Online Encyclopedia
Amritsar
Amritsar is a city in Punjab, India. The city has a population of over two and half million. Amritsar means literally "holy pool of nectar". The City is located in North West part of India in the State called Punjab.
It is the home to the Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, and is the spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh Religion. Founded by the fourth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Ram Das, it was completed by his successor Guru Arjun Dev. Work began in 1573 on digging the holy pool. In 1601, Harmandir Sahib was completed and 3 years later, the Sikh Holy Book was placed there is called the Guru Granth Sahib. In Maharaja Ranjit Singh's time, Amritsar City had superseded Lahore as the pre-eminent city of Punjab.
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Background
This city has grown from a village pond into a thriving commercial centre of Punjab and the Spiritual Centre for the Sikhs. The city is dominated by history of the Sikhs and many of their sacred shrines are found in and around the city. It is the Administrative Centre for the district and lies on the main GT road from Chandigarh to Jalandhar to Amritsar to Lahore, Pakistan. Lahore, which was the historic capital of the pre-partition Punjab is about 50 Km west of Amritsar. An International Airport (Raja Sansi International Airport ) also operates at about 11kms from the city centre. Several Airlines operate flights from aboard including London and Birmingham in the UK, etc. Now flights to and from Singapore have also began to operate from the airport. The main commercial activities are Tourism, Carpets and fabrics, Farm produce, Handicraft, Service trades and light Engineering.
Religions Shrines
The following Shrines are found in the city:
- Golden Temple Manji Sahib Devan Asthan
- Akal Takhat
- Ramsar Sahib
- Baba Deep Singh Ji
- BebakSar
- Birth Place of Guru Hargobind
- Darbar Sahib Tarn Taarn
- Baba Budha Ji, Ramdas
- Guru da Bagh, Kokawali
- Bohli Sahib, Govindwar
- Bir Baba Budha Ji, Tatah
- Sri Darbar Sahib, Khadurh Sahib
- Shaarta Sahib, Guru Hargobind
- Baba Bakala, Guru Teg Bahadur
- Birth Place of Baba Budha Ji, Kadungal
Massacres
The Amritsar Massacre occurred here on 3 April 1919, killing 379 people and wounding another 1200. This took place in a square known as Jaliyan-wala-Bagh.
The Golden Temple Massacre on 31 May, 1984 also occurred here killing over 400 people.
Education
In 1969 Guru Nanak University was established here.