Ambala At A Glance Ø Geographical Area

Ambala At A Glance Ø Geographical Area : Ø Total forest Area Hectares Ø Population 151000 hectares : : 5956. 075 Estimated 12. 5 lacs Male : 53. 50 % Male Literacy : 57. 88% Female : 46. 49% Female Literacy : 42. 11%

Ambala At A Glance • No. of Sub Divisions Ambala • No of Blocks : 3 Barara Naraingarh : 6 • No. of Gram Panchayats : 430

Tourism in Ambala. Accessibility & Existing Infrastructure. (A) Govt. owned : 1 (Kingfisher) (B)Red huts Saha : 25 luxury rooms (C) Economy Hotels : 4 (D) Dharmshalas : 5

Objective of Promoting International & Domestic Tourism in Ambala Ø Boost to local Economy Ø Employment generation Ø Promotion of hotel industry Ø Development of local area

Places of Interest in Ambala ØSubhash Chandra Bose Park. Ø Saint Paul's Church. ØChristian Cemetery. ØYamkeshwar Temple. ØBhawani Amba Temple. ØRaja & Rani Ka Talab. ØLabbu Ka Talab. ØNavrang Rai Sarovar. ØIndra Park & Mahavir Park. ØGurudwara Sahibs (Manji Sahib, Panjokhra Sahib, Lakhnaur Sahib & Bhadshadi Bagh Sahib). ØGuru Gobind Singh Library.

Places of Interest in Ambala is a town of scientific instruments. It is also famous for linen and gold jewelers. It is a railway junction. It has ruins of church built during British rule. Also has a cantonment. There are many shrines in and around Ambala City. There is a temple, Bhawani Amba Temple, named after the goddess Bhawani. Ambala is home to many Gurudwaras (Sikh temples), some of which have historical importance. The Badshahi Bag Gurudwara, Manji Sahib Gurudwara, Labhuwala Talaah, Gurudwara Lakhnaur sahib. These are associated with Guru Gobind Singh, Guru Tegh Bhadur and Guru Har. Gobind respectively. There also the popular Churchs, like Saint Paul's Church and a British, Christian cemetery. Patel Park in Ambala Cantt and City Park in Ambala City have beautiful gardens. You can also visit the Subhash Chandra Bose Park in Subhash Colony, Ambala Cantt. It is recently created. Ambala is a city located on the border of the states of Haryana and Punjab in India. Politically and geographically Ambala has two sub-areas: Ambala Cantt (cantoment) and Ambala City, a few kilometers apart from each other. It has a large army and air-force base within the confines of its cantonment area. Due to its geographical location, the Ambala District plays an important role in local tourism. It is the main entry to Haryana for the tourists of Punjab, Himachal, Jammu & Kashmir and the union territory Chandigarh; and vice-versa.

Subhash Chandra Bose Park Proposal: To setup National Level 1857 War Memorial

Saint Paul's Church Location : Area : Inside the compound of Air force school, Alexandra road, Ambala Cantt. 20 acres. Title : Owned by Govt. of India Managed by ; Cantonment board St Paul’s Church in Ambala Cantonment is one of the oldest church in the region. St Paul’s church, which was consecrated on January 4, 1857, was bombed during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. The bombing by a Pakistani aircraft considerably destroyed the beautiful church building and today only the church tower remains.

Saint Paul's Church Proposals : 1. Development of land adjacent to the church into park and parking. 2. Interlocking and pavement inside the church. 3. Provision of lighting, plantation, General amenities. 4. Maintenance of present structure of church through some expert body like Archeological Deptt. 5. Separate entry gate for the chruch.

Christian Cemetery Location : Jagadhri road, A/Cantt. Area : 22 acres. Title : Owned by Govt. of Haryana Administrative control : Dy. Commissioner as Estate Officer of the excised area. It is approx. 300 Years old having the cemeteries of important personalities.

