Jallianwala Bagh

Jallianwala Bagh is a walled garden close to the Golden Temple, now a national memorial to those killed on 13 April 1919. That day a crowd had gathered inside, some of them protesting quietly against the Rowlatt Act, which let the colonial government jail people without trial, and others simply resting after a visit to the temple. Troops under General Dyer blocked the single narrow lane into the garden and fired without warning until their ammunition was almost spent. The exact toll is disputed, but hundreds died and more than a thousand were hurt, and the event became a turning point in the freedom movement.

Visitors still enter through that narrow passage. Bullet marks remain in the walls, and the Martyrs' Well recalls those who jumped in to escape the firing. The Martyrs' Gallery displays material on freedom fighters, and plaques explain each spot. The Flame of Liberty, a four-sided red stone pylon about 30 feet high, carries 300 slabs bearing the Ashoka Chakra. There is also a white marble sculpture with the names of the dead in gold, an eternal flame, a statue of Udham Singh, who later killed Michael O'Dwyer, and an evening light and sound show narrated by Amitabh Bachchan.