Amritsar
(previously also known as 'Ramdaspur' and 'Guru ki Nagri') is a city in the
northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar
district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the
population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district
numbering 3,695,077. Amritsar is situated 217 kilometres (135 mi) northwest of
state capital Chandigarh and is 32 kilometres (20 mi) east of Lahore, Pakistan
and therefore, very close to India's western border with Pakistan.
It is home to the Harmandir Sahib (referred as the Golden Temple to western media), the spiritual and cultural center of the Sikh religion. This important Sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahal with more than 100,000 visitors on week days alone and is the number one destination for Non-resident Indians (NRI) in the whole of India.
The city boasts of being the main centre of Sikhs' cultural, religious and political history, it also houses the Sikh temporal and political authority, Akal Takht as well as the Sikh Parliament. Amritsar is also known for the tragical incidents of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 under British Rule and Operation Bluestar in 1984 under the dictatorship of late Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi in which thousands of innocent Sikhs lost their lives. The main commercial activities include tourism, carpets and fabrics, farm produce, handicrafts, service trades and light engineering. The city is known for its rich cuisine and culture. Amritsar is also home to Central Khalsa Orphanage, which was once a home to Shaheed Udham Singh, a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement.
Amritsar city is one of the cities of the Punjab state in India. This city was founded by the fourth Sikh Guru, 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. 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 Ki Nagri. (Later, it came to be known as Ramdaspur)
Amritsar is dominated by the history of Sikhs and many of their sacred shrines are found in and around the city. It was established by Guru Ramdas. The city has one of the most prominent Shrine of Sikhs "The Harimandir Sahib" popularly known as Golden Temple. Amritsar's central walled city has narrow zig zag streets mostly developed in the 17th and 18th century. The city is a peculiar example of an introverted planning system wit unique areas called Katras. The Katras are self styled residential units that provided unique defence system during attacks on the city. The city was attacked numerous times during the 18th century mainly by Afghan invaders as it was considered the spiritual centre of Sikhs.
The city lies on the main Grand Trunk Road, a well laid medieval Highway that runs through the whole of the northern half of the Indian subcontinentfrom Bangladesh to Delhi then passing through Amritsar connecting it to Lahore in Pakistan and kabul in Afghanistan. The city is also connected to most other major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta by an extensive network of rail system. The city also provides air connectivity to major Indian cities, as well as international cities such as Toronto, Dubai, Singapore, London from its airport, Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport. The airport is being developed for increasing demand in future; a new International inbound & outbound terminal is operational and cargo terminal is also under construction. The city is the administrative center for the Amritsar District. Amritsar was developed from a small pool in a dense forest to the largest commercial center in the northwestern indian subcontinent, a position it retained till the partition of indian in 1947. However, it did grew much afterwards to become the industrial center of india owing to its proximity to the volatile Indo-Pak border.
Amritsar is well known for its food. Dhabas such as Bhrawan da Dhaba and Kesar da Dhaba are extremely popular with locals and tourists.
Amritsar's international airport, Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, has more than 200 domestic and international flights during the week with daily connections to Delhi, Chandigarh and Jammu in India and international flights to Tehraan, Frankfurt (Mahan Air), Doha Qatar Airways,Ashgabat Turkmenistan Airlines,Tashkent Uzbekistan Airways. There are also flights to London, England and Toronto, Canada.
Amritsar is well connected by rail to almost all major cities in India such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Indore, Bhopal, Agra, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chandigarh etc. Amritsar Railway Station is the main terminal station. There is a special train that runs west to Wagah (Attari Border), which is the last station on the border in India before continuing on to Pakistan.
Indian Railways has proposed a high speed rail line to serve Delhi-Amritsar via Chandigarh and Ambala. The train is to run at high speeds of 350 km/h, second only in India to the Bhopal Shatabdi Express. It will travel the 445 km between the two cities in 2.5 hours (compared to the current time of 5 hours). Companies from Japan, China, UK and Canada have expressed an interest in the project. The contract for building the line were to be awarded at the end of May 2008. Other lines of this kind have proposed in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Kolkata.
Amritsar is located on the historic Grand Trunk Road (G.T Road), also known as National Highway 1, and therefore very well connected to the road network. Daily bus services run to and from Ambala, Delhi, Chandigarh and Jammu. Rs 450 crores 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.
