View allAll Photos Tagged Jallianwala
Amritsar; Punjabi: ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ; Punjabi pronunciation: [əmːɾɪt̪səɾ]), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as Ambarsar, is a city in north-western part in India and the administrative headquarters of the Amritsar district in the state of Punjab.
According to the 2011 census, the population of Amritsar was 1,132,761. The city is situated 217 km northwest of state capital Chandigarh. It is near Pakistan, with the Wagah Border being only 28 km away. The nearest city is Lahore, the second largest city in Pakistan, located 50 km to the west.
The Akal Takht (Punjabi: ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ) meaning throne of the timeless one is one of five takhts (seats of power) of the Sikh religion. It is located in the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar. The city houses the Temporal seat of Sikhs.
Amritsar is home to the Harmandir Sahib (commonly known as the Golden Temple), the spiritual and cultural center for the Sikh religion. This important Sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahal with more than 100,000 visitors on weekdays alone and is the most popular destination for non-resident Indians (NRI) in the whole of India. The city also houses the Akal Takht, the highest seat of earthly authority of the Khalsa, and the committee responsible for the upkeep of Gurdwaras.
The Ramtirth temple situated at Amritsar is believed to be Ashram site of Maharishi Valmiki, the writer of Ramayana. According to the Hindu mythology, Goddess Sita gave birth to Luv and Kush, sons of lord Rama at Ramtirth ashram. Large number of people visit Ramtirth temple at annual fair. Nearby cities to Amritsar, Lahore and Kasoor were said to be founded by Lava and Kush, respectively. During Ashvamedha Yagna by Lord Rama, Lava and Kush captured the ritual horse and tied lord Hanuman to a tree near to today's Durgiana Temple. During Navratra festivities it is considered to be auspicious by Hindu population of the city to visit that temple.
The main commercial activities of Amritsar include tourism, carpets and fabrics, farm produce, handicrafts, service trades, and light engineering. The city is known for its rich cuisine, and culture, and for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 under British Rule. Amritsar is home to Central Khalsa Orphanage, which was once home to Udham Singh, a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement. Gandhi Ground is the main sports complex in the city which is home to the Amritsar Games Association, (AGA).
Amritsar has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India.
HISTORY
Amritsar is one of the largest cities of the Punjab state in India. The city origin lies in the village of Tung, and was named after the lake founded by the fourth Sikh Guru Ram Das in 1574 on land bought by him for 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung. Earlier, Guru Ram Das had begun building Santokhsar Sarovar, near the village of Sultanwind in 1564 (according to one source in 1570). It could not be completed before 1588. In 1574, Guru Ram Das built his residence and moved to this place. At that time, it was known as Guru Da Chakk. (Later, it came to be known as Chakk Ram Das.)
Amritsar's central walled city has narrow streets mostly developed in the 17th and 18th century. The city is a peculiar example of an introverted planning system with unique areas called Katras. The Katras are self-styled residential units that provided unique defence system during attacks on the city.
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, involving the killing of hundreds of Indian civilians on the orders of a senior British military officer, Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, took place on 13 April 1919 in the heart of Amritsar, the holiest city of the Sikhs, on a day sacred to them as the birth anniversary of the Khalsa (Vaisakhi day).
In the Punjab, during World War I (1914–18), there was considerable unrest particularly among the Sikhs, first on account of the demolition of a boundary wall of Gurdwara Rakab Ganj at New Delhi and later because of the activities and trials of the Ghadarites, almost all of whom were Sikhs. In India as a whole, too, there had been a spurt in political activity mainly owing to the emergence of two leaders: Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) who after a period of struggle against the British in South Africa, had returned to India in January 1915, and Annie Besant (1847–1933), head of the Theosophical Society of India, who on 11 April 1916 established the Home Rule League with autonomy for India as its goal. In December 1916, the Indian National Congress, at its annual session held at Lucknow, passed a resolution asking the king to issue a proclamation announcing that it is the "aim and intention of British policy to confer self-government on India at an early date".
On 10 April 1919, Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, two popular proponents of the Satyagraha movement led by Gandhi, were called to the deputy commissioner's residence, arrested and sent off by car to Dharamsetla, a hill town, now in Himachal Pradesh. This led to a general strike in Amritsar. Excited groups of citizens soon merged into a crowd of about 50,000 marching on to protest to the deputy commissioner against the arrest of the two leaders. The crowd, however, was stopped and fired upon near the railway foot-bridge. According to the official version, the number of those killed was 12 and of those wounded between 20 and 30. Evidence before an inquiry of the Indian National Congress put the number of the dead between 20 and 30.
Three days later, on 13 April, the traditional festival of Baisakhi, thousands of Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh. An hour after the meeting began as scheduled at 16:30, Dyer arrived with a group of sixty-five Gurkha and twenty-five Baluchi soldiers. Without warning the crowd to disperse, Dyer blocked the main exits and ordered his troops to begin shooting toward the densest sections of the crowd. Firing continued for approximately ten minutes. A British inquiry into the massacre placed the death toll at 379. The Indian National Congress determined that approximately 1,000 people were killed.
PARTITION OF 1947
Partition of British India into India and Pakistan had a most profound effect on the demographics, economics, culture, political and social structures of Amritsar. The state of Punjab was divided between India and Pakistan and Amritsar became a border city, often on the front lines of India-Pakistan wars. Prior to partition, the Muslim league wanted to incorporate Amritsar into Pakistan because of the Amritsar's proximity to Lahore (a distance of 30 miles) and a nearly 50% Muslim population, but the city became part of India. The Indian National Congress had similar aims of incorporating Lahore into India as Lahore was the cultural, economic, and political capital of undivided Punjab and Hindus and Sikhs constituted nearly 50% of the population, but Lahore became a part of Pakistan. Amritsar and Lahore experienced some of the worst communal riots during the partition of India. Muslim residents of Amritsar left the city en-masse leaving their homes and property behind because of violent anti-Muslim riots in Amritsar. Similar scenes of communal carnage against Hindus and Sikhs were witnessed in Lahore and led to their mass evacuation.
Important Muslim dominated villages in Amritsar district prior to partition include Sultanpur, Kala Afgana, Abdul Kalan, Rasheed Bal, Lahorie, Shahpur, Shahkot, Alipur, Aliwal, Allahbad, Fatehbad, Chak, Guza Chak, Jattan, Cheema.
OPERATION BLUE STAR
Operation Blue Star (3– 6 June 1984) was an Indian military operation ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India to curb and remove Sikh militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The operation was carried out by Indian army troops with tanks and armoured vehicles. Militarily successful, the operation aroused immense controversy, and the government's justification for the timing and style of the attack are hotly debated. Operation Blue Star was included in the Top 10 Political Disgraces by India Today magazine.
