Saturday, October 28, 2006

Amritsar: Dream City of Sikhs: Heart of Punjab

If you are on India tours, a destination is bound to come in your traveling of the northern part of India. Every Sikh and most of the Hindus from all over the globe, are with an unexpressed desire, may it be there destiny to visit and have the opportunity of "Matha Tekana" [a special way of worship in which devotee bowed and keep the head at the door of God] at the most sacred place on the earth, the city of Gurus, The city of Hari Mandir - Golden Temple, A city called as the crown of Punjab and pronounced as Amritsar. The city name is derived from the Amrit Sarovar, a tank constructed by Guru Ramdas ji. Amrit means the nector and sarovar means the lake. Golden Temple is situated in the centre of this Amrit Sarovar.
History revels that the land used for establishment of the city was acquired by sikh Gurus on payment of Rs. 700/- and sometime around the 1570 - 1580 the construction for the city was started by Guru Ramdas Sahib ji. Guru sahib ji constructed a tank there which was bricked by Guru Arjan Dev Ji and side stairs were also constructed. This is the famous Amrit Sarovar.
A story indicating the sanctify importance and healing effect of the water, was narrated to us by our father late Dr.Premchand Manghirmalani. There was a king who had seven daughters but his most of affection and love was with the younger one. All the girls were grown up and parents were thinking about their marriage. One day King call all the seven daughters and ask about the authority that is making their life full of comforts, starting with elder one, all the six girls thanks father for making their life filled with such unmatched comforts but the answer of the youngest one was Waheguru is there to load the life of every one with comfort according to ones ability, listing this king become angry and in that anger he decide to arrange marriage of youngest daughter with a person suffering from leprosy who was even unable to walk at its own so the daughter can realize that it is the king who is making her life comfortable. The person was called in the palace and king narrated all to younger daughter but instead of acknowledging king as the comfort provider she preferred to marry with that person with word "I thanks to God for making my life full of comforts till today, and if it is my destiny that I will have all these comforts in future also my husband will brought back to health by Waheguru." As the Hindu traditions the princes left the palace with husband in a cart and decided to go in search of medicine which can heal disease of her husband. One day she came to the construction site of city Amritsar, she stopped the cart at the bank of lake and went to bring food for husband from the lungar [community kitchen]. Here the husband saw that a crow came flying and fall down in the water of lake he was surprised to see that the crow when came out of water was no more crow but was become a swan, With a lot of pains and sufferings he started crawling and succeeded to allow his body to fall in the water by the time the youngest princes was back with food in hands for the husband, when she saw the empty and disturbed cart she started crying loudly, suddenly a handsome young boy tapped her shoulder and asked to stop crying as he was her husband, she was not ready to believe that but when the boy told her all that which happens with them during the last six month after the marriage, she has to accept the boy as her husband , than both went to Guru Ramdas Sahib Ji for paying their thanks. Dear Friends the faith is still paying [I don’t know what the experts of medical science will call it], whoever with pure heart and faith come to have a dip, all the illness goes away.

Other Tourist Spots in and around
Jalianwalla Bag [Garden]
Durgian Temple [Laxmi Narayan Temple]
Ram Tirth
Wagha Border
Bird Sanctuary
Not to Forget
When you are in Amritsar, make sure to eat Chhola Bhtura a very very special and delicious Punjabi dish. You will found this available even at the various road side stalls, similarly do take lassi it will make you to forget about all the cold drinks for which you are used to take.
Woolen cloths with the embroidery work are the star attraction of shopping at Amritsar; Shawls of the city are world famous. Remember as there are no M.R.P’s hence bargaining is the key for the shopping.
Though Punjabi is the key language but Hindi, Urdu and English are also significantly used here so the language is not proving an obstacle for you.
To reach Rajasansi airport just about 11k.m. away from the city heart, you can take flights from Delhi, Where as from most of the cities you will find trains leading for the city.
So when you plan to visit India make sure to visit this city with high historic and religious value and with rich Punjabi tradition and culture the most suitable time for visit is from October to December.

1 comment:

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