To commemorate the valiant contribution of the martyrs and soldiers of the Punjab, the Punjab Government set up a museum of International sorts that depict the heroics and accomplishments of Punjabi freedom fighters and soldiers since pre-independence times. Situated in Ludhiana, the war museum has been named Maharaja Ranjit Singh War Museum after Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh empire.

It has galleries that depict the heroics of the Air Force, Navy, cavalry and other departments of the military forces. It houses vivid description of the history and origin of the Sikh empire, the valiant Sikh conquests, Sikh rulers, fighters and martyrs, etc. The Ranjit Singh War Museum is an effort to pay homage to the priceless contribution of the Sikhs and a small way to remember them and their sacrifices in the hearts of fellow Sikhs and Indians.

Location

The Ranjit Singh War Museum is situated in the Ludhiana district of Punjab. It is located on GT Road on the Amritsar-Ludhiana Highway and is approximately 5 km away from the Ludhiana Station. The Museum has been instituted by Punjab Government in 1999 with not many articles on exhibit.

Significance

Over the years, the Punjab Government has given much importance to the development of the Museum and invested a significant amount of time and money in the process of making it a treasure house of information regarding the Sikhs and their historic past. The Museum stands tall amidst the five rivers and speaks aloud of the courage, bravery and valiance of the Sikhs in the past.

Tourists are welcomed to the museum with a monumental statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, sitting with élan on his throne. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the founder of the Sikh empire and the first person to unite all the different provinces and give it the name ‘Punjab’ meaning the ‘land of five rivers’. Surrounding the statuesque figure of Maharaja Ranjit Singh are war tanks, aircraft carriers, war planes, etc. The massive model of INS Vikrant exhibited here bears complete resemblance to the original one.

The museum leads to an enormous hall that is adorned with the flags of the different departments of Military forces such as Indian navy, Indian Air Force as well as the different battalions like those of the Gorkha Rifles, 18 Grenadiers, etc. These flags are majestic to look at and give the tourists a deep insight into the military depth of India. In the center is a portrait of Field Marshal Manekshaw along with other Admirals and Field Marshals.

To the left of the portraits is the entire Kargil gallery. This section has complete information of the Kargil war with a brief history of Kargil, Masokh Valley, Kaksar, etc. It has a mind-blowing depiction of the Operation Vijay too. A separate subsection gives the name and information regarding the heroes of this war who fought and died to protect their motherland. A touch facility kiosk gives a deeper insight into the Kargil war.

The right section depicts the Indian war history. These include lifelike paintings of the conquest between Alexander and Porus. The paintings describe vividly how Porus tricked Alexander into a marsh and the confrontation between the true rulers. This section includes paintings of the wars fought by Babur and Akbar as well. The valiant conquests of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in bringing the five states together are also depicted beautifully in a separate room.

The Historic Gallery contains Diorama of the first and the second Battle of Panipat and the Anglo Sikh war. It also contains blowups of Maharaja Sher Singh and Maharaja Bhagel Singh. It has paintings that depict the Krishna, Gupta, Mughal and the Sikh era.

The other models include those of INS Tarangini used for training the Indian Navy. There are life size fighter tanks and Bofors that took down Tiger Hill. The model of INS Vikramaditya and single manned fighter jets are the other things to look for. The walls are adorned with muskets right from ancient times to those used at present.

The Ranjit Singh War Museum speaks greatly and vividly about the history of India, especially that of the Sikhs. It is a panorama of great paintings and models and brings tourists closer to the rich history of India. The Ranjit Singh War Museum is a tribute to all those lives that were lost for a noble cause.