Explore the Holy Place of Amritsar

The holy city of Amritsar is located in Punjab, India and is the spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh religion. It's the Number One destination for the non resident Indians (NRIs) and attracts more visitors than even the more popular destination of India, Agra.

Amritsar was founded by the Sikh Guru Ram Dass Ji and is famous for the magnificent Harmandir Sahib or the Golden Temple and the Akal Takht (the Throne of the Timeless God). The construction of the world famous Golden Temple with golden shrines was started by Guru Ram Dass Ji and was completed by Guru Arjan Dev Ji in 1601.

While on a visit to the place, make it a point to also visit Ram Bagh and the Wagah Border. While Ram Bagh is a beautiful garden made on the patterns of the renowned Shalimar Bagh of Lahore, Pakistan; the Wagah Border is a place that's at India's border with Pakistan. Here, you can watch the interesting border closing ceremony. Regular taxis are available from the Golden Temple to the Wagah Border.

Amritsar is on the Great Trunk Road, and hence well connected by road. The place is well connected by rail and air as well. In fact, the pilgrim town is connected to even many international destinations, courtesy the swanky Raja Sansi International Airport. The best time to visit Amritsar is between October and March.

And oh, did I mention that while on a visit to Amritsar you must visit the Amritsar Massacre Memorial also? The Amritsar Massacre Memorial built at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar is the place where, before independence, several innocent and unarmed Indians were cold bloodedly butchered by General Dyre. Here, you can still see many bullet marks that remind you of the bestiality of the former colonial rulers.

Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar

Jallian Wala Bagh This place noted for its most notorious massacre under British rule. It is 400 meters north of the Golden Temple. The British General Dyer was the Lieutenant Governor of the province in 1919. He banned all meetings and demonstrations led by Indians against the economical set back by World War .

On 13 April 1919, pilgrims poured into Amritsar to celebrate the Baisakhi festival, a holiday in the Sikh calendar. In the afternoon thousands of people gathered at Jallian Wala Bagh to celebrate the Baisakhi. This ground surrounded by high walls on all sides has only a narrow alley for access. General Dyer personally led the troops to the sight and ordered his men to open fire without any warning. It resulted in the death of 379 and injured more than 1200. India was outraged by Dyer's massacre. Gandhiji, called for a nation wide strike and started the Non-cooperation Movement, which became an important mile stone in the struggle for India's Independence. Today this ground has been changed to a park and it has a pleasant garden. There is a narrow path between the houses which leads to the lawn of the park. At the entrance there is a memorial plaque which recounts the history. There is a well on the north side in which many people who tried to escape from the bullets were drowned, and remnants of walls have been preserved to show the bullet holes. At the east end of the garden there is a large memorial built in memory of those who died here.

Harmandir Sahib: The Golden Temple

Originally built during 1574 AD, the site of the temple was surrounded by a small lake in a thin forest. The third of the six grand Mughals, emperor Akbar, who visited the third Sikh Guru, Guru Amar Das, at the neighbouring town of Goindval was so impressed by the way of life in the town that he gave a jagir (the land and the revenues of several villages in the vicinity) to the Guru's daughter Bhani as a gift on her marriage to Bhai Jetha, who later became the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das. Guru Ram Das enlarged the lake and built a small township around it. The town was named after Guru Ram Das as "Guru Ka Chak", "Chak Ram Das" or "Ram Das Pura".

During the leadership of the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev (1581-1606), the full-fledged Temple was built. In December 1588 the great Muslim Sufi saint of Lahore, Hazrat Mian Mir, who was a close friend of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, initiated the construction of the temple by laying the first foundation stone (December 1588 AD).A mason then straightened the stone but Guru Arjan Dev told him that, as he had undone the work just completed by the holy man, a disaster might come to the Harmandir Sahib. It was later attacked by the Mughals.

