Watch | The newly renovated Jallianwala Bagh complex

A video exploring the changes made to the Jallianwala Bagh memorial

September 15, 2021 07:23 pm | Updated 07:25 pm IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the renovated Jallianwala Bagh complex in Amritsar on August 28, 2021.

Renovation work was carried out at the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the Archaeological Survey of India and NBCC India, under the supervision of the Culture Ministry. The site was closed for renovations for about a year-and-a-half.

The flame-shaped memorial in red sandstone, is surrounded by a newly redone central vista covered in green.

Four new galleries were inaugurated and a lily pond, a sound and light show and new amenities for visitors have been created.

The Martyr's Well in which victims jumped to their deaths trying to escape the bullets has been cleaned and cordoned off with glass. The well, situated to the left of the entrance, was previously covered with a grill.

The walls of the Heritage Alley have been embellished with murals and sculptures, to commemorate those who died on that fateful day. This was the narrow lane through which forces under the command of General Reginald Dyer entered the park.

Before Independence, surrounded by the back walls of houses in the cramped Walled City, Jallianwala Bagh was a site of protests, meetings, where people went for walks, and children played.

Not far from the Golden Temple, it was a largish, rectangular, hemmed-in space of bare, brown earth.

The tragic incident on April 13, 1919, saw hundreds of people lose their lives. Motilal Nehru led the campaign to build a memorial at the spot of the massacre.

Jallianwala Bagh, about 6.27 acres in area, was purchased from its 37 private owners by the Congress for a sum of ₹50,000.

The amount was collected with the contributions of the people and the land registered on September 20, 1920.

While the Congress led Indian Government established the memorial in 1951, the Jallianwala Bagh monument was first opened by then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad on April 13, 1961.

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