A memorable trip to Amritsar!!!

Amritsar: The Lake of the Holy Nectar

Amritsar is home to the Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the spiritual and cultural center of the Sikh religion. Amritsar is considered important and holy by hindus as well, as according to the greatest epic of Hinduism, this was a place where Sita, the wife of Lord Rama, gave birth to twins Lava and Kusha. The birth took place in the ashram of Valmiki rishi. Beside this Durgaina temple is also a very famous hindu temple. Amritsar is also known for the incidents of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 under British Rule.

A short stint in UK with base in London has made me an expert on how to plan weekend trips and try and make maximum of the time one gets to see, absorb, shop and……(let others) EAT!!! I have been to Amritsar twice before the most recent visit – and on both these occasions I could only see the Golden temple, Jallianwala Bagh and Wagah Border – but only two of these in one trip,….….However, this time in the same time – we managed to cover all these three these places and one temple and SHOPPING and EATING at the most known restaurants of Amritsar!!! So all those who want to pack a lot in a weekend trip – now you know who to take travel advice from!!!:-)

The experience of watching the sunrise at the Golden Temple is not be missed – it’s so serene and beautiful that it makes you forget everything else. Though, the “weekend traffic” is something that can be avoided if you can take a mid-week break. The Jallianwala Bagh makes me wonder why we are not interested in taking care of our history and heritage – on one hand we boast of having a rich culture and history…...and on the other hand we let places like this be just another “park” – it’s very disappointing. Our politicians and administrative officers are perpetually on “foreign trips” to see and understand how things happen and work there- but somehow nothing gets implemented in our country.

The evening programme at Wagah Border looks like a Bollywood movie being shot – you have to see it to believe it! People on both sides of the border take their places much before the flag ceremony starts – there is loud patriotic music being played at both sides and slogans being shouted…the soldiers exuberating ‘josh’ on both sides – its fun and a must watch one time.

Shopping is great in Amritsar: amazing papads and lovely phulkari work on cloth!! Not be missed is the lovely amritsari food that we savored at all the recommended places – breakfast of poori cholle with lassi at Kanha Seets (Lawrence Road); lunch at Bharavan Da Dhaba – awesome vegetarian food at both places!

All in all – it was a great trip – 2 days spent in the company of a lovely people (including my dear husband :-)), great food, lovely places to see and shopppppiiiiinggggg!!!