is a bit surprising.
Something for everyone
As one moves through this magical makeover lane, there is something for everyone. In a salute to the largest democracy of the world, there is a mini replica of Parliament and a giant-sized statue of architect of the Indian Constitution BR Ambedkar.
