Amritsar

Amritsar also known as Rāmdāspur and  Ambarsar, is the 2^nd  largest City after Ludhiana  and is the  most important city especially for Sikhs because of Harmandir Sahib,  Golden temple-  the site of the  principal place of worship of sikhism. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Amritsar is the second-most populous city in Punjab and the most populous metropolitan region in the state with a population of about 2 million, 1,989,961 as per 2011 census . The city is situated 217 km (135 miles ) north-west of Chandigarh , 455 km (283 miles) north-west of New Delhi , and 47 km (29.2 miles) north-east of Lahore, Pakistan with the Indo-Pak Border (Attari-Waghah)  being only 28 km (17.4 mi) away.from Lahore, Pakista.

Amritsar is the economic hub of Punjab. It is a major tourist center   with nearly a hundred thousand daily visitors. The city has been chosen as one of the heritage cities . It is a  home to Sri Harmandir Sahib , popularly known as “the Golden Temple”, and Akal Takhat.

Historical Background

After the  coronation of Guru Ram Das Ji (4th Guru of Sikhism) in 1574, and the hostile opposition he faced from the sons of Guru Amar Das, He  founded the town named after him as “Ramdaspur. Two versions of stories exist regarding the land where Guru Ram Das Ji settled. In one. based on a Gazetteer record, the land was purchased with Sikh donations, for 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung. According to the historical Sikh records, the site was chosen by Guru Amar Das Ji and called Guru Da Chakk, after he had asked Ram Das to find land to start a new town with a man-made pool as its central point. There was another story that the site was granted by the Mughal emperor Akbar to  Bibi Bhani, when Akbar wanted to give donation for the management of Langar and Guru Amar Das Ji did not accepted it.Instead Emperor gave it to Bibi Bhani, daughter of Guru Amar Das who was standing nearby. After that Ram Das Ji  ordered the excavation of the sacred tank , or pool, called the Amrita Saras (“Pool of Nectar”), from which the city’s name is derived

He started by completing the pool, and building his new official Guru center and home next to it. He invited merchants and artisans from other parts of India to settle into the new town with them. The town expanded during the time of Guru Arjan Dev ji, financed by donations and constructed by voluntary work. The town grew to become the city of Amritsar, and the pool area grew into a temple complex after his son, Guru Arjan Dev Ji built the Gurudwara Harmandir Sahib , and installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new temple in 1604, which was then reached by a marble causeway

.When Piri did not worked during the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, before shheedi, he instructed his son  Guru Har Gobind Sahib ji  “now the time has come to wear the sword of Miri with Piri “. Guru Hargobind Sahib acted upon, wore two swords  of Miri and Piri and built Akal Takhat near Harmandir Sahib to  discuss and solve the administrative matters. The Sri Akal Takhat was founded on June 15, 1606 and was established as the place from which the spiritual and temporal concerns of the Sikh community could be acted upon.

It stood as a symbol of political bulwark against the Mughal Emperors in the 17th and 18th century. Various attacks on the Sri Akal Takhat and Sri Harimandir Sahib have been led in the  past by Ahmed Shah Abdali and Massa Rangar in the 18 century. In 1762 and 1766–1767, Ahmad Shah of the Durani Empire  invaded the Sikh Confedracy, besieged Amritsar, massacred the population  and destroyed the city. During the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh , it was renovated  , the upper part of the temple was decorated with a gold-foil-covered copper dome, and since then the building has been popularly known as the Golden Temple. Amritsar became the center  of the Sikh faith, and, as the focus of growing Sikh power, the city experienced a corresponding increase in trade

During Sikh Empire  in 1822 Maharaja Ranjit Singh  fortified the city starting from a wall at Katra Maha Singh area. Later, Sher Singh  continued with the construction of the wall with twelve gates (Lahori Darwaza, Khazana, Hakeema, Rangar Nangalia, Gilwali, Ramgarhia, Doburji, Ahluwalia, Deori Kalan, Rambagh Deori, Shahzada and Lohgarh) in it and a fort named Dhoor Kot that had fortification 25 yards broad and 7 yards high. The circumference of the walled city was around five miles. When Britishers annexed Punjab, Amritsar was a walled city and they built a thirteenth gate to it known as Hall Gate. It was annexed to British India in 1849 after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, in the rein of Maharaja Duleep Singh, his youngest son after defeating Sikhs in Anglo-Sikh War ll.

