AMRITSAR CITY GUIDE

AMRITSAR CITY GUIDE

The name Amritsar stems from the holy water body of Amrit Sarovar which borders the magnificent Golden Temple. The cities status is the epitome of the religious Gurudwara and its presence sanctifies the city and is hence the city of the golden temple for the Sikhs primarily but it embraces all kinds of people of different religious background as well. Golden Temple is located in the centre of Amritsar and is in between the busiest market of India. The environment inside the Gurudwara is peaceful and serene and clam and relaxes the soul and the mind. Golden Temple is the holiest of all the Sikh shrines in India and everybody pays homage equally of Sikh and well as non-Sikh origins and offers prayer at the Harmandir Sahib. Besides the Gurudwara there is the jallian Wala Bagh where a brutal massacre of Indian people were held by the British troops and killing innocent people which was condemned by all the political leaders who were pro-British during the British era. Then Wagah is yet another tourist attraction which has daily the change of guards at the Indo-Pakistan border and a drill is performed every day with the un-hoisting of the national flags of both the countries by a lot of smug and threatening acts by both the sides. Amritsar can be reached from Delhi and should not be missed if one happens to travel in the northern part of India. Tourism is the prime economic activity out in Amritsar and travelling by road makes you crave to eat more because of the tastiest food ever to be found in the country is down here in the roadside hotels and restaurants which serve the mouth-watering delicacies of Punjab.

The beginning of the city lies secret in the middle of time due to the very little evidence of its early history of its glorious past. The city has been developed gradually by the different district Gazettes of Amritsar who developed the city from their administrative authorities and work on reference to the local history of the city. There are varied viewpoints regarding the city as some say this was a piece of land which was a gift Akbar the emperor to Guru Amar Das and Guru Amar Das more commonly known as Guru Ram Das paid a rupees of 700 to the zamindaris of the land and presented it to the villagers and stated it as the village of the Sultan out of gratitude to the Emperor. Thought there is yet another belief which says that it can actually never happen since the Sikhs would never take any kind of gifts from the Mughal ruler.

 Amritsar is a public land just in between the village of Sultan wind, Gutala, Tung and Gilwali which was then taken back by the Sikh Guru either by a gift or by paying off for the land. Amritsar was made a land where no taxes were levied and was made a revenue free city. The Chak Guru was granted from such and exemption from the Emperor mostly because Akbar was a jus emperor and showed exemplary level of just and tolerance towards the non-Muslims as well.  This led to the construction of the Golden Temple.

It is believed that a major portion of the Amritsar city was a part and portion of the Indus Valley Civilisation and that developed the Aryan race in the history of India. The north Indians are believed to be Aryan race which is much higher than any race of the world. Punjabi, Hindi, English and Urdu are the primary language that’s been spoken all over Punjab and in Amritsar. The climate is generally exceptionally dry marking both the summers and winters and the temperatures too are of extreme order the monsoons giving relief to the people of the city. The rainfall received by Amritsar annually is approximately 541 millilitres. Humidity is 70%  during the summers and during the day time. Fogs pose major problem during the winters as the thick dense fog cannot allow navigating through them making is risky and threatening for any mode of transport to conveniently run.

Amritsar being the located on the northern part of Punjab shares the Pakistan border and is a source of economic transaction as well and also the most important place of religion for the Sikhs. It is accessible by road, air and rail with its fully functional network of different modes to communicate. The Sri Guru Ram Das Jee international airport is about 11 kilometres away from Amritsar and is well networked with the domestic stations like Delhi, Srinagar and Chandigarh. The Indian railway connects all the major junctions of the country with Amritsar like Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur and Chandigarh. The National Highways have made it possible to drive by the Indian cultivable land and vast stretches of mustard field blooming into yellow flowers is a visual delight, the most popular sight of Punjab and also  popularly known as the “sarson ka khet.” Primarily the entire Punjab has its economy from the tourism and also from the agrarian culture that it holds such respect. Wheat, sugar cane and mustard are the primary crops besides ragi and bajra.

There are many places to visit in and around Amritsar and to name a few the first according to importance is the Holden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), the Lakshmi Narayan temple also known as the Durgiana mandir, the Wagah border, Atari the last station before the borders of Pakistan, the Jallian Wala Bagh, Ram Bagh, Ram tirath, Pul Kanjari, the Samadhi of Guru Angad Dev ji, Jama Masjid Khairudin, Samadhi of Shravan, Khu Kalyanwala, Shaheed-e-Bohr popularly known as the historical banyan tree.

Shopping experience is a wonderful delight for the shopaholics and the popular shopping areas in Amritsar is the Hall Bazar, the Katra Jaimal Singh and the Lawrence Road. They come in with a variety of woollen garments, contemporary and traditional commodities from rugs to modern day carpets to the indigenous durries and from fireworks to bangles and other jewellery and the cut glass range are a visual delight to handicrafts and tourism brings out the best in the city of Amritsar. Fairs and festivals too add colours to the markets and is a reflection of the culture, ethics, values and the love for the motherland and remind us about its struggle for freedom which it has achieved gloriously.