Khatkar Kalan, July 28 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Monday laid the foundation stone for the Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Heritage Complex, which will be constructed at a cost of Rs 51.70 crore as a tribute to Shaheed-e-Azam.
Paying tributes to the legendary martyr, the Chief Minister said Shaheed-e-Azam sacrificed his life to liberate India from the chains of foreign imperialism. Mann said the project will be completed within nine months and will serve as a source of inspiration for future generations to serve the country selflessly. He said this significant initiative aims to preserve and promote the unparalleled legacy of this great son of the soil.
The Chief Minister emphasised that the complex will not merely be a structural monument, but an unforgettable experience as visitors will witness glimpses of Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s supreme sacrifice for the motherland, his intellectual depth, and his courageous spirit. He said the monument will feature a grand thematic gate, a 350-meter-long heritage street connecting the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Museum to his ancestral house, narrating the life journey of Shaheed-e-Azam and India’s freedom struggle through sculptures, 2D and 3D wall art, and mannequins, capturing the essence of colonial-era India.
The Chief Minister said it would also have a 30-metre-high Indian national flag, and a 700-seat fully air-conditioned auditorium would also be part of the complex. Mann announced that a model of Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s ancestral home in Lyallpur, now in Pakistan, will be constructed, along with a recreation of his ancestral village on the heritage street.
Additionally, he said the ancestral home at Khatkar Kalan will be restored and preserved, and a digital recreation of Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s courtroom trial will be developed to take visitors back in time and showcase his revolutionary fervour.
Mann said the existing library would be modernised and digitised to offer an immersive experience, adding that other facilities at the complex will include a tourist facilitation centre, cottages, horticultural landscaping, a musical fountain, and ample parking space.
–IANS
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