Official reports put the number of deaths among the Indian army at 83. In addition, the CBI is considered responsible for seizing historical artefacts and manuscripts in the Sikh Reference Library before burning it down. Four months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards in what is viewed as an act of vengeance. Following her assassination, more than 3,000 Sikhs were killed in anti-Sikh pogroms. Within the Sikh community itself, Operation Blue Star has taken on considerable historical significance.
DEMOGRAPHICS
As of the 2011 census, Amritsar municipality had a population of 1,132,761 and the urban agglomeration had a population of 1,183,705. The municipality had a sex ratio of 879 females per 1,000 males and 9.7% of the population were under six years old. Effective literacy was 85.27%; male literacy was 88.09% and female literacy was 82.09%.
Amritsar municipality had a population of 1,132,761 and the urban agglomeration had a population of 1,183,705. The municipality had a sex ratio of 879 females per 1,000 males and 9.7% of the population were under six years old. Effective literacy was 85.27%; male literacy was 88.09% and female literacy was 82.09%. The scheduled caste population is 28.8%
RELIGION
Sikhism is the most practised religion of Amritsar district with 71.91% of the total population being Sikh.The second largest religion is Hinduism with 26.03% of the citizens identifying themselves as Hindus. However, according to 2011 census, the city of Amritsar is Hindu majority with 49.4% of the city being Hindu and 48% being Sikhs. In Amritsar city, Islam is followed by 0.51% and Christianity by 1.23%. Around 0.20% of the population of the city stated 'No Particular Religion' or another religion.
WIKIPEDIA
Jallianwala Bagh stands as the witness of one the most tragic incidents of the Indian history. It is a must visit site for the visitors in Amritsar.
Jallianwala Bagh stands as the witness of one the most tragic incidents of the Indian history. It is a must visit site for the visitors in Amritsar.
This fountain is located in a memorial garden on the site of a massacre in 1919 at the hands of the British raj
"To escape the deadly firing, many people fell into this well. About 120 dead bodies were recovered from it."
The well is just to the front. Covered with a fence so no poking inside, plus there's not much light going in with the shelter covering it. Managed to get my hand through a hole in the fence though, and got a view with my camera. Lots of coins down there.
General Dyer's military gunmen, forever immortalized in shrubs and bushes shaped to look like them in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab. Though they don't strike the same fear and terror that the original would've in that infamous chapter of British colonialism in India that occurred on an afternoon in April 1919, they urge us to never forget the victims of that massacre and the way the incident shaped the Indian struggle for freedom from the British Raj.
The Postcard
A postcard bearing no publisher's name. On the back of the card is printed:
'The Marble Arch was erected at a cost
of £80,000 by George IV to provide a
magnificent approach to Buckingham
Palace'.
The card was posted in London on the 23rd. July 1927 to:
Mrs. Beacham,
12, Chapel Street,
Haslingden,
Lancashire.
The message on the back of the card was as follows:
"Dear Wife,
Just a line to let you know
that we arrived quite safely
and everything was alright
with our Gladys.
Johnny and George met me.
Lovely weather.
From George".
Marble Arch
Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London.
The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance to the Cour d'Honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is today the three-bayed, central projection of the palace containing the well known balcony.
In 1851 it was relocated, and following the widening of Park Lane in the early 1960's is now sited, incongruently isolated, on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane and Edgware Road.
The traffic going round the traffic island these days is very heavy and fast-moving; don't try and cross the road to get to it - you won't make it.
The Cumberland Hotel
All the Georgian houses in the background are no longer there; they have been replaced by the enormous Cumberland Hotel.
The www.kzwp.com/ website created by Kattie Zion has a detailed history of the Cumberland Hotel building. She writes that:
"In 1901 the island site bounded by Oxford Street, Old Quebec Street, Bryanston Street and Great Cumberland Place, was progressively acquired by Joseph Lyons for the erection of the Cumberland Hotel.
The Cumberland project was formidable. The excavations alone entailed the removal of over 100,000 cubic yards of material, during which historical relics from all periods were unearthed. All building work was carried out by Lyons' own staff.
The Cumberland Hotel featured all the latest developments of comfort. It was sound-proofed, double glazed, air conditioned, and all 900 bed-rooms had their own en-suite. All air entering the hotel was filtered, including the supply to the kitchen areas. Here the exhaust was treated in order to eradicate cooking smells.
The structure consisted of thirteen floors, ten of them above ground and three below. Part of the hotel backbone was an enormous 100-ton girder which required the world's largest lorry to convey it. Fifteen thousand tons of steel-work was used in the hotel's construction. Four hundred thousand square feet of 'Empire grown timber' was used in the making of bedroom furniture.
The Cumberland Hotel officially opened its doors on the 12th. December 1933.
Two thousand staff were employed at the hotel, and a specially built annex provided accommodation for 300 girls who slept in single or double rooms. There was one bath to every four girls, and they ate in their own restaurant on the ground floor of the annex."
The Cumberland has seen many famous guests over the years; in the music world these include Bob Dylan, Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Holly.
In the Spring of 2019 the hotel changed its name to the Hard Rock Hotel, but reverted back to the Cumberland name four years later in May 2023.
The 2014 Cumberland Hotel Hammer Attack
In April 2014 the Cumberland Hotel was the scene of a devastating hammer attack.
Three sisters, Ohoud, Khaloud and Fatima Al-Najjar were staying in adjoining rooms at the Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch, when Philip Spence hit all three of them violently with a claw hammer.
Spence was able to enter their seventh floor room, which was not locked, after he walked in off the street.
Philip Spence
Thirty-three year old Philip Spence from Harlesden in north-west London carried out his attack in front of Khaloud’s three children, aged seven, ten and twelve.
He hit one of his victims, Ohoud al-Najjar, 34, with such force that her skull split open as her nine-year-old nephew cowered under the sheets next to her.
Spence was permanently excluded from school at the age of eight, smoked cannabis from the age of 11, and was addicted to crack cocaine and heroin by 18.
Spence’s history of violence includes chasing his landlord with a hammer and punching a woman at council offices in 2007, as well as biting a passer-by in 2011.
Spence has 37 convictions for 62 offences dating back to 1993.
The three women left their hotel rooms unlocked on the night of the attack in order to allow a fourth sister to return later in the evening.
The fourth sister, Sheika al-Mheiri, on returning discovered her sisters lying injured on the floor, with blood spattered on the walls.
