Travel » Sylvan Retreat Amritsar

A much larger sylvan retreat for the citizens of Amritsar is the sprawling Ram Bagh, affectionately called Company Bagh by one and all. If prosperous businessmen struggle to combat the middle-aged spread with a morning walk in its tree lined lanes, ladies of leisure meet at one or the other of the three social clubs that lie within its green confines. And courting couples seek an elusive privacy amidst its flowered bowers. Tired rickshaw wallahs stop under a leafy tree for a brief respite, and office-goers take a siesta, refreshed by a glass of tingling nimbu sherbet or a lurid ice lolly.

Laid out by Maharaja Ranjit Singh on the lines of the famous Shalimar Gardens of Lahore, the Bagh originally covered around 84 acres and was encircled by a 14 ft high wall with a moat. Named after guru Ram Das, founder of the city, the Bagh also contains the summer residence of the Maharaja, now a museum. Its small but interesting collection features weapons, paintings and ivory miniatures, as well as a replica of the lustrous Kohinoor diamond which once belonged to India, said the curator, as he ushered us, the sole visitors, through the cool, high ceilinged chambers.

Some of Amritsar’s treasures are disarming vestiges of a vibrant past... Field Marshall Sam Mimekshaw, economist Dr Manmohan Singh, fashion designer Rita Kumar and super cop Kiran Bedi, have all lived here at some time or the other.

There’s the sixteenth century Hindu Durgiana temple and the domed mosque of Mohammad Jan. In its rambling cantonment lie lovely old homes, now shuttered and abandoned, one of them a 230-rooin man sionwith rows of garages and a swimming pool..

Orchards of plums and peache, that once dotted the city lie thorny and untended, the government medical college was once a premier institution, today its glories arc faded. And the decrepit, almost unattended tourist office, with no brochures, maps, or information on the place, is a clear pointer that tourism IS vet to make any significant impact here.

HOW AND WHERE
Amritsar is 447 km from Delhi, and it takes seven hours to get there by comfortable trains like the Shaan-E-Punjab. The Shatabdi Service is faster and more expensive too.

Amritsar’s international airport links it not only to Delhi but by Air-India to Frankfurt, Dubai, Geneva, London, New York, Paris and Singapore. By road, the journey takes around 10 hours.

The top establishment to stay in is the Ritz Plaza, now a Sarovar Park Plaza hotel, which catered to Queen Elizabeth of England, during her visit the city.