Amritsar : A Foodie's Paradise

Watch Towers Inside Golden Temple

In my last travel post as I stated ,  to give all my readers an insight to one of India's most spiritual cities 'amritsar' ,  that I visited last month . The city boasts of one of the world's most highly visited tourist attraction ' the golden temple ', with more than one lakh visitors on weekdays alone. The city is also known for the tragic incident of jallianwala bagh massacre in 1919 under the british rule in India.

Golden Temple during daylight

A Brief Info :

Amritsar is a historical place I would say. amritsar is also known as ramdaspur  . its one of the largest cities of the state of punjab in india . it is the spiritual and cultural hub of the sikh religion . amritsar is geographically very close to pakistan's lahore city , ( the second largest city of pakistan ). the city also lies on the main grand trunk road. the grand trunk road is one of asia's oldest and longest major roads. the road connects south asia with central asia .

Grand Trunk Road leading to Wagah Border

How to reach amritsar :

Amritsar is well connected to most of the cities in India , ( be it roadways, airways or railways ). If in any case your city is not connected directly to amritsar then you can always travel upto delhi and hire a cab or a bus from there and with a relaxed budget you can very well take a flight from delhi . Not to forget trains too are easily available from delhi.

Golden Temple At Night

Where To Stay :

There are plenty of hotels in amritsar to choose from. Because of world famous 'golden temple' , a part of the city's economy comes from the tourism industry. We stayed at hotel narula's aurum which was located at the heart of the city. Location wise the  hotel was very good , the rooms were well furnished with all modern amenities as it was a new hotel but the service was terrible. And I personally wound not recommend this hotel.

Our Room At Narula's Aurrum

Tourist Attraction :

• Jallianwala Bagh  : is a public garden , (bagh means garden in english) and is a memorial of national importance. The bagh was transformed into a national heritage in 1951 to commemorate the massacre by british forces on the innocent people gathered there to conduct a meeting and were peacefully protesting against the arrest of two leaders of the Indian National Congress on 13 April 1919 , it was a peaceful protest and the people assembled there were all unaramed. It is considered to be the black day in indian history.the massacre was what is said to be 'mass murder'and is considered to be the most disgraceful event because of the heinous act practised by the british on helpless Indians.
  
  
  
  
  
  The entrance to the jallianwala bagh happens through a narrow passage . The garden is moderately maintained and not very well maintained. Jallianwala bagh falls under the vicinity of Golden Temple.
  
  
  

• Golden Temple ( Harmandir Sahib ) : Harmandir sahib meaning ( the abode of god ) is informally popular as the Golden Temple. It was built by the fifth sikh guru ,  in the 15th century. There are four entrances/ doors to get into the Golden Temple which symbolizes equality and brotherhood. It also signifies that people from all walks of life irrespective of caste , creed and religion can seek peace and spiritual upliftment here.
  
  
  

          You need to open and keep your shoes in the shoe booth outside the temple. One thing that you cannot afford to forget is that you need to cover your head before entering Harmandir Sahib. Once you enter the temple , the feeling is a matter of experience and cant be explained in words. First you get awestruck by its serenity and then its architectural master piece. Its typically built in the Sikh architectural style.                                          

The Well Maintained Pool Inside Golden Temple

    In order to secure the state of punjab from outside attack , the upper floors of the temple was covered with gold which gives its uniqueness and hence aptly named 'Golden Temple'. The temple is surrounded by a large lake called Sarovar which consists of Amrit ( Holy Water ). The temple runs one of the largest kitchen ( free kitchen to be precise ) in the world and feeds over one lakh people everyday on an average.                                                         

One Of The World's Largest Kitchen Inside Golden Temple

• Wagah Border : Wagah is the road border crossing between India and Pakistan and lies on the Grand Trunk Road between the cities of amritsar , punjab , india and lahore , punjab , pakistan. Wagah was a village before India's independence. The village was divided during India,s independence in 1947. The eastern half of the village remains in the republic of India while the western half of the village is in Pakistan. Wagah Border is particularly famous for the Wagah Border ceremony that happens at the border gate everyday before sunset.

  

  Huge Crowd Waiting Outside Wagah Border Gate To Open

Unity In Diversity

Men In Uniform Getting Ready For The Parade

           The wagah border ceremony is also referred to as the 'lowering of the flags' or the ' beating retreat ' ceremony. The ceremony ia a military practice that the border security forces of India and Pakistan rangers have jointly followed since 1959. The ceremony comprises of a blastering parade by the soldiers on both sides , a perfectly coordinated lowering of both the nation's flag. It also comprises of some dance moves on bollywood songs by the visitors ( only ladies and children are allowed ) on the Indian side which I have termed as 'Parade Jockey' . It was all fun. Here are a few pics of the ceremony.

Parade At Wagah Border

Everybody Dancing On Bollywood Songs

• Khalsa College :  Khalsa College is not exactly a tourist attraction but its architecture will definitely attract every tourist. Many a few bollywood movies have also been shot in this college; 'veer zara ' and 'rab ne bana di jodi' to name a few. Since you are not allowed inside the college premises without college ID card we had to take its picture from outside the college boundary fences.
  
  

  

  Khalsa College

My Amritsar tour was all about food. I am a big foodie and my husband too. Above everything else what we enjoyed the most is amritsari food. Amritsari food is all about 'Festival Of Flavours'.

If you are a vegetarian then brother's dhaba is the place where you should gorge on. They offer a widespread of thali . You can order your choice of thali. Brother's dhaba is a chain of restaurants located all over amritsar. But the oldest branches are in town hall . This a regular thali of brother's dhaba.

Thali At Brother's Dhaba

Now if you want some fine dining along with amritsari flavours you can definitely head for crystal chowk.   chowk meaning ( road junction ) in english. Crystal is a chain of restaurant scattered around the chowk and hence the road itself has been named after the restarant 'crystal chowk'. So , you can ask your cab driver or auto driver to drop you at crystal chowk.

A Glimpse Of Crystal Restaurant At Crystal Chowk

P.S. : If you are on a diet then you can put your diet plans  to a halt as amritsari food is all about ghee and butter and it tastes just yum. And no food lover at any cost can afford to miss amritsari food and its heavenly flavours.

Extension of Golden Temple And Its Beautiful Sikh Architecture

Hope you enjoyed reading this post.