Spence had fled the scene with a suitcase stuffed with iPads, gold jewellery and mobile phones, having dumped the hammer just outside the hotel.
CCTV footage captured Spence on a bus examining items that he had stolen from the women after his attack.
The Criminal Trial
A year later at his criminal trial, Spence’s barrister, William Nash, said in mitigation that his client had consumed a large amount of drugs at the time of the attack:
“He didn’t know of any other crackhead
as big as him. He can’t forgive himself.
He describes himself as being a totally
different person. He is not unempathetic.”
Nevertheless Spence was convicted of three counts of attempted murder.
The "hotel creeper" was initially ordered to serve life with a minimum of 18 years, but this was increased to 27 years on appeal.
The High Court Case
The BBC provided the following information on the 7th. May 2019 relating to the attack and its legal consequences:
"Three sisters who suffered devastating injuries in a hammer attack by a thief are suing the owners of the London hotel where it happened.
At the start of the case at the High Court, lawyers described the injuries to the women, who were from Abu Dhabi in the UAE:
-- Ohoud was left with five per cent brain capacity, and will require care for the rest of her life.
-- Khaloud has had 20 operations to rebuild her head and face.
-- Fatima cannot taste or smell, and has problems with her memory.
Spence admitted the attack,, but denied attempted murder.
The family's barrister, Susan Rodway, said that Spence - who had a history of sneaking into hotel rooms to steal - had "great knowledge and familiarity" of the Cumberland Hotel.
She said that he told his criminal trial he was a regular intruder at the hotel, and had even been able to sleep in maids' cupboards.
She added that security "failures" led Spence to directly target the hotel, where he knew he could make an easy buck from the rich pickings there.
The court heard that it was "well-known" to the hotel that it was common for Middle Eastern guests to leave doors on the latch in order to enable family members to go between rooms.
The hotel's owners deny liability, arguing that by leaving their door open, the women voluntarily assumed the obvious risk of allowing anyone to enter the room while they were asleep inside.
Neil Block QC, for the hotel, said in a written submission:
"Each guest room was fitted with a heavy duty
fire door with efficient self-closers and automatic
locks, deadlocks, security chains and spy-glasses.
The rooms were designed so that guests could
not leave them open accidentally."
He said that after the incident, police tested a closed bedroom door, and found it impossible to gain access with a hammer similar to that used by Mr Spence.
Ms Rodway said that the hotel's CCTV system was "purely reactive" and that:
"it was clearly only there to enable review
should an incident occur, but not to enable
any anticipation or prevention of an incident".
But Mr Block said the fact that there was no system for live monitoring of all 130 CCTV cameras at the hotel "was, and indeed remains, the norm for similar hotels".
He concluded:
"But for the deliberate interference with
the door's locking mechanism, the attack
would not have occurred."
The case is expected to last for two weeks."
The High Court Judgement
On Friday the 21st. June 2019, the High Court judge Mr. Justice Dingemans ruled that:
"There was no liability on the part of the
Cumberland Hotel to Ohoud, Khaloud
and Fatima for the attack carried out by
Mr Spence".
He said that the case raised issues about whether a hotel proprietor owes a duty to guests to take reasonable care to protect against injury caused by the criminal actions of third parties, and if so whether the duty was breached in this case.
Dingemans concluded that there was such a duty of care, but based on the facts of the case, there was no breach of that duty.
The judge said that:
"The hotel acted with reasonable care to
protect guests at the hotel against injury
caused by the criminal acts of third parties".
However Khaloud and Fatima said in a statement after the ruling:
"Re-living the horrors of that terrifying night
where we almost lost our lives has been
extremely traumatic for us to endure, and
we are devastated that it has all been for
nothing.
We lost our sister, and our lives were
changed forever when we were attacked
by Spence in the privacy of our own room."
Khaloud and Fatima said that they felt the decision was "a travesty" and that "justice has not been done".
A spokeswoman for the owner of the Cumberland, GLH Hotels, said after the ruling:
"We believe today's judgement is the
correct outcome.
Regardless, the al Najjar family's
experience was deeply shocking and
wholly unprecedented and we reiterate
our heartfelt concern for their well-being
as they continue to receive all necessary
support."
Reginald Dyer
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, Saturday the 23rd. July 1927 was not a good day for Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, because he died in that day aged 62.
He was a British officer whose orders to army troops to fire into a crowd of civilians resulted in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919.
Salimgarh Fort (Hindi: सलीमगढ़ किला, Urdu: سلیم گڑھ ،literally "Salim’s Fort") was built in 1546 AD, in Delhi, in a former island of the Yamuna River, by Salim Shah Suri, son of Sher Shah Suri. There was a pause in Mughal rule when in 1540 AD Sher Shah Suri defeated the Mughal Emperor Humayun (and ousted him from Delhi) and established the Sur dynasty rule in Delhi. Sur dynasty rule lasted till 1555 AD when Humayun regained his kingdom by defeating Sikander Suri, the last ruler of the dynasty. During the Mughal period, in later years, while building the Red Fort and Shahjahanbad, several Mughal rulers including Emperor Shahjahan who is credited with completing Shahjahanabad in 1639 AD had camped at this fort. It is said that Humayun had camped at this fort for three days before launching his successful attack for recapturing Delhi.
Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor, converted the fort into a prison, which practice was perpetuated by the British who took control of the fort in 1857. The Fort is part of the Red Fort Complex. The complex was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007, which obligates Archaeological Survey of India (ASl) to ensure well planned conservation measures for the heritage monuments.
HISTORY
The location chosen for building the fortification was in the Delhi plains (with an elevation range of 24–34 m, hemmed by the Yamuna River on one side and the northern spur of the Aravalli range of hills on the other side. This topography of the land area with the rock exposures at the Fort’s location, with a favourable link with the northeast trending ridge and the main mosque (Jama Masjid), was visualised as an ideal setting that provided the needed protection against erosion by the Yamuna River. It was also obvious that a stream on one side and a mountain ridge on the other side of any fortification would be a formidable barrier for invaders to penetrate into Delhi, as such a setting would only force the invaders to follow the river course. Keeping these advantages in view the Salimgarh Fort was built in 1546.