Jaliawala Bagh Protest

On 10 April 1919, Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, two popular proponents of the Satyagraha  movement led by Gandhi, were called to the deputy commissioner’s residence, arrested and sent off by car to Dharamsetla, a hill town, now in Himachal Pradesh. This led to a general strike in Amritsar. Excited groups of citizens soon merged into a crowd of about 50,000 marchings on to protest to the deputy commissioner against the arrest of the two leaders. The crowd, however, was stopped and fired upon near the railway foot-bridge. According to the official version, the number of those killed was 12 and of those wounded between 20 and 30. Evidence before an inquiry of the Indian National Congress put the number of the dead between 20 and 30.

Three days later, On 13^th April 1919, Vaisakhi day- the day that relates to the birth of Khalsa  and on the holiest city of Sikhs, thousands of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh to protest against the  Rowlett Act  and arrest  of the  pro-independence activists Saifuddin Kitchlew  and Satyapal  including general public also.

Just after a hour after meeting started British Brigadier General  Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, came  after blocking the main exit with his troops,  Gurkha, Baloch, Rajput and Sikh troops from 2-9th Gurkhas, the 54th Sikhs and the 59 the Scinde Rifles of British Indian Army   and ordered his men to shoot  at the  large peaceful crowd , even as the protestors  tried to flee. The troops kept on firing until their ammunition  was exhausted. Estimates of those killed vary between 379 and 1500+ people and over 1,200 other people who were not involved in the protest and just came to sit after Darshan.

Operation Blue Star

It was not only foreigners who attacked on Akal Takhat and Harmandir Sahib, Even after Independence our  own Government, on June 4, 1984, the Indian Army did more than just damage to the outer facade of the Sri Akal Takhat. They destroyed the sanctity of the Sri Akal Takht with tanks and reduced it to rubble, while attempting to take out Baba Jarnail Singh Binderenwala & men in a controversial military operation known as Operation Blue Star. . Militarily successful, the operation aroused immense controversy, and the government’s justification for the timing and style of the attack are hotly debated. Operation Blue Star was included in the Top 10 Political Disgraces by India in India Today  magazine.

Geography

Amritsar is located at 31.63 N 74. 87 E  with an average elevation of 234 metres (768 ft). Amritsar is located in the Majha region of the state of Punjab in North India lies about 15 miles (25 km) east of the border with Pakistan . Administrative towns includes Ajnala, Attari, Beas, Budhah theh , Chheharta Sahib, Majitha, Rajasansi, Ramdas, Ryya Verka Town and Baba Bakala’

Climate

Typically for Northwestern India, Amritsar has a hot semi-arid climate   bordering on a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical Climate   . Temperatures in Amritsar usually range from 0 to 45 °C (32 to 113 °F). It experiences four primary seasons: winter (December to March), when temperatures can drop to −1 °C (30 °F); summer (April to June), when temperatures can reach 45 °C (113 °F); monsoon (July to September); and post-monsoon (October to November).

Annual rainfall is about 726.0 millimetres (28.6 in).  The official weather station for the city is the civil aerodrome at Rajasansi .

Demography

According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Amritsar is the second-most populous city in Punjab and the most populous metropolitan region in the state with a population of about 2 million. According to the 2011 census, the population of Amritsar was 1,989,961. The city is situated 217 km (135 mi) north-west of Chandigarh, 455 km (283 miles) north-west of New Delhi, and 47 km (29.2 miles) north-east of Lahore, Pakistan, with the Indo-Pak Border (Attari-Wagah) being only 28 km (17.4 mi) away.’

