Amritsar: Maharaja Ranjit Singh panorama battles poor footfall
AMTIRSAR:BUILT at a cost of ₹6 crore nearly 13 years ago, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama in Amritsar has failed to entice visitors due to lack of publicity.
Raman Kumar, curator of the panorama, said, “The average footfall has been around 100 visitors per day. Due to lack of publicity, the footfall is poor.”
The panorama, which visualises a documentation about the “Lion of Punjab”, was thrown open to public in July 2006 by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. As per the keepers of the panorama, there has been an average footfall of only around 100 visitors a day despite nominal entry fee of ₹10 per person and students getting 50 per cent discount on it.
The panorama is currently being maintained by Amritsar Municipal Corporation, which spends nearly ₹30 lakh on its maintenance every year.
As per Punjab tourism department records, around 50 thousand tourists visit Amritsar on weekdays while the count goes to around 1 lakh on weekends, but the panorama continues to wear a deserted look.
“There are no billboards, hoardings or any kind of advertisement to promote the panorama. On an average, only 30 to 40 people visit it on weekdays. Not only the government but private sector should also take initiative to introduce it to the tourists ,” said Sukhwinder Singh, a guard of the panorama.
Meanwhile, Raman Kumar said, “Earlier there were flex boards and hoardings promulgating the panorama near the Golden Temple and the railway station. But, no such efforts are now being made by the government. We have made a Facebook page about panorama to invite students.”
The main attraction of panorama is its gigantic 12-meter tall and 100-meter long panoramic painting and display of mannequins of soldiers with sound effects, depicting six major battle expeditions -- Battle of Lahore (1798), the capture Kangra (1809), the victory of Hazro (1813), the fall of Multan(1818), the conquest of Kashmir (1819) and the victory of Naushehra (1823).
The battle expeditions depicted in the painting are supplemented by the large circular foreground diorama, showcasing numerous mannequins of prominent warriors, soldiers, animal, weapons and so on.
“I visit Amritsar on regular basis. So I had an idea about the place, today I came here with my family and when I booked a cab to panorama, I was surprised that the cab driver did not know about it. What can we expect from tourists?” said Amit, a Delhi-based man.