Amritsar, historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as Ambarsar, is a city in northwestern India which is the administrative headquarters of the Amritsar district and is located in the Majha region of the Indian state of Punjab.
According to the 2011 census, the population of Amritsar was 1,132,761. It is one of ten Municipal Corporations in the state and Karamjit Singh Rintu is the current mayor of the city. The city is situated 217 km (135 mi) northwest of state capital Chandigarh and 455 km (283 miles) northwest of New Delhi, the national capital. It is near Pakistan, with the Wagah Border being only 28 km (17.4 mi) away.
Amritsar has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India. Amritsar is home to the Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as "the Golden Temple," one of Sikhism's most spiritually significant and most-visited gurudwaras. The city is also known for its wooden chessboards and chess pieces manufacturing industry.
Tourism in Amritsar
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Amritsar is a city situated in the state of northern Punjab, the northwestern region of India. It is 25 kilometres (15 miles) away from the Pakistan border. This important Punjab city is the main centre of commerce, culture, and transportation. It is the centre of Sikhism and the principal place of worship for Sikhs. Amritsar is attractive destination for tourists, especially those part of Golden Triangle. Major destinations are:
Durgiana Temple
Golden Temple and Heritage Street
Punjab State War Heroes' Memorial & Museum
Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal
Sadda Pind
Urban Haat Food Street
Gobindgarh Fort
Ram Bagh Palace and Maharaja Ranjit Singh Museum
Wagah border
Partition Museum
Jallianwala Bagh
Jang-e-Azadi Memorial near Kartarpur, India
Museum and Memorials
Punjab State War Heroes' Memorial & Museum
The Partition Museum, Town Hall, Amritsar
Partition museum in Amritsar
Jang-e-Azadi Memorial, Amritsar-Kartarpur Road
Religious places
Golden temple
Interior of Darbar Sahib with gold encrusted walls featuring a golden chandelier.
Famous for its full golden dome, the Golden temple or Harmindar Sahib is the most sacred pilgrim spot for Sikhs. The temple is a two storied construction built on 67 ft square marble. Every day more than 20,000 people, (during special occasions 100,000 people) have free food in the ‘Guru-ka-langer’, irrespective of caste, creed, colour or gender.
Jama Masjid Khairuddin
This architectural beauty situated in the Hall Bazar, was built by Mohd. Khairuddin in 1876. Tootie-e-Hind, Shah Attaullah Bukhari gave a call against the British rule at this holy place.
Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal
Located on Amritsar Lopoke, 11 km to the west of Amritsar city, Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal dates back to the Ramayana period to Rishi Valmiki’s heritage. There is a hut that marks the place where Sita gave birth to Luv and Kush. Since time immemorial, in November, on the full moon night, a four-day fair is held here.
Other religious places in Amritsar
St. Paul’s church
Samadhi of Guru Angad Dev Ji
Samadhi of Shravan
Durgiana Temple (Lakshmi Narayan Temple)
A bridge linking the temple
Historical Places
Jallian Wala Bagh
This memorial honours the 2000 Indians who were massacred indiscriminately while participating in peaceful public meeting, under the command of British General Michael O’Dyer on 13 April 1919. Along with the memorial well where people jumped to escape, the section wall where bullet marks are still visible, are still preserved.
Khoo Kalianwala
In 1857, when Mangal Pandey rebelled against the British, the inspired 400 soldiers platoon stationed at Lahore escaped from their barracks, swam the river Ravi and reached Ajnala. When Mr. Fredric Cooper, the then Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar received the information, he ordered to put them all in a coop-like room. Here, 200 soldiers died of asphyxia and next morning the rest of them were brutally shot dead. Their dead bodies were thrown in Kalianwala Khoo in Tehsil Ajnala.
Jandiala Guru
Amritsar district is also home to India's only handicraft on UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Deputy Commissioner is working to revive interest in this area through Project Virasat.
Pul Kanjri
Pul Kanjri is the historical place associated with the life of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It was located arounded 35 Km from City Amritsar. It is 5km away from Wagah Border. This prominent place held in Amritsar during the Maharaja Ranjit Singh from 1800-1840.
Pul Kanjri has a fantastic architecture with 12 doors to let the airflow all around. The golden time of this monuments ends with the partition of the Punjab, 1947. When Kaballi's attacked the place, the people were killed and historical building was damaged. The place was restored again. Even today, people visit Pul Kanjri to pay respect.
Other historical sites
The Historical Banyan Tree (Shaheedi Bohr)
Gobindgarh Fort
A stage with live performances.