The municipality had a sex ratio of 879 females per 1,000 males. Effective literacy was 85.27%; male literacy was 88.09% and female literacy was 82.09%. The scheduled caste population is 28.8%. Sikh Population 49,36%, Hindus 48%hritanity 1.23% Islam 0.51% Others 0.9%

Amritsar is located at 31.63°N 74.87°E[31] with an average elevation of 234 metres (768 ft). Amritsar is located in the Majha region of the state of Punjab in North India lies about 15 miles (25 km) east of the border with Pakistan. Administrative towns includes Ajnala, Attari, Beas, Budha Theh, Chheharta Sahib, Majitha, Rajasansi, Ramdass, Rayya, Verka Town and Baba Bakala.

Tourism

Amritsar is the holiest city in Sikhism and about 80 million people visit it each year for pilgrimage Golden Temple, Durgiana Mandir and Bada Hanuman Mandir. Other tourism places are, Mata Lal Devi Mandir, Model Town, Shri Ram Tirath and Valmiki Tirath, Shivala Bagh Bhaiyan, Punjab State War Heroes’ Memorial & Museum, Sadda Pind, Urban Haat Food Street, Gobindgarh Fort, Ram Bagh Palace and Maharaja Ranjit Singh Museum
Wagah border, Gurudwara Shaheed Ganj Sahib, Partition Museum, Jallianwala Bagh, Pul Kanjri, VR Ambarsar, Circular Road, Mall of Amritsar, near Hyatt, near Kartarpur, India

Economy

Amritsar is the second-largest city and district of Punjab. It is also one of the fastest-growing cities of Punjab. In the mid-1980s the city was famous for its textile industry. Amritsar’s trade and industry faced a blow during militancy period in 1980s, but there are still many textile mills, knitting units and embroidery factories functional in the city. It is famous for its pashmina shawls, woolen clothes, blankets, etc. Among handicrafts, the craft of the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru in Amritsar district got enlisted on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2014, and the effort to revive this craft under the umbrella of Project Virasat is among India’s biggest government-sponsored craft revival programs. Tourism and hospitality have recently become the backbone of local economy due to heavy tourist arrivals. Hundreds of small and some large hotels have sprung up to cater to the increased tourist inflow. Restaurants, taxi operators, local shopkeepers have all benefited from the tourist boom.

Transport

Amritsar hosts Sri Guru Ramdasji International Airport. The airport is connected to other parts of India and other countries with direct international flights to cities. The Airport is 12th busiest Airport of India in terms of International Traffic. The Airport serves not only Amritsar, but also many other districts in Punjab and neighbouring states.

Rail

Amritsar Central Railway Station is the main station serving Amritsar. It is the busiest Railway Station in Indian State of Punjab and one of the highest revenue generating station of Northern Railways. Due to high traffic at the Amritsar Central Railway Station, Indian Railways has planned to develop 2 satellite stations-Chheharta and Bhagtanwala, in order to decongest traffic at this station. As many as 6 trains would be shifted to Chheharta Railway Station in the first phase. The Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation has also planned to make the Amritsar Central Railway Station, a world class railway station on lines of International Airport based on PPP Model. The project has received an overwhelming response with bids from 7 private firms, including GMR.

Road

Amritsar is located on the historic Grand Trunk Road (G.T Road), also known as NH 1 now renumbered as National Highway 3. An expressway by name of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway at the cost of ₹25,000 crore is approved under Bharatmala scheme which will cut the travel time from Amritsar to New Delhi by road from current 8 hours, to 4 hours. Another expressway, called Amritsar Jamnagar Expressway is under construction which will connect Amritsar to Jamnagar in Gujarat. Additionally, NH 54 (Old NH15), NH 354 and NH 503A connect Amritsar to other parts of state and rest of India. A ring road will also be built surrounding all 4 sides of Amritsar. ₹ 450,000,000 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.

Amritsar Metro Bus

Amritsar has a bus rapid transit service, the Amritsar Metrobus which was launched on 28 January 2019. 93 fully air-conditioned Tata Marcopolo buses are used for the service connecting places like, Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh, Guru Nanak Dev University, Golden Gate, India Gate, Amritsar, Durgiana Temple

Education and Medical Services

Regarding General and Higher Education,Management, Medical Education and Medical care:- there are many schools, colleges, University for higher education, Medical College, management and law institues and hospitals, providing all type of education and general and special medical care.

 Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa Wahe Guru Ji ki Fteh