Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday reviewed the progress of ongoing work on the construction of Sri Ram Tirath Temple-cum-Panorama complex at Amritsar and Baba Jeevan Singh Memorial at Sri Anandpur Sahib.
Presiding over a meeting, the Chief Minister underscored the need for expediting the work of these projects for their timely completion.
The Chief Minister was apprised that 90 per cent work for the construction of Sri Ram Tirath Temple-cum-Panorama complex has been completed and the remaining work will be completed within the stipulated time frame. This project includes state-of-art temple-cum-panorama complex, administrative complex, langar hall, parking and sangat hall. The Chief Minister asked the Principal Secretary Cultural Affairs to appoint a special officer for monitoring the day-to-day work of this project.
Badal said that this iconic temple-cum-panorama centre was coming up at Valmiki Tirath in Amritsar, where Bhagwan Valmiki had created the great epic and masterpiece of Ramayana. He said it was a matter of great pride and honour for the State Government to offer humble tributes to Valmiki by developing this site for the devotees visiting this sacred place from every nook and corner of the world.
He said the new temple which will be constructed at Valmiki Ashram (Ram Tirath) will be an engineering marvel spruced with rare architecture, landscaping besides aesthetically designed. “This temple will be unique monument in the sense that it will not only help in disseminating the philosophy of Bhagwan Valmiki for carving out a harmonious society in the State but it would also act as a lighthouse to guide the destiny of our youth through the great ethical and moral values preached by him,” he added.
The Chief Minister also approved the design of ‘Khanda-Baata’ to be installed Baba Jeevan Singh Memorial to be constructed at a cost of `25 crore. He said that internationally acclaimed companies must be roped in for the installation of this ‘Khanda-Baata’ at this memorial being built to perpetuate the memory of legendary Sikh martyr Baba Jeevan Singh.
The CM said this memorial would remind the younger generations about exemplary courage exhibited by this legendary Sikh warrior which hardly finds any parallel in the entire Sikh history. On the occasion the Head of Architecture Department of Guru Nanak Dev University, SS Behal said the memorial would also showcase the Sikh martial art-’Gatka’ as a humble tribute to this martyr.