AMRITSAR, PUNJAB

1:23 PM AMRITSAR , PUNJAB 0 Comments

Amritsar, founded in 1577 by the fourth Sikh guru, Ram Das, is the spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh religion, is home to the Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple. It is one of India's most serene and humbling sights. It beckons travellers from all over the world in search of healing and happiness, a voice in the wind to tell them that everything will be alright. Not only is it the home of the Sikh religion, but Amritsar is also a culinary capital of India that seems to be shadowed by other cities. 

Amritsar is divided in two by a tangle of railway lines. The old city, containing the Golden Temple and other historic sights and bound by 12 medieval gates, is southeast of the railway lines. This is a fascinating area to explore, with a capillary network of narrow bazaars that seems to float between the centuries.

To the north of the railway lines, ‘modern’ Amritsar has grown up in haphazard fashion around a scattering of colonial-era boulevards. Gleaming malls and upmarket hotels stand testament to the prosperity of the city, but the hectic traffic makes this area hard to love at street level. Crossing between the old and new cities is best done by cycle-rickshaw, but once you’re in the old city, walking is often the quickest way to get around.

The Golden Temple, located in the city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab,is a place of great beauty and sublime peacefulness. Originally a small lake in the midst of a quiet forest, the site has been a meditation retreat for wandering mendicants and sages since deep antiquity. Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of the Sikh religion came to live and meditate by the peaceful lake. After the passing away of Guru Nanak, his disciples continued to frequent the site; over the centuries it became the primary sacred shrine of the Sikhs. Next to the temple complex are enormous pilgrims' dormitories and dining halls where all persons, irrespective of race, religion, or gender, are lodged and fed for free.

At the southeast end of the Golden Temple compound is the Guru-Ka-Langar, an enormous dining room where an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 pilgrims a day come to eat after praying at the Golden Temple. Everyone is welcome to share the Langar; no one is turned away. Each week a family or several families volunteer to provide and prepare the Langers. All the preparation, the cooking and the washing-up is done by volunteers and or by voluntary helpers (Sewadars).

Reached through a gatehouse on the road to the Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh commemorates the 1500 Indians killed or wounded when a British officer ordered his soldiers to shoot on unarmed protesters in 1919. Some of the bullet holes are still visible in the walls, as is the well into which hundreds desperately leapt to avoid the bullets. There’s an eternal (24-hour) flame of remembrance, an exhibition telling the stories of victims, and a Matryrs’ Gallery, with portraits of Independence heroes.

Located in the pious city of Amritsar, Mata Lal Devi Temple is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage that is considered to be full of miraculous powers. Dedicated to a 20th century female saint named Lal Devi, it is regarded as a miniature of the popular Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu because of its similar structure.

Wagah is the border that lies on the Grand Trunk Road between the cities of Amritsar in Punjab, India and Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the only road border which crosses between India and Pakistan. The border is at a distance of 20 kms from Amritsar and 22 kms from Lahore. It is home to the Radcliffe Line, which is the demarcation between India and Pakistan and was drawn during the partition of India in 1947. It has become famous for the beating the retreat ceremony. A daily military practice followed by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Pakistan Rangers, since 1959, which includes the closing of international gates and the lowering of the flags of both the countries. Around 5000 people visit the Wagah border, which has become very popular among tourists all over the world.

Chand Baori is perhaps one of the most famous attractions in Amritsar. It is a spectacular step-well that also boasts of being one of the deepest and largest step wells in India. The well was constructed around 800 A.D. The well has 3500 narrow steps that tale you 13 stories down. The depth of the well is an astonishing 30 metres!

Depicting the bliss of Goddess Durga Durgiana Temple of Amritsar is also called by the name of Lakshmi Narayan Temple. Built in the third decade of the 20th Century, not the traditional Hindu temple architecture, but that of the Golden Temple and, in a similar manner rises from the midst of a tank and has canopies and the central dome in the style of the Sikh temple. One of the greatest reformers and political leaders of resurgent India, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, laid its foundation stone. It is a well-known repository of Hindu scriptures.Depicting the bliss of Goddess Durga Durgiana Temple of Amritsar is also called by the name of Lakshmi Narayan Temple. Daily rituals devoted to Durga Ma is performed in the temple.

The city lies on the main Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) from Delhi to Amritsar connecting to Lahore in Pakistan. Amritsar's international airport has more than 160 domestic and international flights during the week with daily connections to all major cities in India. Amritsar is well connected by rail to almost all major cities in India. There is a special train (Samjhauta Express) that runs west to Wagah (Attari Border), which is the last station on the border in India before continuing on to Pakistan.