Christian Cemetery Proposals 1. Widening of approach road 2. Repair of boundary wall. 3. Repair and widening of two gates. 4. Constructions of pavements. 5. Maintenance of cemetery. 6. Provision of light & General amenities. 7. Reconstruction of Drains on the front & rear part of cemetery

Yamkeshwar Temple Location : Vill. Husani, Tehsil Naraingarh. Area : Approximate - 5 acres (Mandir) (Talab) Sacred water body – 8 Acres (Total 13 acres) Title : Dharam Dass Trust

Yamkeshwar Temple Proposals: 1. Construction of pavements. 2. Cleaning of pond by de-weeding & watering 3. Provision of parking. 4. Tile work, Lighting, Plantation and Beautification. 5. General amenities, etc.

Bhawani Amba Temple Location : Near kumhar mohala , old civil hospital, Ambala city, Haryana. Title : Trustee Sh. K. P. Bhandhari Area : 6 Acres (Constructed - 0. 5 acres, Vacant - 5. 5 acres) Among the numerous legendary temples in the state of Haryana, the Bhawani Amba Temple is a prominent one. It is situated in the city of Ambala. The temple of Bhawani Amba is considered a very sacred temple. It is a temple of the ancient era and has been there since a very long time. The Bhawani Amba Temple in Ambala has derived its name from the presiding Goddess of the temple. The deity is known as Amba Devi or Bhawani Devi. There is a popular belief that the city of Ambala has been named after Devi Amba

Bhawani Amba Temple Proposals : 1. Repair of road and removal of encroachment. 2. Provision for tube well 3. Provision for parking 4. Renovation 5. General amenities 6. Provision of lighting, plantation and beautification

Raja Ka Talab Location : Adjacent to Kendriya Vidyalya No. 1, near circuit House, A/Cantt. Title : Owned by Govt. of India Managed by : Cantonment board. Area : 20 acres Located in Ambala sub-district of Haryana and is situated at just 1 km from the center in Ambala Cantonment area. It situates itself at 30º 21'29" North latitude and 76º 51'8" East longitude. Patel Park is a wonderful place amidst the bustling city. The huge expanse of greenery is quite unusual to such an old city, but Patel Park has been able to function as a place to 'breathe a heart full' in the Ambala city. Large trees line the beautiful park which provides the very necessary open space. The park is a favorite among people of all ages. For the children it serves as their adored play ground. The old people find it a great place for serene morning walks and a beautiful evening gathering. The nearby 'Shiv Ji Temple' is an added attraction for those visiting the park.

Raja Ka Talab Proposals 1. Maintenance of pond 2. Provision for parking 3. Removal of grass and plantation. 4. Provision for food huts. 5. Renovation 6. Provision for general amenities. 7. Provision for bird zoo.

Rani Ka Talab Location : Adjacent to Army unit, Circuit House, Ambala Cantt. Title : Owned by Govt. of India Managed by : Cantonment Board. Area : 4 Acres (Talab in 3 acres)

Rani Ka Talab Proposals : 1. Maintenance of pond 2. Provision for parking 3. Renovation 4. Provision for sheds around talab. 5. General amenities required. 6. Widening of main entrance road.

LABHU Ka Talab Location : Near SA Jain College , Ambala city. Area : 4 acres. Title : Dewan Kishan Chand History : It was constructed by a jatt named labhu after that it is called labhu ka talab. Maharaja Ranjit singh also visited this place and one of his horse drink water from this talab. In the center of the talab, there is one temple called “Dukhbhanjani Kali Maa Ka Mandir”

LABHU Ka Talab Proposals : 1. Pavement and interlocking along road. 2. Provision of parking. 3. Cleaning and maintenance of pond 4. Tile work, Lighting, Plantation and Beautification.

NAVRANG RAI SAROVAR Location : Near Ram Bagh, Ambala city. Area : 4 acres. Title : Navrang Rai Talab Navarang Rai Sarovar 400 yr old where Vaman Dwadshi Mela held on every dussehra. Statue of Vaman Bhagwan overpowering Raja Bali seen in foreground and Thakur Dwara Mandir in the background

NAVRANG RAI SAROVAR Proposals : 1. Repair and construction of pavements. 2. Provision of parking. 3. Cleaning of pond. 4. Tile work, Lighting, Plantation and Beautification of park. 5. Provision of general amenities.

