Ambala
Population:120,000
Altitude: 274m
STD: 0171
¤ Legend Associated To The City
Ambala, the meeting point of the hills and plains, was founded in
the 14th century by one Amba Rajput. Maybe the town gets
its name from him. But according to another story, Ambala came to be
named so after the goddess Bhawani Amba (an important diety of this
place).
Yet a third story says that the name of the town is a corrupted form
of Amb wala – a place abounding in mangoes. (But sorry, time has
eaten all the mangoes – they are only known to have existed.)
Anyway, Ambala became a large British cantonment in 1843, laid out in
a grid fashion. The town is called Ambala City while this cantonment
area is known as Ambala Cantt. The cantonment was established after
another one, at Karnal, was abandoned in 1841 due to a massive spread
of malaria.
Even before 1947, the district had some big factories. Today the city
is the district headquarters and the centre of a booming manufacturing
industry, especially that of scientific instruments.
The place has the biggest natural lakes of Haryana and is truly an
angler’s paradise. You could spend a lazy day kiosk angling or
boating.
¤ Places of Interest
There is not much to see in Ambala city except for lots of shrines.
The Badshahi Bag Gurudwara, Sis Ganj Gurudwara and Manji Sahib
Gurudwara are the three historical gurudwaras here. These are
associated with Guru govind Singh, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru
Hargovind respectively. Besides there are the popular Muslim shrines
of Lakhi Shah (associated with Tej-ud-Din Chisti) and Taqwal Shah. and
of course there’s the Bhawani Amba Temple, Saint Paul’s
Church and a Christian cemetery for dead Britishers.
In the north of the city is the Paget Park, a pleasant open space,
with the shell of the St John’s Cathedral, designed in the 14th
century Gothic style. The building was bombed in the 1965
India-Pakistan war. (Well, talking about monuments, Ambala has been
really unlucky. The famous Gupta iron pillar which now stands tall at
the Qutub Minar in Delhi originally belonged to Ambala; it was lifted
from here by the Muslim rulers to its present position). But the Rang
Mahal at Buria nearby is a handsome palace with stone arches and
pillars with beautiful carvings, erected during Shah Jahan’s
reign.
Mode of Transport
Train: The Shatabdi Express
(at 0730 & 1315 everyday) connects Ambala to New Delhi. Besides
there are frequent trains to Chandigarh.
¤ Accommodations
Batra Palace, Lawrence Road, (no restaurant, but friendly room
service with good food, and with student discount!).
King Fisher (Haryana Tourism), (a/c, restaurant, attractive gardens,
pool).
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