However, Humayun after he won back the Empire had renamed Salimghar Fort as "Nurghar" since the first ruler of Sur Dynasty, Sher Shah Suri (father of Salim Shah Suri who had built the fort) had earlier usurped his Kingdom in 1540 AD. He had, therefore, decreed that nobody would use its original name in his court
During the British rule, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which was eventually put down in 1858, led to the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II was taken prisoner at Humayun tomb. This fort was then the scene of lot of war activity. During the rebellion, Emperor Bahadur Shah II‘s "complicity with the mutinous soldiers was obvious", as seen from the British viewpoint. He operated from this Fort. During August and early September 1857 he held meetings at the fort on war strategy. He also watched, from the ramparts of the fort, artillery fire aimed at the British Indian Army. He even played a psychological game with his army officers who had come in a delegation seeking salary, when he told them that he would forego some of his crown jewels for the purpose and that he would give up his life for the cause; the officers refused his offer trusting that the Emperor was stating all this in right earnest. Following this, even proclamations were issued declaring that the Emperor would lead the attack against the British and urging all his people, irrespective of caste or creed, to join him in fighting the war. But, in the middle of September 1857, British soldiers were closing in on the Fort. At this stage, his trusted assistant Bhakt Khan urged the Emperor to leave the fort and accompany him to a safer place and look for a day when he could "renew war in the open country". But the Emperor refused, permitted his army to vacate the fort but he himself moved to the Humayun tomb. The fourth infantry of the British army entered the Salimgarh Fort where they encountered a single sentry only. Similar experience was encountered by the Punjab Fourth infantry regiment when, earlier, they had entered the Palace from the Lahore gate of the Red Fort.
After the rebellion was put down, the fort was, for a time, used by the British as an army camp (with artillery units) but was subsequently, from 1945, used as a penitentiary to hold prisoners from the Indian National Army (INA).
STRUCTURE
The Fort has a triangular plan and its thick walls are built in rubble masonry. It has circular bastions. From the time it was built, the fort structure has undergone several stages of repairs over the centuries. An Arch bridge links it with Red Fort on the northeastern side, which was constructed during Bahadur Shah Zafar’s reign and hence the gate is named as Bahadur Shah Gate. The gate is built of brick masonry with selective use of red sandstone. During the British rule, a railway line was constructed, after demolishing an old bridge, which divided the Salimgarh Fort and chipped part of the Red Fort, and which was then considered an uncaring action. This railway line has truncated the fort
AS A PRISON
During Aurangzeb’s reign, the fort was first converted into a prison. Aurangzeb had imprisoned his brother Murad Baksh (whom he had caught unawares while sleeping after a drinking binge at Mutra) who had acted as his confidant and supporter during his fight with his elder brother Dara Shikoh, at this fort for reasons of "apostasy for abandoning the fundamental tenets of Islam". He was later shifted to Gwalior where he was executed. It is also said that Auranagzeb, apart from imprisoning Murad Baksh, had the dubious credit of incarcerating his favourite eldest daughter Zebunnisa in the Salimgarh Fort for 21 years till her death. It was stated that she was imprisoned for being a poetess and a musician (both anathema to Aurangzeb’s austere, more orthodox and fundamental way of life and thinking) and for being sympathetic to her brother Muhammad Akbar who was persona non–grata with the Emperor. The British had kept Bahadur Shah incarcerated at this the fort, after he was taken prisoner at Humayun tomb and later shifted to Rangoon, Burma. The Fort has been compared to the Tower of London in England where state prisoners were either tormented to death or faded away in the prison.
Before India got Independence from the British Rule, prisoners from the Indian National Army (INA) were also imprisoned in this fort from 1945 until India’s independence in August 1947. Hence, Salimghar Fort is now renamed as Swatantrata Senani Smarak in memory of the prisoners who died in this fort prison.
Ghosts are said to haunt the fort area and several stories are narrated in this regard. One of them relates to Zebunnisa wearing a black veil singing poems composed by her, on moonlit nights. It is also mentioned that the moans and groans of the soldiers of INA who were tortured and who died here are heard in the vicinity. Thus, this fort established a strong link between the Mughal rule and the British rule.
FORT CONSERVATION MEASURES
The fort which had been continuously occupied by the Army, from the time of first independence movement in 1857 till 2005, was initially under the British army control with artillery units headquartered there and also as a prison, and subsequently it was under the control of the Indian Army after India's Independence on 15 August 1947. Several other government agencies, including ASI, were also involved with the upkeep of the monuments. This became an issue when ASI had approached UNESCO in 1992 to include this monument for inscription on World Heritage List. Hence, at that time ASI withdrew the application for listing by UNESCO. The multi control of the Fort was causing problems to the ASI in taking adequate conservation measures to protect and preserve this monument, along with the Red Fort and other monuments within the fort complex. ASI had petitioned the Courts through an affidavit stating: "It is impossible to maintain these portions of the Fort unless and until they are completely vacated and handed over to the ASI for proper assessment of the damage already caused". ASI had also stated that the Ministry of Tourism of the Government of India would approach the UNESCO to accord world heritage status to the monument once it was transferred to their complete jurisdiction and after completing the needed restoration works. The Army transferred the fort to ASI’s possession in December 2003 and thereafter, in 2006, the ASI submitted its proposal for World Heritage listing by UNESCO. Finally, the World Heritage Committee accepted Government of India’s request and accorded approval for inscription of the Red Fort Complex, Delhi in the World Heritage List, in its meeting held from 23 to 27 June 2007 at Christchurch, New Zealand. The Press release issued by the ASI, after UNESCO listing was approved, statesThe core zone of about hectare includes the Red Fort and Salimgarh Fort while the buffer zone measuring over 40 hectares includes the immediate surroundings of the Red Fort and Salimgarh Fort. The Red Fort Complex, Delhi is classified as a cultural property with an outstanding universal significance. The inscription of the Red Fort on the World Heritage List is very significant for Delhi since the Red Fort Complex would be the third World Heritage Site in the city, an honour that no other single location in the country can boast of.
Further to the above listing, ASI at the directive of the Supreme Court of India, prepared a draft report presenting a "Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan (CCMP)” based on a detailed study of the site’s importance. The plan has taken due cognizance of the role and duties of management of the fort by various departments and agencies that operated from within the Fort. The plan also envisages restoration of the old bridge that links Red Fort to Salimgarh since it provides historical link between the Mughal Rule and the British Rule.
Till the time the CCMP is approved and items of work are prioritised, ASI has undertaken several restoration actions in the Red Fort at a cost of Rs 27.5 million (US$0.55 million) and at Salimgarh Fort at a cost of Rs 8 million (US$160,000) to be completed before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
MUSEUM
The Swatantra Sangram Museum, which opened to the public on 2 October 1995, is located in the precincts of the Red Fort Complex within the Salimgarh Fort as it was the prison where the INA prisoners were incarcerated by the British from 1945 till Independence of India from British rule on 15 August 1947. Many of the prisoners had died within the jail premises. The place was chosen as the site for the Museum on the basis of initial identification provided by Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon of the location where the British had held trial of the Indian National Army prisoners for treason in 1945. Since then he retracted (after the present museum was completed) his selection of the site and indicated a new building adjoining the existing museum as the site where the trial was held. In 2007 (the 60th Year of India’s Independence), ASI decided to shift the Museum to the new location but with more documents for the new galleries, apart from providing better lighting, panelling, and displays for existing structures.