For transportation within Amritsar city, rickshaws, autorickshaws, taxis and buses are easily available. Recently, the government of India and Punjab pledged Rs. 2,100 crore for the development of a mass rapid transport system for the city. It is hoped that this will help relieve traffic congestion and improve air quality.
It is home to the Harmandir Sahib (referred as the Golden Temple to western media), the spiritual and cultural center of the Sikh religion. This important Sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahal with more than 100,000 visitors on week days alone and is the number one destination for Non-resident Indians (NRI) in the whole of India.
The city boasts of being the main centre of Sikhs' cultural, religious and political history, it also houses the Sikh temporal and political authority, Akal Takht as well as the Sikh Parliament. Amritsar is also known for the tragical incidents of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 under British Rule and Operation Bluestar in 1984 under the dictatorship of late Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi in which thousands of innocent Sikhs lost their lives. The main commercial activities include tourism, carpets and fabrics, farm produce, handicrafts, service trades and light engineering. The city is known for its rich cuisine and culture. Amritsar is also home to Central Khalsa Orphanage, which was once a home to Shaheed Udham Singh, a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement.
Amritsar city is one of the cities of the Punjab state in India. This city was founded by the fourth Sikh Guru, 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. 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 Ki Nagri. (Later, it came to be known as Ramdaspur)
Amritsar is dominated by the history of Sikhs and many of their sacred shrines are found in and around the city. It was established by Guru Ramdas. The city has one of the most prominent Shrine of Sikhs "The Harimandir Sahib" popularly known as Golden Temple. Amritsar's central walled city has narrow zig zag streets mostly developed in the 17th and 18th century. The city is a peculiar example of an introverted planning system wit unique areas called Katras. The Katras are self styled residential units that provided unique defence system during attacks on the city. The city was attacked numerous times during the 18th century mainly by Afghan invaders as it was considered the spiritual centre of Sikhs.
The city lies on the main Grand Trunk Road, a well laid medieval Highway that runs through the whole of the northern half of the Indian subcontinentfrom Bangladesh to Delhi then passing through Amritsar connecting it to Lahore in Pakistan and kabul in Afghanistan. The city is also connected to most other major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta by an extensive network of rail system. The city also provides air connectivity to major Indian cities, as well as international cities such as Toronto, Dubai, Singapore, London from its airport, Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport. The airport is being developed for increasing demand in future; a new International inbound & outbound terminal is operational and cargo terminal is also under construction. The city is the administrative center for the Amritsar District. Amritsar was developed from a small pool in a dense forest to the largest commercial center in the northwestern indian subcontinent, a position it retained till the partition of indian in 1947. However, it did grew much afterwards to become the industrial center of india owing to its proximity to the volatile Indo-Pak border.
Amritsar is well known for its food. Dhabas such as Bhrawan da Dhaba and Kesar da Dhaba are extremely popular with locals and tourists.
Amritsar's international airport, Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, has more than 200 domestic and international flights during the week with daily connections to Delhi, Chandigarh and Jammu in India and international flights to Tehraan, Frankfurt (Mahan Air), Doha Qatar Airways,Ashgabat Turkmenistan Airlines,Tashkent Uzbekistan Airways. There are also flights to London, England and Toronto, Canada.
Amritsar is well connected by rail to almost all major cities in India such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Indore, Bhopal, Agra, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chandigarh etc. Amritsar Railway Station is the main terminal station. There is a special train that runs west to Wagah (Attari Border), which is the last station on the border in India before continuing on to Pakistan.
Indian Railways has proposed a high speed rail line to serve Delhi-Amritsar via Chandigarh and Ambala. The train is to run at high speeds of 350 km/h, second only in India to the Bhopal Shatabdi Express. It will travel the 445 km between the two cities in 2.5 hours (compared to the current time of 5 hours). Companies from Japan, China, UK and Canada have expressed an interest in the project. The contract for building the line were to be awarded at the end of May 2008. Other lines of this kind have proposed in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Kolkata.
Amritsar is located on the historic Grand Trunk Road (G.T Road), also known as National Highway 1, and therefore very well connected to the road network. Daily bus services run to and from Ambala, Delhi, Chandigarh and Jammu. Rs 450 crores 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.
For transportation within Amritsar city, rickshaws, autorickshaws, taxis and buses are easily available. Recently, the government of India and Punjab pledged Rs. 2,100 crore for the development of a mass rapid transport system for the city. It is hoped that this will help relieve traffic congestion and improve air quality.
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