Amritsar

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Overview

Founded in 1577 by the fourth Sikh guru, Guru Ram Das, Amritsar is home to the spectacular Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine and one of India’s most serene and humbling sights. The hyperactive streets surrounding the temple have been calmed to some extent by recent urban landscaping, including graceful pedestrianised walkways, but duck into any side alley and you’ll soon discover Amritsar’s fantastically frenetic old-city bazaars, sheltering a sensory overload of sights, sounds and smells.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Golden Temple

Amritsar

The legendary Golden Temple is actually just a small part of this huge gurdwara complex, known to Sikhs as Harmandir Sahib. Spiritually, the focus of…

Guru-Ka-Langar

Amritsar

At the southeast end of the Golden Temple Complex is the Guru-Ka-Langar, an enormous dining room where an estimated 100,000 pilgrims come to eat every day…

Golden Temple Interpretation Centre

Amritsar

Hidden beneath the marble square outside the clock-tower entrance to the Golden Temple, this fascinating multimedia museum tells the story of Sikhism and…

Partition Museum

Amritsar

Housed in the beautifully restored 19th-century Town Hall, this unique museum (the only one in the world dedicated to Partition) offers a poignant and…

Ram Bagh

Amritsar

Ram Bagh was the former palace grounds of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780–1839), who founded the Sikh empire. It now serves as a public park. At its heart,…

Mata Temple

Amritsar

Credited with fertility-improving powers, this fascinating labyrinthine Hindu temple commemorates the 20th-century female saint Lal Devi. From the main…

Jallianwala Bagh

Amritsar

Reached through a narrow gatehouse leading to an enclosed courtyard, this poignant park commemorates the 1500 Indians killed or wounded when a British…

Akal Takhat

Amritsar

The Guru Granth Sahib is installed in the temple every morning and returned at night to the Akal Takhat, the temporal seat of the Khalsa brotherhood. The…

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