The temple was completed in 1604. Guru Arjan Dev, installed the Guru Granth Sahib in it and appointed Baba Buddha Ji as the first Granthi (Reader) of it on August 1604 AD. In the mid 18th century it was attacked by the Afghans, by one of Ahmed Shah Abdali's Generals, Jahan Khan, and had to be substantially rebuilt in the 1760s. However, in response a Sikh Army was sent to hunt down the Afghan force. They were under orders to show no mercy and historical evidence suggests none was shown. Both forces met each other 5 miles outside Amritsar; Jahan Khan's army was destroyed. He himself was decapitated by commander Sardar Dayal Singh.

History Of Amritsar

Amritsar city is one of the major cities of the Punjab state in India. Under instructions from Guru Amar Das, this city was founded by Guru Ram Das in 1574, on land bought by him for 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung. (Earlier Guru Ram Das had begun building Santokhsar Sarovar, near the village of Sultanwind in 1564 {according to one source in 1570}. It could not be completed before 1588. In 1574, Guru Ram Das built his residence and moved to this place. At that time, it was known as Guru Da Chakk. (Later, it came to be known as Chakk Ram Das). Guru Ram Das began excavation of the Amritsar Sarovar tank in 1577. It was ready by 1581. This tank was renovated by Guru Arjan Dev in 1586. Since then this city has been known as Amritsar (after the name of the sarovar). The first stone of the foundation of the Darbar Sahib is said to have been laid been laid by Sain Mian Mir, a Muslim, at Guru Arjan's request. A story in Sikh lore tells of a mason who then corrected the stone's alignment and was chided by Guru Arjan for doing so, with the Saint stating that the re-alignment was symbolic of the complex being continually attacked and rebuilt. Many masons worked on laying the foundation on January 3, 1588. Sant Mian Mir was very friendly with Guru Arjan Dev and tried to intercede with the Guru's subsequent torture and death at the hands of the Emperor Jahangir. He continued to be a friend of the next Guru, Guru Hargobind and again worked on attaining his freedom when he was held for some time at Gwalior Fort. In 1590, Guru Arjan Dev moved to the village of Wadali where Guru Hargobind was born on June 19, 1590. By 1601, the Darbar Sahib was fully ready. In 1603-1604, the first volume of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scriptures, was prepared in this city and was installed at Darbar Sahib on August 16, 1604.

On April 13, 1634, the Mughal army attacked Guru Hargobind here. From 1635 to 1698, Amritsar remained in the control of the Mina family (descendants of Pirthi Chand). During this period, on November 23, 1664, Guru Tegh Bahadur visited the town. In April 1698, Bhai Mani Singh was appointed as the caretaker of the shrines of Amritsar.

The Mughal chief of Patti tried to occupy Amritsar several times. One such attempt was made in April 1709. The Sikhs, under the command of Bhai Mani Singh and Bhai Tara Singh of Dallwan, repelled this attack. When Baba Banda Singh Bahadur occupied several areas in the Punjab, Bhai Mani Singh chose to leave Amritsar in order to avoid the Mughal attacks. On December 30, 1711, the Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, granted Ajit Singh Palit the charge of Amritsar in order to use him against Baba Banda Singh Bahadur. After the death of Bahadur Shah, Ajit Singh Palit returned to Delhi. In 1721, Bhai Mani Singh returned to Amritsar and re-started regular worship. His first act was to solve a dispute between the Tat Khalsa and the Bandai Khalsa factions for the right to the management of the shrines in Amritsar.

In 1740, Massa Ranghar, an official, desecrated the Darbar Sahib. He was killed for this action by Bhai Sukkha Singh and Bhai Mahtab Singh, on August 11, 1740. In 1757 an Afghan army of Ahmed Shah Abdali demolished both the Darbar Sahib and the Akal Takht. Baba Deep Singh led several thousand Sikhs against the Afghans. A major battle was fought on November 11, 1757. Baba Deep Singh and several thousand Sikhs were killed. Again, in 1762, the Darbar Sahib complex was again demolished by an Afghan army. On December 1, 1764, the Afghan army made another attack. 30 Sikhs, led by Jathedar Gurbakhsh Singh, fought against the mammoth Afghan army and were killed. In 1765, the Sikhs began re-construction of the shrines. The central part was ready by 1776.

