The public garden is located within the temple complex of the Golden temple and covers an area of 6.5 acre. The garden’s significance lies in the Jallianwala Bagh memorial located here, which was established in 1951 to commemorate the massacre of the peaceful Sikh celebrators on the occasion of the Punjabi New Year on April 13th, 1919 by the occupying British forces. Sources claim there were around 397 fatalities and about 1100 were wounded, however the true figures were never known and are likely to be way higher than 397.
The garden and the memorial are maintained by the Jallianwala Bagh National memorial trust which comes under the Jallianwala Bagh national memorial act passed in 1951. The place stands as a remnant of the struggle the Indian people went through in their fight for independence. The events that took place for this place to achieve its national importance are sadly horrifying as the British troops opened fire on nearly 20,000 unarmed people without warning, a crowd that contained men, women and children and nearly 1,650 rounds were fired.
Nevertheless, how unfortunate and sad the event was, it ignited a spark that set the whole India aflame and gave further rise to the revolution on both moderate and extremist levels, which resulted in India’s freedom in 1947. The place is a must visit as it’s the place where we show our reverence to the silent martyrs and the onset of our struggle for freedom. Marks of the bullets fired during the massacre can still be seen on the walls at the memorial.
