Thursday 6 December 2012

Amritsar



--> Located in the North West region of India, the most striking feature about Amritsar is its antiquity. In Hindi the word Amritsar means 'a Holy pool of nectar' and it was back in the year 1573 that work for digging the Holy pool had begun.
One of the ancient cities of India, the most important fact about Amritsar is that it is the main seat of Sikh history and culture. The city itself was founded by the Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das, and till present times it is the spiritual and temporal center of Sikh culture with the Golden Temple in Amritsar as its nucleus.

In depth study about Amritsar reveals the undulating historical experience of the city. From the demolition of the Golden Temple to the tragedy of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Amritsar has seen the worst of situations and yet emerged like a phoenix through testing times. Even recently, Amritsar had fallen prey to the terrorist activities which hundreds of live

Amritsar Massacre: This place noted for its most notorious massacre under British rule. It is 400 meters north of the Golden Temple. The British General Dyer was the Lieutenant Governor of the province in 1919. He banned all meetings and demonstrations led by Indians against the economical set back by World War I. On 13 April 1919, pilgrims poured into Amritsar to celebrate the Baisakhi festival, a holiday in the Sikh calendar. In the afternoon thousands of people gathered at Jallian Wala Bagh to celebrate the Baisakhi. This ground surrounded by high walls on all sides has only a narrow alley for access. General Dyer personally led the troops to the sight and ordered his men to open fire without any warning. It resulted in the death of 379 and injured more than 1200. India was outraged by Dyer´s massacre. Gandhiji, called for a nation wide strike and started the Non-cooperation Movement, which became an important mile stone in the struggle for India´s Independence. Today this ground has been changed to a park and it has a pleasant garden. There is a narrow path between the houses which leads to the lawn of the park. At the entrance there is a memorial plaque which recounts the history. There is a well on the north side in which many people who tried to escape from the bullets were drowned, and remnants of walls have been preserved to show the bullet holes. At the east end of the garden there is a large memorial built in memory of those who died here.


--> Climate of Amritsar :
Amritsar has an extreme type of climate with very hot summers and chilly winters. The region has four distinct seasons- the winter season (November to March), the summer season (April to June), monsoon season ( July to September) and post- monsoon season (September to November). Summers can be as hot as 46 degrees. During winters, temperature may drop down to a minimum of - 3 degrees centigrade. The ideal time to visit Amritsar is between the months of October and March.

No comments:

Post a Comment