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Amritsar,
Punjab,
India
Amritsar
is the largest and most important city in Punjab and is a major commercial,
cultural, and transportation centre. It is also the centre of Sikhism and
the site of the Sikhs' principal place of worship, the Harimandir, or Golden
Temple. It was founded in 1577 by Ram Das, fourth Guru of the Sikhs, on a
site granted by the Mughal emperor Akbar. Ram Das ordered the excavation of
the sacred tank, or pool, called Amrita Saras ("Pool of Nectar"), from which
the city's name is derived. A temple was erected on an island in the tank's
centre by Arjun, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs. During the reign (1801-39) of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the upper part of the temple was decorated with a
gold-foil-covered copper dome, and since then the building has been known as
the Harimandir. The city was annexed to British India in 1849.
A short distance away from the Golden Temple is a spacious
park, Jallianwalla Bagh, where on April 13, 1919, British colonial
government troops fired on a crowd of unarmed Indian protesters, killing 379
of them and wounding many more. The site of the Amritsar Massacre, as this
incident is now called, is now a national monument. Another violent
political clash took place in Amritsar in 1984, when troops of the Indian
army attacked hundreds of Sikh separatists who had taken up positions in and
heavily fortified the Golden Temple. Conflicting reports indicated that
between 450 and 1,200 persons were killed before the Sikh extremists were
evicted from the temple.
Amritsar is a centre of textile and chemical industries and also engages in
food milling and processing, silk weaving, tanning, canning, and the
manufacture of machinery. The city lies on the main highway from Delhi to
Lahore (GT road) and is a major rail hub. It is home to Guru Nanak Dev
University, founded in 1969 as the
leading educational centre of the Sikhs (with PhDs in nearly
30 disciplines,
including Sanskrit and Pali). A medical, a dental, an arts, and a technical college are
also located in Amritsar, and Khalsa College (1899) lies just outside the
city. In the newer, northern section of the city is Ram Bagh, a large park
that contains the summer palace of
Maharaja Ranjit
Singh (aka Sher-e-Punjab).
[Adapted from Encyclopedia Britannica; Sep 06]
Harimandir at
night (1,
2, 3)
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Amrit sarovar
(1, 2,
3)
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Lots o' gold (1,
2, 3)
 |
Harimandir at
night
 |
Temple complex (1,
2)
 |
|
Buildings near
causeway
 |
Closer view (1,
2, 3)
 |
Tranquil spot
 |
Attendant on
duty
 |
Doting mother
with kids
 |
Two women
 |
"Oye, puttar!"
 |
Harimandir
detail (more)
 |
|
Bathers
 |
Causeway entry
(1, 2)
 |
Plaques galore
(1,
2)
 |
Sikh holy man (1,
2)
 |
Visitor from the provinces
 |
Guard on duty
 |
Father and son
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Father and son
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Guard on duty
 |
Handicapped
man (1,
2,
3)
 |
Overweight man
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Lost in prayer
 |
Loaded with
shiny stuff
 |
Skinny Sikh
 |
Old man walking
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Man bathing
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Three boys
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Sikh elders
 |
Visiting family
 |
Man in a wheelchair
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What's she reading?
 |
Two Sikh men
 |
Family of three
 |
Bunga
Ramgarhia (more)
▒
 |
Refreshment /
water stand
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Langar
(communal kitchen)
 |
A mountain of
plates
 |
Langar kitchen
(1, 2)
 |
Big pile of
dough
 |
Hot rotis
on the grill
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Ready for the
grill
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Tossing a
fresh one
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Men in the
kitchen (more)
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Giant vat (more)
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Two women
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| |
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Akal Takhat ▒ |
Seat of the
Sikh parliament
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Inside
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Sikh priest
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Rebuilt after
Operation Blue Star
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Behind the
Akal Takhat
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Ready for
private service
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Signing up for
amrit-pan
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Akal Takhat
rear view
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The Museum at the Golden Temple
This museum records many events that deeply mark the Sikh psyche, in
particular their wars of survival, monumental events, and the worst of the
historical Muslim atrocities against the Sikhs, most under Aurangzeb. The
stories behind these
gruesome images are retold across Punjab. Most paintings have been commissioned
in the last few decades. |
Memories of
war
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Breaking
joints unto death
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Head sliced
off
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Mothers
garlanded with
parts of their babies (more)
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Someone's head on a
spear
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For not
converting to Islam
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Bhai Mati Das sawn
into two
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Bhai Dayala boiled
alive
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| |
|
Jallianwala Bagh
▒ |
Narrow
entrance to the bagh
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Martyr's
memorial (1,
2)
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Surrounded by
a garden
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Wall with
bullet marks
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The infamous
well (more)
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120 bodies
recovered here
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Inside the
well
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Tagore's
letter of protest
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Martyr's
gallery
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Artist's
impression
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Painting
detail
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Painting
detail
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| |
|
Mata Temple |
Bespectacled
goddess (more)
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Throngs
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She's like a
rock star! (not)
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Priest
offering puja
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Garish
religious gallery
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Triple headed
goddess
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Priest inside
simulated cave
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Show your
tongue!
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|
Durgiana Temple |
Durgiana
temple (more)
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Inside the
temple
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Inner sanctum
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The dieties
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|
Miscellaneous |
Maharaja Ranjit Singh's
summer palace
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His court at
Lahore
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Haunt of the Sher-e-Punjab
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Rickshaw
wallah
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Amritsar old
town
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A day of heavy
rains
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Ad for Dr.
Bengali
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Amritsar bus
stand
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