Amritsar, “The Lake of The Holy Water or Inmortal Nectar”, is a city of just over a million people, situated in the north-western part of Punjab state, India, close to the border with Pakistan.
The history of Amritsar city is intertwined with the birth of the Sikh religion. Probably the formal birth of the city occurred in 1577. Sikh Guru Ram Das with his son Guru Arjan Dev constructed a temple around a miracle pool with healing powers.
Then the city started on the path of religion and wealth after that Guru Arjan Dev encouraged to traders and craftsmen to settle around temple complex. In 1761 Ahmad Shah Durrani sacked the town and destroyed the temple, but it was rebuilt in 1764.
Around 18th century, the city almost was destroyed by plundering adventurers whom target the North India riches.
Under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Punjab province was a rich and almost independent state.
He rebuilt the city, established the lost businesses of the traders and donated one hundred kilos of pure gold. Guru Govind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, founded the warrior class of Sikhs for defending the city and the Sikh religion.
During Indian’s freedom struggle against the British, the city maintained its reputation of being fiercely independent. Amritsar people were outraged at the Rowlatt Act, an extreme form of the US Patriot’s Act, where the British Government arrested and deported key leaders of Punjab to unknown locations.
On 10th April, 1919 a big protest with around 15000 people, caused the death of 20 of them and four British officers and a Christian missionary.
On 13th April, again the Amritsar people assembled in large numbers in the Jalianwalla Bagh in a peaceful gathering but the General Dyer and his troops blocked the only gate to the park and started firing on crowd.
The result was 379 human bodies, and the man responsible of this atrocity was sobriquet “Butcher of Amritsar”. The bullets did make numerous dents in the walls of the Bagh but not the fiercely independent spirit of the Amritsar people.
In terms of language, Amritsar people speak the Punjabi dialect of Maajhi, but often we can hear Hindi, English and Urdu language.
Amritsar, the spiritual and cultural centre of Sikh religion as well as history and culture, is one of the most travelled tourist destinations in India due to the existence of several religious sites.
Amritsar is an important distribution centre of dry-fruits in India, and famous for producing some exquisite items like carpets, fabrics, handicrafts, etc.
The climate is extreme with very hot summers and chilly winters. The region has four distinct seasons: the winter season from November to March, the summer season from April to June, the monsoon season from July to September and the post monsoon season from September to November. Temperatures vary from 46 degrees in summer to -3 degrees in winter. The ideal time to visit Amritsar is between October and March months.
In many cases the city is considered as the best place to start travelling in North India, because it is home to Raja Sansi International Airport and it also lies on the Grand Trunk Road which stretches from Delhi to Lahore in Pakistan.
The most ancient and fascinating cities of India houses various historical and religious sites as the Golden Temple that is the most visited tourist attraction in India and even more popular than the Taj Mahal.
Other tourist attractions are: Jalianwala Bagh is the spot of the black incident where 379 people were ruthlessly killed and about 1200 injured by General Dywer’s troops; the Martyr’s Gallery is a poignant reminder of this heinous crime; Durgiana Mandir Temple , Ram Tirath Temple, Lalbagh Garden and Baba Atal Rai Tower.
In addition, other activities include the Wagah Border; the Tarn Taran a memorial to Guru Ram Das with the holy waters of the sarovar were believed to have miraculous healing powers, and even cured lepers and the Hari-ka-patan.
Set upon the confluence of the Beas and Sutlej rivers, this is a Ramsar Wetland site and popular for picnics and bird watching where people see a wide variety of migratory birds in winter.