Jammu emerging as education hub: Dr Karan Singh

Jammu, Mar 1: Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister Dr Karan Singh Friday stated that Jammu, with an interesting history in its backdrop, was emerging as a vibrant educational hub.

“Jammu, which has an interesting history, is emerging as an educational hub with a lot of new educational institutions also coming up here, including IIT and IIM. It already has a number of universities here. The pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi and our temples in Jammu are quite famous. Amar Palace has also become quite renowned across the country,” Dr Singh said, while giving a brief account of history and current growth trajectory of Jammu in the inaugural session of four-day ‘Tawi festival’ at Amar Mahal.

Reflecting on the history of Amar Palace, he said that it was named after his grand-father Amar Singh, who was the younger brother of Maharaja Pratap Singh.

“The history of Amar palace, which is a marvel of French architecture, dates back to 150 years or so. He (Amar Singh) got it constructed by a French architect. Unfortunately, he could not get this building completed. As per his original plan, almost a similar structure was to be constructed on the other side also. But it did not happen,” Dr Singh reminisced.

“Later, my father got the present building cleared of those unfinished structures. We inherited two palaces Amar Mahal (Palace) and Ranbir Mahal (Palace). Ranbir Mahal, rightly or wrongly, we gave to the Governor and it is presently the Governor House. Even Amar Mahal had almost turned into a deserted place. But then, I along with my wife decided to make it (Amar Mahal) a vibrant centre by converting it into a Museum and Library. I collected 20,000 books. I expended on this venture. Then we started putting paintings and our other collections here, including beautiful Kangra paintings, which are unique across the world. People from across the globe come to see these creations and appreciate the artistic splendour of Pahari artists of Kangra School of Paintings,” he said.

Later, giving a day-long account of Tawi Festival, Dr Jyotsana Singh, Director Amar Mahal Museum and Library (AMML), said that the inaugural day of the four-day festival was dedicated to the environment encompassing enriching talks on various related issues.

“In the morning, Dr Karan Singh gave a detailed account of the Project Tiger, which he had initiated when he was part of the then union cabinet to save the big cat from extinction. Besides, there were audio-visual attractions on wild-life and success stories. This was followed by a panel-discussion on Himalayan biodiversity. The evening will be dedicated to a concert of Jitendra Singh,” she said.