Jallianwala Bagh

Garden and memorial in Punjab, India

Jallianwala Bagh is a historic garden and memorial of national importance close to the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, Punjab, India, preserved in the memory of those wounded and killed in the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre that took place on the site on the festival of Baisakhi Day, 13 April 1919. The site houses a museum, gallery and several memorial structures. It is managed by the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust, and was renovated between 2019 and 2021.

The site is located in the vicinity of the Golden Temple complex. Jallianwala Bagh or the garden of the Jallah man, with its well, implies that it was once green and flowering. Over the years it had become popular as a recreation ground and an area of rest for those visiting the nearby Golden temple. It was unoccupied and surrounded by a wall.

In 1919, in response to excluding Mahatma Gandhi from visiting Punjab, the secret deportation of Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal on 10 April and the reactions to the Rowlatt Act, Punjab had witnessed attempts of Indians to gather and protest. Dyer then ordered his troops to fire at the crowds. Approximately 1,650 rounds were fired and the number, killing and injuring many; the numbers are disputed. In 1951, the government of India established the site as a 'memorial of national importance'. The site was renovated between 2019 and 2021. The central government had earmarked in 2019 for the commemoration of the centenary of the massacre. The memorial was closed to the public in February 2019 for the renovation work, and reopened in August 2021.

The entrance to Jallianwala Bagh is via a narrow passage, the same passage that was the only entry and exit point at the time of the massacre and the same route that General Dyer and his troops took to reach the grounds. At the entrance is a statue of Udham Singh. Once entered, some old trees can be seen in the garden with some buildings at the back. With the words 'Vande Mataram', a flame titled Amar Jyoti (Eternal Flame) is seen burning to the right under a domed meditation area.

The 'Martyrs Well' is surrounded by the Martyr's memorial, a large structure with a sign giving a figure of "120" as the number of bodies that were recovered from the well. A number of the bullet holes in the walls are preserved. Using newspaper clippings and letters from Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and others, 45 panels depicting the Amritsar massacre are displayed. The initial trustees of the Trust were named as Jawaharlal Nehru, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the President of the Indian National Congress, the Governor of Punjab, the Chief Minister of Punjab and three people nominated by the Central Government.

Since the massacre, Jallianwala Bagh has been the site of a number of official and publicized visits. One of the earliest was during the public enquiry by the Indian Congress, when Jawaharlal Nehru visited the site in the immediate aftermath of the massacre. His investigation revealed 64 bullets in one part of the wall. During Prince William and Kate's official visit to India, Jallianwala Bagh was not on their itinerary. and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby in 2019. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the grounds in 2015 and politician Kiren Rijiju visited in 2016 as part of an India Pakistan border visit. Proposed renovations to Jallianwala Bagh were presented to India’s vice president Venkaiah Naidu, the governor of Punjab V. P. Singh Badnore and other officials when they visited the site in April 2019 to attend a commemoration ceremony organised by the Ministry of Culture. Other visitors in 2019 included Rahul Gandhi.