Hi Friends,
Firstly, really sorry for the delay in posting our travel updates......🙏
We drove into Amritsar on Tuesday, March 15th, a comfortable 230 kms drive from Chandigarh. Excellent roads!
After check-in, we decided to visit The Golden Temple. Sri Harmandir Sahib, as it's known as, is a magnificent Gurdwara, the holiest shrine for the Sikh community. Plated in pure Gold, the sprawling campus has a Holy lake, rooms for devotees, and, other important landmarks within the campus. We decided to participate in the 'langar'......so, had the langar, as well. The langar, is a community kitchen, that operates 24x7, serving free food to everyone who wishes to eat there. Lunch was wholesome and tasty.
At 3 pm, we reached the Attari border, for the daily Flag ceremony, between India & Pakistan. Everyone refers to this as the Wagah Border ceremony. Please note that Wagah is the Pakistan side of the border, and our side is called the Attari border. So, going forward, we should refer to this as the Attari border ceremony 👍😊 Within an hour, all the galleries on the India-side were packed. We thought the ceremony was to begin by 4 pm, but it eventually commenced only by 5 pm. It got over by 5.45 pm. Sitting in the blazing heat for almost 3 hours, was an unexpected ordeal. Carry an umbrella and caps, for sure. The ceremony, itself, is beautifully choreographed, with the BSF and the Pakistani Rangers going hammer and tongs at each other 😂 The 'Goose march', as it is called, is really a memorable sight. Don't miss this if you are in Amritsar!
The next day (Wednesday), we were joined by our 'sambandhis', from Delhi, Raju & Devika Makhijani. It was a pleasure to be in their company. We visited the Jalianwala Bagh Memorial, offered prayers at the Gurudwara, had a sumptuous lunch at Punjab Dhaba, Amritsar, and, had a fine celebration in the evening, to cap off a wonderful day!
Jalianwala Bagh has been renovated recently and, made more appealing to the visitors. The Shaheedi well, the remnants of the actual bullet marks, and the lawns are a witness to the courageous sacrifices of thousands of Sikhs, who were martyred by General Dwyer. Vicky Kaushal recently immortalised the Jalianwala Bagh, on celluloid, in his portrayal of 'Udham'. Wonderful movie!
Machli Amritsari, Amritsari Chole bature, Tandoori chicken and Butter chicken are not to be missed 😀
It was a lifelong desire to visit Golden Temple and Jalianwala Bagh. The dream has been fulfilled! Amritsar was the highest point in our road trip, 'The Discovery of India'. From now on, it's all southwards.
Thankyou everyone...once again my apologies for the delay in our blog posts, and....
Stay with us! 🚘😀
A pictorial of our route, this far...
I am impressed
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