All for Love
PUL KANJARI, Amritsar
Brave the heat for a trip to Punjab's own version of Taj Mahal—Pul Kanjari—a monument commissioned by ruler Maharaja
Ranjit Singh, dedicated to the love of his life. Legend has it that a nautch girl named Moran from Makhanpur used to entertain Maharaja Ranjit Singh with beautiful dance moves whenever the Sikh ruler was in Amritsar and he was completely in awe of her. Once on her way from Lahore, Moran lost her shoe in a canal, which used to provide irrigation water to the king’s orchards in Shalimar Bagh, Lahore. When Maharaja Ranjit Singh came to know that Moran was upset after losing her footwear, he ordered the construction of a bridge (pul) across the canal, all the way to Amritsar— Pul Kanjari was created.
What to look for A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Pul Kanjari complex has a ‘baradari (house with 12 doors),’ a ‘baoli’ (bathing pool), a temple, a gurudwara and a mosque. It also houses a tomb called Shah Sikandar ka Takia. Pul Kanjari was captured by the Pakistani Army during the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971 and was recaptured by the Indian Army later. A memorial column, constructed in the memory of the jawans of the Sikh regiment, who had recaptured Pul Kanjari from the Pakistani Army in 1971, stands as a testimony to their sacrifices. Open All days of the week At Near Daoka and Audhar villages on the Amritsar-Lahore road