AMRITSAR:A SAFAR TO AMRITSAR

Amritsar is a city in the state of Punjab India.Amritsar is one of those places which is really close to my heart.I have been there twice and I feel like going again and again.The first thing which pops to my mind while talking about Amritsar is its “mouth-watering” foods.

                           But the place offers much more than just its foods.This place has been evident of Jalianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919.This place has chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY-Heritage City Development And Augmentation Yojana.

·      The Golden Beauty

So, I started the journey with a rickshaw ride to the famous “golden temple” or Harmandir Sahib, which is considered as the holiest gurudwara of Sikhism.But the beautiful part is that religion has no bar here.So everyone can go there.Finally, I reached the holy place.I entered the main gate and the golden beauty became visible to me.It was an amazingly magnificent view.It was a noontime and the temple was shining so bright as if someone has spread golden sparkles on it. It is situated in the middle of a lake.The entrance is followed by along path around the lake.People around the world come here in huge numbers every day.

      

It was a divine experience to visit “golden temple”.I spent that whole day in the temple.We had our lunch at the “langar” of the temple, which is a huge dining hall and it is able to serve lakhs of people.The “Golden Temple” is considered to have the largest kitchen of India.During night time the temple looked magical.The tranquility and the beauty of the Golden Temple are mesmerizing.

·       The Garden With A Bloody Story

Jallianwala Bagh which is situated exactly right next to the “golden temple”.Jallianwala Bagh is a beautiful public a garden but unfortunately, it is known for its terrifying history.

The Sunday of April 13, 1919, was the day of Baisakhi(Punjabi new year) when many Baisakhi pilgrims who came to participate in the Baisakhi celebration, as well as a crowd of non-violent protesters gathered in the mentioned garden, were brutally fired by the troop of the British army.Around 15000 innocent people sacrificed their lives for no reason.I literally got goosebumps by seeing the existing bullet marks on the walls.

·       Standing In The Middleline Between Two Countries

My next destination is Wagah border which is painstakingly a long hour journey.It is a border gate situated on the trunk road between India and Pakistan which opens every day at 5 pm and a ceremony of lowering the flags and closing the border gates between the two countries takes place followed by parades as a sign of unity.It almost a 1km distance which you have to walk from your drop off point followed by security checks.Finally, I managed to get in and luckily I managed to find a seat for myself after a long session of Dhakam-dhakka(pushing each other) with the crowd.Then the action began.

Popular local music was started to play and the local females started to walk to the center of the stage.And then they started to dance.Only women were allowed to join the dancing floor.After the females returned back to their seats, some girls and ladies were invited to run to the border gate by carrying the national flag.After that, the main ceremony began and soldiers started doing marches by kicking their legs high up as a way displaying strength.It was a grand parade, watching the immense crowd shouting “Jai Ho” gave me chills.Although it was tremendously hot the nationalistic atmosphere made it all worthwhile to visit.If you want to get goosebumps too this place is a must visit.

·      Foods And More

Next morning I visited the nearby market for exploring the alluring foods of Amritsar.Amritsar is the ultimate destination for all food lovers.It offers the most renowned cuisine across the world.Amritsar is filled with ’dhabas’.We went to one of the oldest such dhabas named ‘Inderpuri Foods’.We had the very famous paratha with butter on its topping along with the dal.It was a very yummy experience.kulcha which is very famous and great for breakfast.Muhim Di Hhatti is probably the best place to try them.Kesar Da Dhaba is also a very renowned and one of the oldest places to serve authentic Punjabi foods.

North Indian foods are always a pleasure to eat.In Amritsar on every corner of every street, there is something cooking from pakoras to lassi.Coming to lassi which is a very famous drink in Punjab.I tried one glass of it from one of the famous lassi shop named “Gian Di Lassi”.

It tastes totally different from what we get in Kolkata.I just became a lassi fan.Next morning when we were leaving Amritsar I decided to have a glass of lassi again, so we stopped our car beside a highway dhaba and had my favorite lassi.That moment of drinking a lassi sitting on a khattiya(hand weaved sitting arrangements made up of ropes) beside the highway was thrilling.Everyone should try that once in their lifetime.