Ranjīt Singh, chief of the Sukkarchakkīā misl, who first occupied, in 1799, Lahore, the traditional capital of the Punjab, and declared himself Mahārājā in 1801, extended his hegemony to Amritsar in 1805 when he took over from his traditional rivals, the bhāngī chiefs, their fort with its mint striking the Nānakshāhī rupee, and the famous Zamzamā gun. The fort of the Rāmgarhīā misl was occupied in 1815 and with the possessions of Rānī Sadā Kaur of Kanhaiyā Misl and Fateh Siṅgh Āhlūwālīā in Amritsar during the early 1820s, Ranjīt Singh's occupation of Amritsar was complete. He then constructed a double wall and a moat around the city with twelve gates and their corresponding bridges over the moat. Already in 1809 he had constructed the Gobindgaṛh Fort outside Lahaurī Gate complete with a formidable moat, three lines of defence and several bastions and emplacements for heavy guns. Amritsar thus had already become his second capital. The royal toshākhānā or treasury was kept in Gobindgaṛh Fort which was also used as the royal residence during the Mahārājā's frequent visits to the city before his palace in the city, Rām Bāgh, was completed in 1831. Several members of the nobility also raised palatial houses and beautiful gardens in and around the city. Ranjīt Singh devoutly provided liberal funds to have the dome and exterior of the Darbar Sahib gold plated and to have the interior ornamented with fine filigree and enamel work and with decorative murals and panels in marble inlaid with coloured stone. Sardār Desā Singh Majīthīā (d. 1832), who had been appointed manager of the holy shrines in the city since its occupation by Ranjīt Singh, donated gold for gilding the top of Bābā Attal. Around 1830, Ranjit Singh had Muslim goldsmiths to gold-plate some parts of the inner section of the Darbar Sahib. The Gold plating led to it being called the Golden Temple.

In 1846, the British established themselves in the Lahore Darbar, with a resident in the Court; and, Amritsar became a place of frequent visits by the British. In order to keep the sanctity of the city, H. M. Lawrence, the British resident, issued an order, dated March 24, 1847, asking the English people to follow Sikh protocol while visiting Sikh places of worship. In 1858, a municipal committee was set up here. In 1862, train services between Lahore and Amritsar were started. Khalsa College, the first Sikh college was established here in 1892. [In 1969 Guru Nanak Dev University was established here]. In 1913, the city was electrified. In September 1915, the British declared Amritsar a holy City. (This order was later annulled after Indian independence in August 15, 1947 by the Indian government). On April 13, 1919, General Reginald Dyer opened fire on the gathering, at Jallianwala Bagh, near Darbar Sahib, killed 379 people and wounded another 1200. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (S.G.P.C.) and the Shiromani Akali Dal were established here in 1920.

In addition to the damage done by the Afghan armies the Akal Takhat was damaged by the Indian government forces in June 1984 during Operation Blue Star launched to deal with a Sikh secessionist movement which had fortified the Holy site with automatic weapons and rocket launchers. The Group was headed by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala head of the Damdama Takhsal, a mobile college begun by Guru Gobind Singh. The Indian government repaired it in September 1984. The Sikhs promtly removed the work done by the Indian Government and re-did the repairs themselves. Theys began demolishing the repairs on January 26, 1986. The present structure was repaired by five service-groups headed by Baba Thakar Singh of Bhindranmehta Jatha.

The city is dominated by the history of the Sikhs and many of their sacred shrines are found in and around the city. It was established by Guru Ramdas. The city has highest temporal seat of Sikhs "The Harimandir Sahib" popularly known as Golden Temple. The city has central old city called walled city. It has narrow zig zag streets mostly developed in the 17th and 18th century. The city has a peculiar example of introvert planning system and has uniques areas called Katras. The Katras are self styled residential units that provided unique defence system during attacks on the city.