Wild Life Sanctuaries
Harike Bird Sanctuary
Created in 1953, this sanctuary located 55km south of the Amritsar city is also known as ‘Hari-ke-pattan’. The Harike lake situated in the deeper parts of the sanctuary is the largest wetland in northern India. A barrage was constructed at the confluences of Sutlej and Beas rivers to create a shallow reservoir. It is home to an enormous concentration of migratory waterfowls during winters, 7 species of turtles, 26 species of fishes, and different species of mammals.
Shopping
Hall market, located on the way to Golden temple is one of the oldest markets in Amritsar. Amritsari Naan (a type of bread), Patiala Salwar (traditional bottom wear of Punjab), Jootis (Traditional bottom wear), handicrafts like phulkari, and weaponry shops with daggers (krippan) are available here.
Katra Jaimal Singh bazaar is another famous market for the textile and clothing items other than Shastri market where textile manufacturing industries are located. The traditional Indian jewellery ‘jadau’ can be found in Guru Bazaar. For restaurants and showrooms Lohri gate market is quite popular.
Transport
Air
Amritsar hosts Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport. The airport is connected to other parts of India and other countries with direct international flights to cities.
Rail
Amritsar railway station is the main terminus station. The Samjhauta Express runs from Delhi through Amritsar to Lahore in Pakistan.
Road
Amritsar Inter State Bus Stand
Amritsar is located on the historic Grand Trunk Road (G.T Road), also known as NH 1 now renumbered as National Highway 3. Additionally, NH 54 (Old NH15), NH 354 and NH 503A connect Amritsar to other parts of state and rest of India.
Rs 450,000,000 is being spent to expand the Amritsar-Jalandhar stretch of G.T. Road to four lanes. In 2010, elevated road with four lanes connected to the National highway for better access to the Golden Temple has been started.
Amritsar BRTS
City has Bus rapid transit service, the Amritsar Metrobus which was launched on 28 January 2019.
Educational institutions
Khalsa College
Indian Institute of Management, Amritsar
Guru Nanak Dev University
D.A.V College
Amritsar College of Engineering and Technology
BBK DAV College for Women, Amritsar
Delhi Public School, Amritsar
Global Institute, Amritsar
Government Medical College, Amritsar
D.A.V Public School
Khalsa College, Amritsar
St. Francis School, Amritsar
Khalsa College of Law
Notable people
Abdul Hameed, writer
Akshay Kumar, actor
Amrinder Gill, Punjabi singer
Baba Deep Singh, General
Bhagat Puran Singh, environmentalist
Bhagat Singh Thind, US Sikh Leader
Bharti Singh, Indian stand-up comedian
Bhisham Sahni, Hindi writer
Bishan Singh Bedi, cricketer
Chandan Prabhakar, comedian
Dalbir Chetan, Punjabi short-story writer
Dara Singh, wrestler and actor
Deepa Mehta, Indo-Canadian filmmaker
Deepti Naval, actress
Geeta Bali, actress
Ghulam Abbas (writer)
Ghulam Mohammad Baksh, wrestler
Guru Tegh Bahadur, 9th Guru of Sikhs
Gurpreet Ghuggi, Punjabi Comedian
Gurshabad, Playback Singer and Actor
Hans Raj Khanna, judge at the Supreme court of India
Jeetendra, actor
Kapil Sharma, comedian
Kiran Bedi, first woman IPS officer
Krishan Kant, 10th Vice-President of India
Laxmi Kanta Chawla
Madan Lal Dhingra, independence activist
Madan Lal, cricketer
Mahendra Kapoor, playback singer
Manmohan Singh, 13th Prime Minister of India
Maurice Barrymore, (patriarch of the Barrymore acting family)
M. D. Taseer, Urdu poet
Mira Nair, Indo-American filmmaker
Mohammed Rafi, recording artist
Narendra Chanchal, singer
Navjot Singh Sidhu, politician
Nawab Kapur Singh, Sikh leader
Nimrat Khaira, Punjabi Singer
Pramod Moutho, Indian actor
Raghunandan Lal Bhatia, politician
Rajesh Khanna, actor
Ramandeep Singh, footballer
Richa Chadda , Actress
Ritu Kumar, fashion designer
Rohan Mehra, actor
Rupa Bajwa, writer
Saadat Hasan Manto, writer
Sahila Chadha, actress
Saifuddin Kitchlew, freedom fighter
Sam Manekshaw, Field Marshal
Saurabh Kalia, soldier
Shamshad Begum, classical singer
Sudesh Lehri, comedian
Veeru Devgan, director and producer of Hindi films
Vikas Khanna, chef
Vinod Mehra, actor
Vipul Mehta, singer
Vir Singh, Punjabi poet
Waris Ahluwalia, model, actor in US
Yash Johar, director and producer of Hindi films
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amritsar