INDIRA PARK Location : Near Gandhi Ground, Ambala Cantt. Area : 10 acres. Title : Owned by Govt. of Haryana Managed by : MC, Ambala Developed in 60’s by cantonment Board, Ambala and transferred to Municipal Corporation, Ambala in the year 1997.

INDIRA PARK Proposals : 1. Repair and widening of approach road. 2. Parking provision. 3. Tile work, Lighting, Plantation and Beautification of park. 4. Repair of fountains. 5. Provision for food huts. 6. General amenities required.

MAHAVIR PARK Location : Opp. City Bus stand , Ambala city. Area : Approx. 8 acres. Title : MC, Ambala. Developed in 1972 and presently under the control of Municipal Corporation, Ambala

MAHAVIR PARK Proposals : 1. Repair and construction of pavements. 2. Provision of parking. 3. Cleaning of pond. 4. Restructuring of periphery wall. 5. Tile work, Lighting, Plantation and Beautification of park. 6. Setting up of Restaurant / food court.

Gurudwara Manji sahib Location : Near NH-1 at Kaith Majri, Ambala City Area : 4 -5 acres. Title : Gurudwara Sahib.

History of Gurudwara Manji sahib Ambala city is situated on the National Highway popularly called Sher Shah Sun Marg about 190 km from Delhi and 48 km from Chandigarh. This city was sanctified by the sixth Guru Sri Hargobind and Sri Guru Gobind Singh the tenth Gurudwara Manji Sahib was constructed at the place where the sixth Guru stayed during his visit to Ambala city. The grand building of the Gurudwara is located on the G. T. Road (Sher Shah Suri Marg). The devotees visit this shrine to have a dip in the tank nearby. They also take Amrit from the Baoli constructed by the sixth Guru, during his stay here. Gurdwara Baoli Sahib or Gurdwara Manji Sahib - Guru Hargobind is said to have stayed here overnight while on his way to meet emperor Jahangir. The villagers of the nearby Khurampur Majri complained of perennial scarcity of drinking water. The Guru encouraged them a dig a baoli and instructed some Sikhs who lived here to assist the villagers in digging and lining the baoli. The Guru was pleased to see the work completed on his return from Delhi. The Sikhs established a memorial platform, Manji Sahib, at the place where the Guru had stayed near the baoli. But the baoli again got partly filled up and fell into disuse. After the conquest of Sirhind in 1764, when the Dal Khalsa distributed territories among various misls, Ambala was occupied by Sardar Mehar Singh of Nishananwali Misl. He got the baoli cleared and cleaned and established a Gurdwara at the site of the manji Sahib. This is the present Gurdwara Manji Sahib, the premier Gurdwara of Ambala. Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha (1871 -1911) rebuilt it in the beginning of the 20 th century. Further development took place after 1947. The Gurdwara is close to the first bus stop of the city when approached from Punjab by the Grand Trunk Road. The old baoli is still there and therefore the Gurdwara is also called Baoli Sahib.

Gurudwara Manji sahib Proposals : 1. Direct accessibility from NH-1 to facilitate easy entrance for the devotees/visitors. 2. Service lane provision. 3. Parking provision. 4. General amenities 5. Cleaning of drains. 6. Timely watering and dewatering of Sarovar 7. Beautification of the complex

Gurudwara Panjokhra Sahib Location : Vill. Panjokhra, Ambala-Naraingarh Road Area : 30 Acres. Title : Gurudwara Sahib.