On this occasion, a section on Mahatma Gandhi was also proposed to be added to the Museum with full–size depictions of the Jallianwala Bagh firing and the Salt Satyagraha. At the Prime Minister’s intervention the premises of the fort and the Museum have been opened to the public. To encourage tourists to visit this place, ASI has also introduced guides at the Red Fort gate to give directions to this Fort, which till recently was hardly known to the public vis-à-vis the famous Red Fort. Also, the long walk from the Red Fort gate to this place discouraged people from visiting the fort and the museum.
ACCESS
In the initial years, the Fort was accessed through boats only but a bridge linking the Red Fort with Salimgarh Fort was said to have been built by Jahangir, father of Shahajahan;a conflicting information also attributes its construction by Farid Khan who held the fort in Jagir. This bridge was later replaced by a railway bridge at the same location. At present, an arched over bridge connects it from the Red Fort end. From this location, the fort provides a commanding view of the Red Fort, the river and the surroundings. But it is a noisy area with continuous flow of heavy traffic from the several artery roads that surround it and also from the traffic flow from the trans–Yamuna over the existing steel bridge on the main river close by. The East India Railway was brought to Delhi through the Salimgarh Fort. The line used to pass over Salimgarh and a portion of the fort. It was later extended to the Rajputana Railway.
WIKIPEDIA
The tragic entrance to Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar. The narrow entrance prevented General Dyer from taking along his two armored vehicles with machine mounted guns. That however did not stop him from mercilessly massacring hundreds of innocents.
To escape the deadly firing many people fell into this well. About 120 dead bodies were recovered from it.
We have worked our way up to visiting India, a vast, intimidating place for outside visitors, but also full of fascinating experiences, rich cultures, and of course, the unexpected.
One of the things I admire most about India is its utter frankness and inability to dissemble. India is what it is, all mass of humanity, colorful celebrations, crowded buses, dirty streets, polished temples, lonely beggars, spicy food, and hazy landscapes, and we are here to see it all.
Follow us on www.circumnavacation.com!
Jallianwala Bagh stands as the witness of one the most tragic incidents of the Indian history. It is a must visit site for the visitors in Amritsar.
The Wall has its own historic significance as it has thirty six bullet marks which can be easily seen at present (the above photograph shows only 16) and it was fired into the crowd by the order the order of General Dyer. Moreover, no warning was given to disperse before the fire was opened by Dyer
The wall where innocent people were shot at whilst trying to escape the firing from the generals men.
Lots of people were there on the day, as it was India's independence day - 15th August 2007!
The Jallianwala Bagh site is witness to one of the most brutal incidents that took place during the Indian freedom struggle. This incident still fills the minds of the people with anguish. The Jallianwala Bagh incident played an important role in giving a definite direction to the Indian freedom movement. Hence to pay homage to the thousands killed in this incident, the Jallianwala Bagh was built.
On the day of Baishaki, on 13th April 1919 around 10,000 people had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh to protest peacefully against the oppressive Rowllat Act. These people were unaware of the following danger, which was surrounding them from all the sides in the form of general Dyer and his army. The brutal general ordered his army of 150 soldiers to open fire at the crowd. As the only exit point was blocked and the walls of the park were beyond the reach of the people, the innocent people were trapped helplessly before the spraying bullets. After 15 minutes and 1650 rounds of firing, 400 people were killed on the spot, which included some children. The 1500 wounded people were left to die in the pool of their own blood.
This incident had an international impact, but the guilty General Dyer was not punished for his doings. The Indian freedom struggle took a significant turn from this tragic incident, and the politicians started to ask for complete independence. Although Queen Elizabeth offered a wreath on the Jallianwala Bagh in 1997, she was unable to wash off the ruthless act of General Dyer.
After independence, in around 1961, a large flame shaped memorial was built in the Jallianwala Bagh. This 45 foot red stone pillar was erected to pay homage to those thousands of innocent and helpless people. This monument is popularly known as the Jallianwala Bagh .
Jallianwala Bagh stands as the witness of one the most tragic incidents of the Indian history. It is a must visit site for the visitors in Amritsar.
Jallianwala Bagh is the famous site of a British massacre of unarmed Indians, including many women and children, in 1919. Led by the British Gen. Dyer, who was never punished for this action, more than a thousand Indians were killed or wounded. The site contains the well where many tried to escape as well as a wall showing many bullet marks. Gandhi's civil resistance to British rule grew strongly from this event, and was an important factor in the end of that rule in 1948.
Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, India
A somber memorial dedicated to victims of some horrible atrocities commimtted by the british government in India.
This is the only gate leading in and out of Jallianwala Bagh. It was sealed by the british as they proceeded to kill hundreds of unarmed civilians within the walled area.
WDM3A 16253R of Mughalsarai hauling 18104 Amritsar - Tatanagar JALLIANWALA BAGH Express, captured near Chiheru.
The train was running in MPS, as it was nearly 2 hrs late.
The tragic incident of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre on April 13, 1919, when British Army troops, under the command of General Dyer, opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children in Punjab, took place in these gardens.
Amritsar; Punjabi: ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ; Punjabi pronunciation: [əmːɾɪt̪səɾ]), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as Ambarsar, is a city in north-western part in India and the administrative headquarters of the Amritsar district in the state of Punjab.
According to the 2011 census, the population of Amritsar was 1,132,761. The city is situated 217 km northwest of state capital Chandigarh. It is near Pakistan, with the Wagah Border being only 28 km away. The nearest city is Lahore, the second largest city in Pakistan, located 50 km to the west.
The Akal Takht (Punjabi: ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ) meaning throne of the timeless one is one of five takhts (seats of power) of the Sikh religion. It is located in the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar. The city houses the Temporal seat of Sikhs.
Amritsar is home to the Harmandir Sahib (commonly known as the Golden Temple), the spiritual and cultural center for the Sikh religion. This important Sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahal with more than 100,000 visitors on weekdays alone and is the most popular destination for non-resident Indians (NRI) in the whole of India. The city also houses the Akal Takht, the highest seat of earthly authority of the Khalsa, and the committee responsible for the upkeep of Gurdwaras.
