Swaraj Udyan

Swaraj Udyan is a memorial park in Jorhat, Assam, India, dedicated to freedom fighters of the Indian independence movement. It is located near the Jorhat Central Jail, a colonial-era prison where several leaders of the movement were held and where Kushal Konwar was hanged in 1943. The park, which covers about 175 bighas, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on 11 March 2026. The cost of the project is estimated at 159 crore.

Background

The Jorhat Central Jail was built in 1909 under British rule as the Jorhat District Jail and opened in 1911. It was renamed Central Jail in September 2002, and a memorial prison named after Pitambar Dev Goswami was inaugurated within the complex in 2012.

Participants in the independence movement imprisoned at the jail included the social reformer Pitambar Dev Goswami, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Gopinath Bordoloi, Bimala Prasad Chaliha, Amiyo Kumar Das, Bijoy Bhagawati and Kamakhya Tripathi. Kushal Konwar was hanged inside the jail on 15 June 1943, and Beja Bauri and Kamala Miri died there while in custody.

History

In his Independence Day address in 2021, Sarma announced that the Jorhat jail would be preserved as a memorial. On 19 August 2021, he visited the jail and the sites associated with Konwar and Pitambar Dev Goswami. The state government planned to relocate the prison elsewhere in the district and to develop a heritage site on 100 bighas of the jail land as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations of 75 years of Indian independence.

The park was inaugurated on 11 March 2026. On the same day, Sarma also inaugurated the Maniram Dewan–Piyali Barua Flyover in Jorhat.

Features

Swaraj Udyan includes preserved parts of the old jail complex, including prison cells used to detain revolutionaries, the cell of Pitambar Dev Goswami, old prison walls, and the gallows where Konwar was hanged. The park also has a museum and 25 memorials to freedom fighters from Assam. Granite pillars commemorate the sacrifices of freedom fighters from the states of North East India.

Other facilities include a children's park, exercise areas, landscaped walking areas and a canteen. The names of the eight states of North East India are engraved at the entrance.

See also

• Kushal Konwar
• Lachit Borphukan Maidam