Amritsar Sightseeing, Despite the fact that Amritsar is the holiest city for Sikh pilgrims, it attracts visitors of all faiths and interests. The Golden Temple, Akal Takht, Jallianwala Bagh, and Gobindgarh Fort are all popular tourist attractions in Amritsar. While the Golden Temple and other historical buildings can be found in the Old City, which is located to the south of Amritsar station, Upscale restaurants, hotels, and spacey neighbourhoods, as well as other sparkling indicators of the city’s contemporary growth, can be found on Amritsar’s north side. Let’s take a closer look at all of Amritsar’s attractions:
The Golden Temple is the most important holy site for Sikhs, and it is unquestionably a highlight of all Amritsar sightseeing tours and also one of the most spectacular temples in India. The Golden Temple, also known as Shri Harmandir Sahib or Darbar Sahib, is one of Amritsar‘s most popular tourist attractions. The temple complex is open daily from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., so tourists can enjoy the beautiful evening reflections in Amrit Sarovar.
A narrow bridge leads to the two-story tower in the centre of the holy lake. Pilgrims are welcome to bathe in the designated areas of the lake, before bowing their heads in prayer at the temple A gallery of paintings depicting the stories of martyred Sikh leaders can be found at the Central Sikh Museum. The Golden Temple also has a well-known dining hall (langar) that serves free meals to all visitors 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Jallianwala Bagh, one of Amritsar’s most popular tourist attractions, is a must-see on any trip to the city. This 6.5-acre park, a five-minute walk from the Golden Temple, was the site of the notorious 1919 Amritsar massacre on Baisakhi. Bullet holes in the walls can still be seen by tourists today. Gobindgarh Fort, one of the newest additions to Amritsar’s tourist attractions, is located in the city’s heart and was first opened to the public in 2017.
After seeing the sights in Amritsar, travellers will travel 32 kilometres west to Wagah. The Wagah border ceremony is held every evening for two hours at the border gate by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistani Rangers. Pul Kanjri is a historical site about 35 kilometres from Amritsar where Maharaja Ranjit Singh constructed structures such as a mosque, temple, and pond.
The Mata Temple is a Hindu cave temple dedicated to Lal Devi, a saint. Another place of worship near the Lohgarh gate is the Durgiana Temple, also known as Sitla Mandir. It is constructed in the style of the Golden Temple and is situated in the middle of a medium-sized lake. Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Summer Palace in Ram Bagh Park, the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama, Partition Museum, and Ram Tirth are other popular places to visit in Amritsar Sightseeing.
The Golden Temple
The Golden Temple, a two-story building paved in real gold and surrounded by a 5.1-meter-deep manmade lake, is Amritsar’s undisputed top attraction. This legendary holy shrine is one of the most sacred places in the world for Sikhs, with many of them making pilgrimages to the temple at least once in their lives.
You must cover your hair, remove your shoes, and walk through a small stream of running water to cleanse your feet before entering the Gurdwara complex, which houses the Golden Temple. Then, as worshippers chant and bathe in the water, you’ll walk clockwise around the pool’s inlaid marble course.
Making your way to the temple’s gleaming inner sanctum, One of the many things to do at the Golden Temple is to listen to priests chant songs from the holy text Guru Granth Sahib. The world’s largest community kitchen is located here, and everyone is welcome to sit on the floor and enjoy a free vegetarian meal with other guests. Seeing hordes of volunteers slicing onions and peeling garlic is fascinating, and cooking huge vats of lentils and roti for up to 100,000 diners every day.
Within the Akal Takhat (a seat of power within the Golden Temple complex), you can see a set of holy Sikh arms and learn more about Sikhism at the Golden Temple Interpretation Centre, which is tucked underneath the temple’s clock-tower entrance, Amritsar Sightseeing.
The Golden Temple is an inspirational location where you can become directly involved if you so desire. You will volunteer at the Golden Temple Kitchen and meet people from the community when preparing lunch. You can also spend up to three nights at the Golden Temple in one of its pilgrim hostels. If you stay here, you’ll have clear access to the Golden Temple at sunrise, which is the best time of day to see it shine.
Jallianwala Bagh
Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar is one of the most moving memorials to the liberation of India. The Jallianwala Bagh, located near Amritsar’s famous Golden Temple, is a public garden that houses a memorial to the massacre of peaceful protestors by British forces. On the 13th of April, 1919, British General O’Dyer opened fire on a crowd of people who were attending a peaceful freedom movement rally, which took the lives of about 2,000 innocent men, women, and children.
The British wounds inflicted on Jallianwala Bagh have a physical manifestation in two very specific structures in the garden. One of them is the wall at the park’s end, which is now pocked with the marks of up to 36 bullets fired at the crowds. Many attendees at the meeting jumped into a well near the park’s entrance to avoid being hit by bullets. Hundreds of bodies were retracted from the well after the firing stopped.
Wagah Border Ceremony
A 31-kilometer drive west of Amritsar’s city centre will take you to the Pakistani border, where a strange border-closing ceremony takes place every afternoon at sunset. The Beating Retreat Ceremony, which is full of pomp and circumstance, features an ostentatious show of goose-stepping guards from the Indian Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers saluting each other, lowering and folding their flags, and closing the gates at the border.
Tourists (who are typically seated in a special VIP section after flashing their international passport) have the opportunity to see the stark differences between Pakistan and India. Men and women sit separately in stadium-style seating on the Pakistani side, and the atmosphere is much more subdued.
However, it is a patriotic group on the Indian side. Women dance in the street as Bollywood music blasts from speakers, and spectators wave Indian flags.
Even though the ceremony is just 45 minutes long, it provides enough memories for hours of storytelling back at home.
Partition Museum
1947 was a watershed moment in Indian history. It was not only the year that India achieved independence from the United Kingdom, but it was also the year that it was partitioned into two separate countries, India and Pakistan.
At the Partition Museum in Amritsar, visitors can learn about this watershed moment in history, The only institution dedicated solely to Partition in the country. It includes a harrowing series of newspaper clippings, vintage photos, and oral histories from people who witnessed the conflict leading up to the two countries’ separation and the subsequent resettling of refugees. You will gain a better understanding of the root of rivalry between India and Pakistan as a result of this encounter.
Make a note on a green leaf and hang it on the Tree of Hope when you leave the museum.
Mandir Mata Lal Devi
The Mata Lal Devi Mandir is as strange as the Golden Temple is beautiful. According to legend, women who visit this Hindu temple dedicated to the female saint Lal Devi will increase their fertility. The labyrinthine attraction, however, resembles a funhouse to non-devotees.
You’ll find yourself wandering through dim, narrow corridors that lead to garish rooms with mirrored mosaics, Crawl through a watery cave to the shrine of Lal Devi, passing through the open mouths of funhouse-style animal carvings, seeing giant wooden cobras, and walking through the open mouths of funhouse-style animal carvings.
The whole thing will give you a different viewpoint on Hinduism and how devotees practise spirituality. It will also be one of the most enjoyable things to do in Amritsar.