The Ramtirth temple situated at Amritsar is believed to be Ashram site of Maharishi Valmiki, the writer of Ramayana. According to the Hindu mythology, Goddess Sita gave birth to Luv and Kush, sons of lord Rama at Ramtirth ashram. Large number of people visit Ramtirth temple at annual fair. Nearby cities to Amritsar, Lahore and Kasoor were said to be founded by Lava and Kush, respectively. During Ashvamedha Yagna by Lord Rama, Lava and Kush captured the ritual horse and tied lord Hanuman to a tree near to today's Durgiana Temple. During Navratra festivities it is considered to be auspicious by Hindu population of the city to visit that temple.
The main commercial activities of Amritsar include tourism, carpets and fabrics, farm produce, handicrafts, service trades, and light engineering. The city is known for its rich cuisine, and culture, and for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 under British Rule. Amritsar is home to Central Khalsa Orphanage, which was once home to Udham Singh, a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement. Gandhi Ground is the main sports complex in the city which is home to the Amritsar Games Association, (AGA).
Amritsar has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India.
HISTORY
Amritsar is one of the largest cities of the Punjab state in India. The city origin lies in the village of Tung, and was named after the lake founded by the fourth Sikh Guru Ram Das in 1574 on land bought by him for 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung. Earlier, Guru Ram Das had begun building Santokhsar Sarovar, near the village of Sultanwind in 1564 (according to one source in 1570). It could not be completed before 1588. In 1574, Guru Ram Das built his residence and moved to this place. At that time, it was known as Guru Da Chakk. (Later, it came to be known as Chakk Ram Das.)
Amritsar's central walled city has narrow streets mostly developed in the 17th and 18th century. The city is a peculiar example of an introverted planning system with unique areas called Katras. The Katras are self-styled residential units that provided unique defence system during attacks on the city.
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, involving the killing of hundreds of Indian civilians on the orders of a senior British military officer, Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, took place on 13 April 1919 in the heart of Amritsar, the holiest city of the Sikhs, on a day sacred to them as the birth anniversary of the Khalsa (Vaisakhi day).
In the Punjab, during World War I (1914–18), there was considerable unrest particularly among the Sikhs, first on account of the demolition of a boundary wall of Gurdwara Rakab Ganj at New Delhi and later because of the activities and trials of the Ghadarites, almost all of whom were Sikhs. In India as a whole, too, there had been a spurt in political activity mainly owing to the emergence of two leaders: Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) who after a period of struggle against the British in South Africa, had returned to India in January 1915, and Annie Besant (1847–1933), head of the Theosophical Society of India, who on 11 April 1916 established the Home Rule League with autonomy for India as its goal. In December 1916, the Indian National Congress, at its annual session held at Lucknow, passed a resolution asking the king to issue a proclamation announcing that it is the "aim and intention of British policy to confer self-government on India at an early date".
On 10 April 1919, Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, two popular proponents of the Satyagraha movement led by Gandhi, were called to the deputy commissioner's residence, arrested and sent off by car to Dharamsetla, a hill town, now in Himachal Pradesh. This led to a general strike in Amritsar. Excited groups of citizens soon merged into a crowd of about 50,000 marching on to protest to the deputy commissioner against the arrest of the two leaders. The crowd, however, was stopped and fired upon near the railway foot-bridge. According to the official version, the number of those killed was 12 and of those wounded between 20 and 30. Evidence before an inquiry of the Indian National Congress put the number of the dead between 20 and 30.
Three days later, on 13 April, the traditional festival of Baisakhi, thousands of Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh. An hour after the meeting began as scheduled at 16:30, Dyer arrived with a group of sixty-five Gurkha and twenty-five Baluchi soldiers. Without warning the crowd to disperse, Dyer blocked the main exits and ordered his troops to begin shooting toward the densest sections of the crowd. Firing continued for approximately ten minutes. A British inquiry into the massacre placed the death toll at 379. The Indian National Congress determined that approximately 1,000 people were killed.
PARTITION OF 1947
Partition of British India into India and Pakistan had a most profound effect on the demographics, economics, culture, political and social structures of Amritsar. The state of Punjab was divided between India and Pakistan and Amritsar became a border city, often on the front lines of India-Pakistan wars. Prior to partition, the Muslim league wanted to incorporate Amritsar into Pakistan because of the Amritsar's proximity to Lahore (a distance of 30 miles) and a nearly 50% Muslim population, but the city became part of India. The Indian National Congress had similar aims of incorporating Lahore into India as Lahore was the cultural, economic, and political capital of undivided Punjab and Hindus and Sikhs constituted nearly 50% of the population, but Lahore became a part of Pakistan. Amritsar and Lahore experienced some of the worst communal riots during the partition of India. Muslim residents of Amritsar left the city en-masse leaving their homes and property behind because of violent anti-Muslim riots in Amritsar. Similar scenes of communal carnage against Hindus and Sikhs were witnessed in Lahore and led to their mass evacuation.
Important Muslim dominated villages in Amritsar district prior to partition include Sultanpur, Kala Afgana, Abdul Kalan, Rasheed Bal, Lahorie, Shahpur, Shahkot, Alipur, Aliwal, Allahbad, Fatehbad, Chak, Guza Chak, Jattan, Cheema.
OPERATION BLUE STAR
Operation Blue Star (3– 6 June 1984) was an Indian military operation ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India to curb and remove Sikh militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The operation was carried out by Indian army troops with tanks and armoured vehicles. Militarily successful, the operation aroused immense controversy, and the government's justification for the timing and style of the attack are hotly debated. Operation Blue Star was included in the Top 10 Political Disgraces by India Today magazine.
Official reports put the number of deaths among the Indian army at 83. In addition, the CBI is considered responsible for seizing historical artefacts and manuscripts in the Sikh Reference Library before burning it down. Four months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards in what is viewed as an act of vengeance. Following her assassination, more than 3,000 Sikhs were killed in anti-Sikh pogroms. Within the Sikh community itself, Operation Blue Star has taken on considerable historical significance.
DEMOGRAPHICS
As of the 2011 census, Amritsar municipality had a population of 1,132,761 and the urban agglomeration had a population of 1,183,705. The municipality had a sex ratio of 879 females per 1,000 males and 9.7% of the population were under six years old. Effective literacy was 85.27%; male literacy was 88.09% and female literacy was 82.09%.
