Banda Bahadur memorial lies shut on Fateh Diwas

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Jangi Yaadgaar situated in remote village of Mohali district, about 15 km from Chandigarh, remained closed on the 315th anniversary of Sirhind Fateh Diwas on Monday.

The monument, built in memory of the great Sikh warrior Banda Bahadur, who had vanquished the Mughals in a historic battle here, is taller than the Qutub Minar in Delhi by 28.64 metres. Sirhind Fateh Diwas is celebrated to mark his victory over the Mughals.

This tallest monument of India not only holds a mirror to Sikh valour and heritage but also brings alive the memories as old as 315 years. The link road leading to this historic place is almost non-existent.

Realising the importance of Sirhind Fateh Diwas, which symbolises the historic conquest of Sirhind that ended Mughal tyranny in Punjab, thus avenging the martyrdom of the younger Sahibzadas and the mother of Guru Gobind Singh, the state government had on Sunday announced that it would reconstruct and upgrade the road leading to the memorial at a cost of Rs 3.77 crore.

Up in arms over what they called the indifferent and callous attitude of the authorities concerned, the residents of this village had earlier started carrying out repairs on their own. They put mud and gravel to fill the potholes to the road motorable ahead of the Sirhind Fateh Diwas.

A visit to the place this afternoon revealed that the monument was lying closed. A villager said the memorial remains closed on Monday but since today was the 315th anniversary of Sirhind Fateh Diwas, it should have been opened for the visitors.

Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) Chief Administrator Vishesh Sarangal, when contacted, said the operation of the monument was with the Tourism Department and only the maintenance job was with GMADA. ‘We had handed it over to the Tourism Department after constructing it,” he added.

“Considering the importance of the day, the monument should not only have been kept open but there should also be some event to commemorate the great Sikh warrior,” said an octogenarian villager, Gurmukh Singh.

Rupinder Kaur, who teaches in a local school, quipped the state government spent a hefty amount on advertisements to mark the Sirhind Fateh Diwas but nobody realised to open the monument on the occasion.

In 2011, this memorial robbed Qutub Minar of its centuries-held status of being the tallest monument of India. The 14th century 71.34-metre brick minaret is shorter than the 100-metre Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Jangi Yaadgaar.

Then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had dedicated the memorial to people on November 30 in 2011.

Built over 20 acres in Sector 91 of Greater Mohali, this is one of the five Sikh memorials raised by the then Badal government, to preserve and epitomise the history and heritage of Sikhism and the Khalsa Panth. Costing Rs 35.4 crore, excluding the cost of land, which was estimated at Rs 30 crore, the monument had come up in a record time of 11 months.

About the monument

Designed by a nationally acclaimed architect, Renu Khanna, the monument had been constructed by Larsen and Toubro. It comprises an information centre, Victory Tower called Sirhind Fateh Burj, an open air theatre, restaurant and gift shops, and offers an immersive experience with 3,600-dome projections. The open air theatre, with a 1200-seating capacity, had been planned to stage plays glorifying the sacrifices and valour of Banda Bahadur and his army.

“Considering the importance of the rough landscape of Chapparchiri and tibbas, we decided to divide the site in two parts. We planned to recreate the landscape of the Chaparchiri and tibbas at the site where the Sikh army existed. Tibbas were created by RCC domed structures having statues of the Generals on top, and facilities like 3,600 immersive experiences in Mound M1 and a restaurant in Mound M6 underneath. A 100-metre high Victory Tower was planned in the centre of the site towards Wazir Khan,” Renu explained to The Tribune.

She says, “The main theme behind designing the Victory Tower was to inculcate the feeling of pride in the youth of Punjab”. Sirhind Fateh Burj is an octagonal tower with an RCC central core, which can resist winds up to 170 kmph.

Two high-speed elevators and a staircase which will take the public to three levels of victory — 77-foot-high (victory of Samaana), 127-foot-high (victory of Sadhora) and 230-foot-high (victory of Chapparchiri) — had also been raised.

“People can actually come out at these skywalks and get the panoramic view of the complex and Mohali through triangular windows symbolic of holes in the olden minarets through which cannons used to pop out for security. At the top is a Sikh dome with a steel spire in the shape of a Khanda,” said the architect.

Renu said, “Three skywalks of Sirhind Fateh Burj take you 315 years back and give a proud feeling of victory looking at the statues of Banda Bahadur and his five Generals atop tibbas as they might have stood at that time.”

Foundation is supported on 35-metre-deep 269 piles. Using the slip form technology, the centre core was raised from ground level to the dome level in just 40 days span.

Tibbas (small hillocks) were created by RCC domed structures having statues of the Generals on top and restaurant underneath.

The water-body along with its viewing platform and photograph point was so positioned to get the reflected image of the tower and the statues.

The information centre had been designed to look like a quila with big arches, minarets and huge wooden doors with iron nails. “Inspiration of having tibbas was also taken from Lohgarh Sahib, where Banda Bahadur established his first Sikh capital. In the centre is the Quile Wali Pahari having a huge river in the front so that it could be difficult for the enemies to enter the Quila. It has five different hills at the back so that even if the enemy somehow entered, they could go and hid in any one of the hills named Gurdware Wali Pahadi, Nagade Wali Pahadi, Taksal Wali Pahadi and Jyoti Wali Pahadi,” the planner detailed.

Banda Bahadur had launched his first Sikh coin somewhere between 1708 and 1715 AD. Names of the first Sikh Guru Nanak Dev and tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh were inscribed on these coins along with the dates when these were minted.

The Sikh warrior

Banda Bahadur was deputed by Guru Gobind Singh to fight the war against oppression of Wazir Khan, who had killed the tenth Sikh Guru’s four sons, mother and massacred thousands of Sikhs and Hindus. Banda Bahadur, a saint from Nanded, started his journey in 1708 from Nanded after taking blessings of Guru Gobind Singh. He established his headquarters in February 1710 at Mukhlispur, situated in lower Shivalik hills, south of Nahan, 20 km from Sadhaura. His fort stood on a hill top. He changed the name of Mukhlispur to Lohgarh, and it later became the capital of the first Sikh state. Banda Bahadur had abolished the zamindari system of land prevailing under the Mughals.

Chandigarh