History of Gurudwara Panjokhra Sahib Gurdwara Sri Guru Har Krishan Sahib Ji - 10 kilimetres northeast of Ambala City along the Ambala-Naraingarh road, marks the spot consecrated by Guru Har Krishan, by his stay during his journey from Kiratpur to Delhi in February 1664. The Guru had been summoned to meet the Emperor Aurangzeb. A large number of his followers, disturbed by summons from one known to be a bigoted tyrant, had followed the young Guru. As the caravan arrived at Panjokhara at the end of the third day of their journey, the Guru told them all except a few on the household staff to go back to their homes with a firm belief in the rightness of divine dispensation. There lived in Panjokhara a Brahaman, Krishan Lal or Lal Ji, who was proud of his learning. Seeing the young Guru, he sarcastically remarked that the boy who bore the name of Krishna could not even read Krishna's Bhagwad Gita. Guru Har Krishan simply smiled at the Brahman's impudence and, calling a passerby, Chhajju the water-carrier, made the latter give a discourse on Gita. Such was the erudition of Chhajju that Lal Ji Pandit bent his head in shame and besought the Guru's forgiveness. The Guru resumed his journey after three days stay at Panjokhara. A small memorial raised in honor of the Guru was developed into a Gurdwara during the Sikh Rule, and during the past decade or two has become a vast complex including the double-storey sanctum entered through a spacious hall, Guru ka Langar with a vast dining hall, and enclosed sarovar and ancillary buildings for staff and pilgrims. Besides largely attended Sunday morning congregations, an annual fair is held on Magh Sudi 7 to 9 (January - February) commemorating the days of the Guru's stay here over 300 years ago.

Gurudwara Panjokhra Sahib Proposals : 1. Beautification of main gate of Gurudwara Sahib 2. Lighting, Plantation and Beautification of Gurudwara Sahib 3. Provision of General amenities

Gurudwara Lakhnaur Sahib

History of Gurudwara Lakhnaur Sahib Gurdwara Lakhnaur Sahib derives its name from the village it is situated in. Lakhnaur is an old village 10 kilometres south of Ambala City and 7 kilometres from Ambala Cantonment. It was the ancestral village of Guru Gobind Singh's mother, Mata Gujari, whose father, Baba Lal Chand Subhikhi, and brother Bhai Mehar Chand, lived here. The marriage of Guru Tegh Bahadur to Mata Gujari had however taken place at Kartarpur near Jalandhar, and Lakhnaur had not been visited by the Gurus until Guru Gobind Singh, then a child of four years, arrived here from Patna in September 1670. He was accompanied by his mother, Mata Gujari, and grandmother, Mata Nanaki, and his maternal uncle, Kirpal Chand. Guru Tegh Bahadur had left Patna earlier and traveling via Delhi joined the family here at Lakhnaur, again to proceed onwards alone leaving the family behind. They stayed at Lakhnaur for over six months until, summoned by Guru Teg Bahadur, they joined the latter at Chakk Nanaki (Anandpur Sahib). It was at Lakhnaur that Pir Shah Bhikh (Bhikhan Shah) came and made his bow to the young Gobind Rai whose birth he had divined earlier as an event propitious for humanity. Another Muslim divine, Pir Arif Din, is also said to have made obeisance to Guru Gobind Singh here. After the departure of the holy family, the house in which they had lived during their stay at Lakhnaur, was maintained as a holy shrine. During the later half of the eighteenth century when the Sikh misls held sway over the entire Punjab from Indus to Yamuna, the house was converted into a proper Gurdwara. The Cis-Sutlej region fell under the British rule early in the nineteenth century. Soon after 1849, Maharaja Narinder Singh of Patiala acquired Lakhnaur and surrounding territory from the British in exchange for some of his own elsewhere. Gurdwara Lakhnaur Sahib continued to be maintained and administered under Patiala's Dharam-arth Board upto 1956, when, consequent to the merger of P. E. P. S. U. in Punjab, the administration passed to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. The Gurdwara building in the centre of a large walled compound has some distinctive architectural features. Sta ding on 10 -feet high ground, it is itself within a high enclosure. The 20 -feet square sanctum, with a high dome on the centre of the roof and a kiosk at each corner, is entered through a rectangular vestibule covered with elongated dome. The entire interior including the cupola is artistically painted. A vast congregation hall, 120 x 40 x 10 -feet has been constructed in the outer compound recently. A deep-bore well has been installed within an old baoli or open well. Another well in the open ground outside the village, half a furlong from the Gurdwara building is called Mata Gujari da Khuh (Mother Gujari's Well). This was constructed within an older but dilapidated well at the instance of Mata Gujari in 1670 -71, and still used as a source of sweet drinking water

Gurudwara Lakhnaur Sahib Proposals : Construction of Shed around the Sarovar and regular cleaning of Sarovar water.