Amritsar municipality had a population of 1,132,761 and the urban agglomeration had a population of 1,183,705. The municipality had a sex ratio of 879 females per 1,000 males and 9.7% of the population were under six years old. Effective literacy was 85.27%; male literacy was 88.09% and female literacy was 82.09%. The scheduled caste population is 28.8%
RELIGION
Sikhism is the most practised religion of Amritsar district with 71.91% of the total population being Sikh.The second largest religion is Hinduism with 26.03% of the citizens identifying themselves as Hindus. However, according to 2011 census, the city of Amritsar is Hindu majority with 49.4% of the city being Hindu and 48% being Sikhs. In Amritsar city, Islam is followed by 0.51% and Christianity by 1.23%. Around 0.20% of the population of the city stated 'No Particular Religion' or another religion.
WIKIPEDIA
Taken at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amirtsar, India - the white square boxes indicate holes made by bullets that struck the wall after missing the people it was meant for. The wall is a preserved part of the Bhag since 1919.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre
f/6.7, 1/180, 55mm, iso400
Rabindranath Tagore
Date of Birth:May 7, 1861
Date of Death:Aug 8, 1941
Place of Birth:West Bengal
Rabindranath Tagore was a rare and great personality. He was a scholar, freedom fighter, writer and painter and above all a humble man. His contributions to Indian Literature was immense. He won the noble prize in 1913 for his collection of well known poems 'Gitanjali'. Tagore was born on May 7, 1861 to Debendranath Tagore and Sharada Devi at Jorasanko in West Bengal. He did his schooling in the prestigious St. Xavier School. He has written thousands of Poems and lyrics and about 35 plays about 12 novels, numerous short stories and a mass of prose literature. He was called as 'Vishwa Kavi'. Besides the famous ' Gitanjali' his other well known poetic works include ' Sonar Tari', 'Puravi', ' The cycle of the spring', ' The evening songs' etc. The names of his well known novels are: 'Gora', ' The wreck', ' Raja Rani', ' Ghare Baire', ' Raj Rishi' etc. ' Chitra' is his famous play in verse. ' Kabuli Wallah' and ' Kshudita Pashan' are his famous stories. In 1901, he founded the Vishwabharati University- earlier known as Shantiniketan at Bolepur in West Bengal. This was founded with the aim of evolving a world culture, a synthesis of eastern and western values. Our National Anthem 'Jana Gana Mana ......' was written by him.
________________________________________
Rabindranath Tagore, also known by the sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali poet, Brahmo (syncretic Hindu monotheist) philosopher, visual artist, playwright, composer, and novelist whose avant-garde works reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A celebrated cultural icon of Bengal, he became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. Rabindranath Tagore, pronounced Ravindronath Thakhur, was born May 7, 1861 or the 25th day of the month of Baisakhi in the year 1268 (Bengali lunar calendar) in Calcutta, amidst turmoil of British and Indian relations. Tagore (nicknamed "Rabi") was born the youngest of fourteen children in the Jorasanko mansion of parents Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. He was the sixth child born to Sarada devi and Mahashri Debendranath Tagore. After undergoing his upanayan (coming-of-age) rite at age eleven, Tagore and his father left Calcutta on February 14, 1873 to tour India for several months, visiting his father's Santiniketan estate and Amritsar before reaching the Himalayan hill station of Dalhousie. There, Tagore read biographies, studied history, astronomy, modern science, and Sanskrit, and examined the classical poetry of Kalidasa. In 1877, he arose to notability when he composed several works, including a long poem set in the Maithili style pioneered by Vidyapati. Seeking to become a barrister, Tagore enrolled at a public school in Brighton, England in 1878; later, he studied at University College London, but returned to Bengal in 1880 without a degree. On 9 December 1883, he married Mrinalini Devi; they had five children, four of whom later died before reaching full adulthood. In 1890, Tagore (joined in 1898 by his wife and children) began managing his family's estates in Shelidah, a region now in Bangladesh. Known as "Zamindar Babu", Tagore traveled across the vast estate while living out of the family's luxurious barge, the Padma, to collect (mostly token) rents and bless villagers; in exchange, he had feasts held in his honour. During these years, Tagore's Sadhana period (1891-1895; named for one of Tagore's magazines) was among his most fecund, with more than half the stories of the three-volume and eighty-four-story Galpaguchchha written. With irony and emotional weight, they depicted a wide range of Bengali lifestyles, particularly village life. Tagore was nursed in the political ideals bequeathed to him by his father, the honorary Secretary of the British Indian Association. Tagore, unlike most of the other freedom fighters of his time, exposed the depravity of the British rule by chronicling all his adversities with British imperialism through poetry and literary works. He wrote most of his pieces in his mother tongue, Bengali, to be later translated to cater to his vast audience. He used his literature as a mobilization for political and social reform, hence allowing other nations to be aware and further apply international pressure to Britain to be accountable for its actions. He documented everything that would expose Britain's true intentions in India.
He was always a poet foremost, but due to the situation he was born into, his role in India's independence movement was to inspire faith in the dream that was unfulfilled. Without faith there was no future to be created. Tagore said, "It is the dreamer who builds up civilization; it is he who can realize the spiritual unity reigning supreme over all differences of race." Instilling national pride, he believed that India must earn her freedom.
He was insistent that the Englishman in India was an external fact and that the country was the most true and complete fact: "Try to build up your country by your own strength because realization becomes complete through creation." Hence, Tagore advocated that we can only realize our own self in the country if we seek to create the country we wish to live in by our thought, our activity and our service. The homeland is the creation of the mind and that is why the soul realizes itself (finds itself) in its own experience in the motherland. Tagore asked his people, in "Swadeshi Samaj", to win back the country, not from the British, but from apathy and indifference. He believed the country would attain a form of salvation only when all of its parts pulsated with passion for the recovery of the motherland. Hence, Tagore's method for liberation was an internal, intellectual movement: "Unreasoning faith, blind habits of mind, adherence to customs that had no merit save their age, the repression of intellect and heart in the unproductive channel of inaction - all of this is the antithesis of the forces that reveal people in all their full glory and dignity. This is the root cause of degeneration." His goal was not economic restructuring, but emotional liberation from the British, leading to economic and political reform.
Tagore was not a supporter of the non-cooperation movement as he felt the end result of disassociation from the British would be futile, since the future would only lead back to assimilation. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore differed in this way in their thinking on how to free India. Tagore and Gandhi, however, had a fond affinity for one another. Gandhi termed Tagore as his "Gurudev". Jawaharlal Nehru stated, "No two persons could possibly differ so much as Gandhi and Tagore." Yet this is a perfect example of the Hindu philosophy of acceptance in the pursuit of knowledge and the richness of India's age-long cultural genius. Gandhi consulted Tagore regarding methods of liberating India, stating that knowing his best friend was spiritually with him sustained him in the midst of the storms he entered.
