March 1: With the dual aims of improving the tourism potential of the city and paying tribute to the great Ahom warriors, Dispur will inaugurate Saraighat Udayan, a war memorial park, at Agyathuri along the northern bank of Brahmaputra tomorrow.
The park has been constructed within a record time of four months. Minister of Guwahati development department Himanta Biswa Sarma will inaugurate the park.
The park has four bronze statues of Ahom warriors in battle postures. A bronze plate has also been inscribed to narrate a part of the Saraighat battle. Two more fibre glass statues of Ahom warriors have been built at the entrance of the park. Kamrup deputy commissioner Ganesh Kalita said that sculptor Birendra Sinha and a team of experts from Shantiniketan worked at nights over the past four months to complete the construction of the park.
“Sinha has fallen sick because of overwork. We are taking care of him. It takes at least two years to complete a park like Saraighat Udayan, spread across a four-bigha plot,” explained Sinha.
The historical Saraighat battle took place in 1669 and is regarded as one of the most tragic chapters of the epic Ahom-Mughal struggle. The Ahoms won the war, but lost 10,000 soldiers in a single day. One of the most memorable episodes of the struggle was when Ahom senapati (general) Lachit Barphukan beheaded his maternal uncle Momai Tamuli for showing laxity in construction of the Saraighat gar (huge wall) to prevent the Mughals from entering Guwahati. Kalita said the park has been constructed at a cost of Rs 65 lakh sanctioned by the state government.
“The park, which overlooks the Brahmaputra and a small hillock, will be a perfect place for children and families to relax. With the Saraighat Park and Saraighat Bridge, the tourists can now get a glimpse of history even before entering the city,” Kalita said.
On August 14 last year, the local population of Allaboi hillside, where 10,000 brave Assamese soldiers laid down their lives fighting against the mighty Mughals, paid tribute to the heroes.
