Amritsar

Amritsar, a popular tourist destination of Punjab, is located in the northwest region of India and well know as the home to the religious building and important pilgrimage to the Sikhs. Amritsar is said as the 'holy pool of nectar' and is the spiritual and sacred place for the Sikh religion. The city was founded by Guru Ram Das Shahib under the instruction of Guru Amar Das Shahib in 1574. Guru Ram Das Shahib began the excavation of Amritsar Sarovar in 1577 and it was renovated by Guru Arjun Sahib in 1586 since then the city is known as the Amritsar after the name of the Amritsar Sarovar. Amritsar is also famous for its outstanding landscapes and beauty and an important trading center of India for many things like as cut-glass crockery, sweet meats, woolen shawls, dry fruits etc.

Fast facts
Area: 114 sq. km
Temperature: 3 to 47.7 degree
Population: 1,500,000 (2001)
Religion: Sikhism, Hinduism
Language: Punjabi, Hindi, English

How to Reach
By Air: Well connected through the air with the Rajasansi airport at Amritsar to the major cities of India as an international airport.
By Rail: Well connected via train with all the prime destinations of India.
By Road: Perfectly connected by road and play regular bus service between the cities.

Places to visit

Hari Mandir Shahib
Harimandir Sahib, well known and very famous as the Golden Temple, is the most important pilgrimage to the Sikhs. Golden Temple, a shrine to be visited, with its splendor paneling dome, shimmering and shining very glow in the morning light, silhouetted delicately in the water and across the city escape, is the spiritual vision of the Sikhs - the beginning and the end of their spiritual journey. Golden Temple was built in the 16th century when the Guru Ram Das decide to make a central place for the congregations of the Sikhs and convey the message to the Guru Arjun Dev, so it was founded by the Guru Arjun Dev near about the four centuries ago. The architectural splendor of an historical monument and a sacred palace and pilgrimage the Golden temple has the four entrance door, called deoris, so that people could enter without caste and creed and bow in any direction they preferred.

Akal Takht
Akal Takht, the seat of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, is located in the Golden Temple complex of Amritsar. It was built by the 6th Guru named as the Guru Har Gobind as the symbol of political sovereignty of Sikhs. Maha Kali Mandir: Maha Kali Mandir, situated at national highway Near Majitha bypass on Jalandhar-Rajashanshi airport road, is a sacred temple of architectural glory. This Mandir has the temples of Maha Kali, Shri Ram, Maa Durga, Shri Radha Krishan, Sindoori Hanuman, Maa Sarawati, Lakhsmi Narayan , Shiv Parivar. One can also view the Great and huge statue of God Hanuman on the top of Mandir.

Jallianwala Bagh
Jallianwala Bagh is situated 400 meter north of the Golden Temple, where an ancient story of a cruelly colonial and the helpless people including men, woman and children took place in 1919, which killed hundreds of men, women and children on the spot. The bullet marks on the boundary walls bring alive the agonizing tale of cruelty of colonial rule. The Bagh is surrounded by the high walls and have a single way to go out, and you can see a section of the wall with the marks of the bullets over there.

Wagah Border
Another prominent tourist attraction in Amritsar that is realistic and shows the love and affection of both the borders, is not a monument but a daily event. A little away from Amritsar at the India shares international frontier with Pakistan. Every evening, the change of guard among either national security forces, a handshaking distance apart, is a fantastic spectacle.

There are various other tourist attraction in the Amritsar that can be explored like as the Anandpur Sahib - one of the sacred place for the Sikhs and second only to Amritsar, Anandgarh Fort - situated 800 meter southwest of Takht Kesgarh Sahib, the first fort of Anandgarh Sahib and a central place from the military point of view, Lohagarh Fort, Fatehgarh Fort - situated on the northern outskirts of the town of Anandpur Sahib, Ram Tirth - Located 11 Kilometres to the west of Amritsar on Chogawan road, with the great importance with the Ashram of the Mahrishi Valmiki and with the hut where Sita - the wife of Lord Ram, gave birth to Luv and Kush and such other various historical places, Gurudwaras etc.