Tagore began to resurrect his people by the introduction of schools. He taught subjects promoting that man can extend his own horizon and achieve a second birth through creativity and art. He opened his first school in Santiniketan. He began the regeneration by directing his efforts primarily at education with the foremost hope of promoting literacy and then health via enforcement of social conduct. Tagore was born into the priestly class, placing him in the highest class in Indian culture. However, he believed that India, by creating smaller and smaller spheres was destroying the vitality of her people. He refused to reap any benefit from the caste system and lived among the poorest of people. He recognized that when the British government created separate electorates for the castes among Hindus, its intention was to separate the Hindu community. Gandhi and Tagore, both of the same mind, protested to this differentiation, leading to Gandhi announcing a fast until death on September 0, 1932, which did not end in tragedy. This consciousness of the abject condition and miserable helplessness of the poor, unlucky people was the basis of his political philosophy in the years that followed.
Rabindranath Tagore was probably most famously known as the author of India's national anthem, J"ana Gana Mana." The national anthem was first sung on December 27, 1911 at the Indian National Congress in Calcutta in glory of the motherland. It is also a song of reverence to the Lord of the Universe, the Dispenser of Human Destiny, Arjuna, who drives India's history through the ages along the rugged road with the rise and fall of nations
As Tagore became recognized as a prolific poet, through the translation to English of his most famous work Gitanjali, he acquired international fame with an introduction by W.B. Yeats. He was selected for the Nobel Prize in literature the next year and was granted a Nobel laureate subsequently in 1914. Furthermore, the University of Calcutta gave him an honorary Doctorate of Literature. The British government conferred upon him a knighthood celebrating the occasion of the King Emperor. However, in 1916, the poet renounced this knightship in protest to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 where 379 people were killed as the Imperial Government obtained the right to jail without trial, anyone whom they regarded as fractious. He wrote a stinging letter abandoning all amity and worked to strengthen India on a grassroots level.
In the years that followed before and after the Independence of India, Tagore became a spiritual ambassador, visiting Japan, Central and North America and other nations promoting understanding of culture and the follies of aggressive nationalism. He grew as a writer of poems. In his career, from 1878 to 1931, he wrote: songs, plays, novels, short stories, literary criticisms, lectures on religion and philosophy, and dramas. Then, from 1928 to 1940, he produced two thousand paintings. In later years, as Tagore reached his sixties, he tried to finance his Vishva-Bharati University personally. He relied on royalties and proceeds from his lecture tours. By 1941, Tagore's health had seriously deteriorated. When India attained independence, its first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was a great admirer of Tagore, had an act passed to adopt Vishva-Bharati as one of the Central Universities. Tagore died peacefully, after an operation in Calcutta on August 7, 1941. Calcutta residents came by the thousands to have a last look at their beloved poet, as his body was carried to the bank of the Hoogly River for cremation. He was the quintessence of Indian culture and the living voice of India. Convincingly, he was the Prophet of Peace.
Bibliography (partial)
Bangla-language originals
Poetry
Manasi 1890 (The Ideal One)
Sonar Tari 1894 (The Golden Boat)
Gitanjali 1910 (Song Offerings)
Gitimalya 1914 (Wreath of Songs)
Balaka 1916 (The Flight of Cranes)
Dramas
Valmiki Pratibha 1881 (The Genius of Valmiki)
Visarjan 1890 (The Sacrifice)
Raja 1910 (The King of the Dark Chamber)
Dak Ghar 1912 (The Post Office)
Achalayatan 1912 (The Immovable)
Muktadhara 1922 (The Waterfall)
Raktakaravi 1926 (Red Oleanders)
Literary fiction
Gora 1910 (Fair-faced)
Ghare-Baire 1916 (The Home and the World)
Yogayog 1929 (Crosscurrents)
Autobiographies
Jivansmriti 1912 (My Reminiscences)
Chhelebela 1940 (My Boyhood Days)
English-language translations
Creative Unity (1922)
Fruit-Gathering (1916)
The Fugitive (1921)
The Gardener (1913)
Gitanjali: Song Offerings (1912)
Glimpses of Bengal (1991)
The Home and the World (1985)
I Won't Let you Go: Selected Poems (1991)
My Boyhood Days (1943)
My Reminiscences (1991)
Nationalism (1991)
The Post Office (1996)
Sadhana: The Realisation of Life (1913)
Selected Letters (1997)
Selected Poems (1994)
Selected Short Stories (1991)
The notorious Gen. Dayer entered with his army through this passage. (see previous and subsequent captions for what this is all about). The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April, 1919 when troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired machine guns into a crowd of unarmed protesters, along with Baishakhi pilgrims, who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar. The civilians, in the majority Sikhs, had assembled to participate in the annual Baisakhi celebrations, a religious and cultural festival for Punjabi people and also to condemn the arrest and deportation of two national leaders, Satya Pal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew. Coming from outside the city, many may have been unaware of the imposition of martial law in the city, and hence the gathering. The British, and Gen Dayer in particular, was furious about what he deemed to be an unlawful gathering of a large number of civilians despite the ban, and so decided to 'teach them a lesson' by gunning them down. A shameful act by an individual, which even had the British occupiers hang their heads in shame. But Dayer got off fairly lightly in the end.(Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Amritsar Massacre, was named after the Jallianwala Bagh (Garden) in the northern Indian city of Amritsar, where, on April 13, 1919.
Amritsar, India
Later after lunch,we visited the Jallianwala Bagh. This white sculpture marks the entrance to this place. The Jallianwala Bagh is a public garden in Amritsar which houses a memorial of national importance. Established in 1951 by the Government of India, the garden commemorates the massacre of peaceful Indian celebrators including unarmed women and children by British occupying forces. The crowd had gathered here on the occasion of the Punjabi New Year on April 13, 1919. In what is generally referred to as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, the notorious General Gen. Dayer decided to 'teach the unlawful gathering a lesson' by firing point blank into the crowd. Colonial British Raj sources identified 379 fatalities and estimated about 1100 wounded. Civil Surgeon Dr. Smith indicated that there were 1,526 casualties. Apart from the firing, many were also killed in the resulting stampede or by jumping into a well nearby (see subsequent images) to escape the unprovoked assault. It was a true carnage by the British occupying forces. The true figures of fatalities are unknown, but are very likely to be many times higher than the official figure of 379. The scale of the massacre even put the occupying British forces to shame, though the perpetrator Gen Dayer got away with it fairly lightly. (Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)