The ‘Splendor of Jind’s capital Sangrur in 19th-20 centuries’, which has been termed by reviewers’ as a trend – setter coffee table book., was released by education minister Ram Bilas Sharma of Haryana, India.

Sangrur was a well-planned town in the 19th century, the concept of town – planning was not known in many parts of the world. This book enriched with well well- researched text illuminated with vintage pictures of beautiful places, palaces, gardens, historical persons, events, paintings, rare photographs, coins, medals, picture postcards, stamps, exhibitions, etc has been designed to be useful for libraries teachers students research – scholars, numismatists, philatelists and lovers of art and culture, besides quick readers and fashionable collectors.

Haryana’s Education Minister Sh. Ram Bilas Sharma released Sri VPS Rao’s book “Splendour of Jind’s Capital Sangrur in 19th-20th centuries.” This remarkable book, with well- researched text and 69 vintage pictures, is a concise compendium on historical and socio-cultural heritage of Jind, which was the 2nd. largest kingdom of the Malwa region in 19th. and 20th centuries AD. Out of its three main divisions e.g. Jind, Dadri and Sangrur, two now fall in the present State of Haryana and one in Panjab.

The Tribune Reviews

Rich heritage revisited

At variance with many others, who rue society’s dearth of awareness about history and blame the young generation for the ignorance, author VPS Rao prefers to lay the blame on other plausible reasons that keep people from getting interested in the bygone era.

Manika Ahuja
At variance with many others, who rue society’s dearth of awareness about history and blame the young generation for the ignorance, author VPS Rao prefers to lay the blame on other plausible reasons that keep people from getting interested in the bygone era.

An avid admirer of India’s rich culture, Rao says flooding of Indian literary space with foreign publications and lack of material to weave a research on have put places of cultural significance in a ‘state of neglect’. Guided by his mission to boost people’s knowledge about India’s culture, Rao, who has written numerous literary works in the past, has now penned a coffee-table book titled Splendour of Jind’s Capital Sangrur in 19th-20th centuries.

Replica of Chandigarh
Ask him why he specifically chose Sangrur as the subject of his book and he says, “Sangrur had a lot of things in common with modern-day Chandigarh. It was well-planned, had underground sewage system and wide roads.” Rao adds that in line with directions of planting industries away from residential areas, “A chimney was constructed in Sangrur, back then, to keep the chemical pollutants away from city.”

Picture speak
With as many as 69 vintage pictures adorning his book, to transport readers to a period back in time, the book, according to Rao, “is a concise compendium on historical and socio-cultural heritage of Jind.” He informs that his choice to write a coffee-table book was influenced by the fact that “the genre would allow me to splash my literary canvas with loads of pictures.”