One of the best trips ever. Think it's a bit too rushed? One day not enough? Not really.
Let me tell you about my experience on how I had explored Amritsar in a day and it passed like a dream. One weekend me and my friend decided to take a break from the monotonous college life in Lucknow and started researching on weekend gateways. My friend, who is a co- founder of Indiatrotters is very much fascinated with Punjabis and Punjab. So we both decided to visit Amritsar. We booked our tatkal train tickets from Lucknow to Delhi, which was a 7-8 hours journey then from Delhi we took an overnight Volvo to Amritsar.
I am absolutely in love with sunrises, and no matter wherever I go for trips I never miss the sunrise of that particular place. Even during this trip I had just one goal that is catching the sunrise at the Golden Temple.
We reached Amritsar around 6’o clock and our trip started with the Harmandir Sahib aka the Golden Temple.
The Golden Temple is the most important religious palce for the Sikhs and the main attraction in the city. It's a stunning complex, and always full of thousands of pilgrims from all over India. The complex is open almost 24 hours and is worth visiting twice once during the day, once at night, when it's beautifully lit up.
Inside the Golden Temple Complex you will find:
Amrit Sarovar- It is the giant pool of water that surrounds and reflects the Golden Temple. Male pilgrims wishing to bathe can take a bath there.
Ghanta Ghar- This is the main entrance, sporting a distinctly Victorian clock-tower, where you need to wash your feet in the water at the entrance.
Harmandir Sahib- This is the Golden Temple itself, floating above the Amrit Sarovar, housing the sacred Adi Granth scripture. This is the most crowded point; accessible by a bridge from the edge of the pool, and entry here is synchronized by traditionally dressed Sikh guards.
Akal Takht- Meaning "The Timeless" is directly opposite the Harmandir Sahib., this is where the highest council of Sikhs sits and deliberates. At night, the Guru Granth Sahib is taken to the Akal Takht.
Central Sikh Museum- It is in the 2nd floor Devoted to large gallery of paintings, mostly showing the gruesome ways countless Sikhs have been martyred, and various knick-knacks from the gurus.
Other Places to See:
Jallianwala Bagh (Garden): is a 5-minute walk from the Golden Temple, and is the site of the 1919 Amritsar massacre. On 13 April of that year, British Indian Army soldiers opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. The firing lasted about 10 minutes and 1579 people were killed. A memorial was built on the site and inaugurated by the then-President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, on 13 April 1961. The well into which many people jumped and drowned attempting to save themselves from the hail of bullets is also a protected monument inside the park.
Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh: is in the Ram Bagh park. Now the palace houses a museum, exhibiting oil paintings, miniatures, coins and weapons from the Sikh period.
Wagah Border: It is around 30kms from Amritsar. It is a 45minutes ride from Amritsar. You can hire a taxi/autorickshaw or go in a pool in taxi, charges would be a minimum of 350 for hiring an auto, the cheaper option would be to go for a shared taxi costs about 100-120 rupees per person. At Wagah Boarder you can witness the harmonious confluence of the two nations India and Pakistan. The Flag retreat ceremony takes place everyday throughout the year at sunset. It attracts more than one thousand people from both sides. You should be there before sunset to get a proper seat in the open air theater.
Places to Eat:
A visit to Amritsar invariably includes two things which are paying your respects at the Golden Temple, and gorging on all the delicacies the city dishes up.
The Golden Temple- It has a dining hall (langar) serving free basic meals to all. Plates and spoons are handed out near the entrance, then follow the crowds inside and take the next vacant spot in one of the rows on the floor. Servers come by with large buckets of dal, chapatis and rice.
Sarhad- It is a great restaurant about 1km before the Wagah border. They serve Amritsari and Lahori food with some great truck art as decoration and the bathrooms are clean! Lot of people go there just to get a feel of the ambience and food.
Neelam's- a few doors down from New Punjabi Rasoi, and a 2 minutes’ walk from Golden Temple offers all basic meals. Good food with large portions for a small amount. Try the Amritsari Kulcha with chola.
Surjit Makkhan- Mouth watering delicious non-vegetarian food is available. From fish to chicken everything you can get here. Try the Achari Fish and Kadai Chicken.
Lassi wala chownk- And not to forget the Lassi when you are in Punjab.
You can even take a food tour in Amritsar.
You Can Buy:
Sikh symbols and religious paraphernalia like khandas, Karas (Sikh religious bangle), swords, daggers, etc, from the shops close to the Golden Temple.
Punjabi Juttis (shoes) from the tiny shops near the Hall Bazaar flyover.
Phulkaari is a form of embroidery from the state of Punjab in India and certain parts of Pakistan which literally means “flower making”. Brightly coloured shawls to sarees to head scarves to salwar-kameez of phulkaari can be found in Hall Bazar and Kapra market. Hand-embroidered ones would be more expensive and are still very much in demand for festivals and other joyous occasions. Bargain your heart out, especially in Kapra market as it’s a whole-sale market for clothes.
You can complete wandering the entire city in a day. That’s what we did. After visiting all the places mentioned above we took the evening train from Amritsar to Lucknow. The trip was a bit hectic but totally worth it.