Gurudwara Badshahi Bagh Location : Back side of District Court of Ambala. Area : 3 Acres Title : Gurudwara Sahib.

History of Gurudwara Badshahi Bagh Near district courts Ambala city, commemorates the visit of Guru Gobind Singh who stayed here while coming from Lakhnaur, where he had gone to meet his maternal parents. He &amped in the garden, under a cluster of trees. A tank has also been built near the Gurudwara Badshahi Bagh. Gurudwara. Badshahi Bagh commemorates the visit of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the Tenth Guru, who visited this place around 1670 during one of his excursions to Lakhnaur. While on a hunting trip one day on his horse, he came to a big garden just outside the city of Ambala. Then only a small child of eight years, he had with him his white hawk as well. The garden belonged to Pir Amir Din, the custodian of the Muslim shrines of the city. He happened to be present in the garden at the same time. Pir Amir Din had with him a black hawk. On seeing Guruji’s white hawk, the Pir took a liking to it and began thinking of how to take it himself. He threw a challenge to the Guru for a fight between the two hawks. But, Guruji realizing the real intention of the Pir, refused and said that instead of the hawk, he would make sparrows fight the Pir’s hawk. The Pir laughed and said that sparrows were food for his hawk, but Guruji repeated his words. With this, Guruji called upon two sparrows that were sitting on a tree to fight with the hawk. The sparrows fought so ferociously that the hawk was injured badly. It finally fell to its death about a kilometer away, near Labbu ka Talaab, the site of Gurudwara. Gobindpura. The Pir realized his folly and built a platform in honor of the Guru. It is here that Guru Gobind Singh uttered his famous words: Chirion se main baaz turaun, Tabe Gobind Singh naam kahaun. (It is when I make sparrows fight hawks that I am called Gobind Singh)

Gurudwara Badshahi Bagh Proposals : 1. Construction of Sarai. 2. Beautification of main gate and repair of approach road. 3. Parking provision near Sarovar. 4. Tile work, Lighting, Plantation and Beautification. 5. Provisions of General Amenities. 6. Cleaning of drains.

Guru Gobind Singh Library Location : Railway road, Ambala City. Area : 1 Acre Title : MC, Ambala Guru Gobind Singh Library xq: xksfc. Un flag ykbczsjh dh bekjr lu~ 1890 esa cukb. Z xb. Z vk. Sj ; g bekjr nks o"kks. Z esa cudj r. S; kj gqb. ZA igys ; g LFkku vxzst v. Qljksa ds Bgjus dk LFkku cuk o lu~ 1902 esa blh LFkku ds , d fg. Lls esa Victoria Memorial Club Hkh cuk; k x; k A bl Hk. O; bekjr esa fo’ks’k fp=dkjh o eq[; gky esa ckjg njokts o lksyg >jks[ks j[ks x; s g. S A Lora=rk ds mijkar bl ykb. Zczsjh dks nksckjk Bhd fd; k x; k r. Fkk bl ykbczsjh esa e’kgwj fp=dkj 'kks. Hkk flag ds gk. Fkksa dh cukb. Z xq: xksfc. Un flag dh r. Lohj yxkb. Z xb. Z g. S A 8 eb. Z] 1949 dks l; q. Dr iatkc ds eq[; ea=h Dr. Gopi Chand Bhargawa us bl ykbczsjh dk mn~? kk. Vu fd; k A bl ykb. Zczsjh esa vxzsth] fg. Unh o mnw. Z dh l. Sad. Mks nqy. Hk. Z iq. Lrdsa

Guru Gobind Singh Library Proposals 1. Maintenance to retain the heritage. 2. Modernization of library. 3. Provision of General amenities.