Golden Temple, Amritsar!!!

Almost after 5 months from our trip, I start my series on our Punjab and Himachal Pradesh tour. We started planning our trip sometime in January for our visit in March. March is our ideal time for long travels, as kiddo gets a month's break from school and her summer vacations during May are always planned for our trips to native and around. And accordingly we made the bookings. Just few days before our trip, there was an unexpected weather change and there were floods at most of the places around the country, but we were in no mood to reschedule our plans.

We reached Amritsar in the morning, and booked our taxi for the day for the tour of Amritsar city and Wagah Border. The weather had got worse, it was freezing cold. Our taxi driver dropped us at around 200mtrs from Golden temple and said, the taxi wouldn't go further and we had to go by walk till the temple. The walk is through the market place, where there are shops selling almost everything Amritsari, from Kulchas to scarfs(to cover your head while entering the temple), footwear to souvenirs. It was still 9 in the morning and we were told most of the food stalls would open only after 11 and we headed straight to Golden Temple. It started drizzling and the weather got still colder. All that chillness disappeared as soon as we got the glimpse of the temple, the Golden structure, with its reflection in the pure waters of Amrit Sarovar. The white structure surrounding the golden temple, the little kids taking dip in the holy sarovar, everything made the premises so serene and beautiful.

The entry to the temple, through the bridge

The top floor of the Harmandir Sahib main complex

 About Golden Temple

As per Wikipedia, the city of Amritsar was found in 1574 by the fourth Sikh guru, Guru Ram Das, while the Harmandir Sahib, or Darbar Sahib or Golden Temple, was designed by the fifth guru, Guru Arjan, who had the cornerstone laid by the Muslim Sufi saint Sai Hazrat Mian Mir on 28 December 1588. Guru Arjan completed the Adi Granth, the holy scripture of Sikhism, in 1604 and installed it in the gurdwara. Harmandir Sahib is considered to be the holiest Sikh Gurudwara.
The temple is built on a platform at the center of the Amrit Sarovar, connecting with the main complex of Harmandir Sahib by a bridge. The temple is three storied structure, with the front facing the bridge decorated with repeated arches. Check more about the structure here.

Travel Info:
Amritsar is a district in Punjab, India around 217km from the state capital Chandigarh. It is near Pakistan with Wagah Border around 28km and Lahore city of Pakistan around 50km.
By Road: Amritsar is on NH-1 well connected to Delhi, Jammu and other cities of Punjab.
By Train: Well connected to Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and other parts of Punjab.
By Air: Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, has many domestic and international flights, connecting with rest of the country and internationally.
Golden Temple is well with-in the city of Amritsar, and has accommodation and free food(langar) as well.
Timings: 3AM to 10PM, you can check out daily routine here.
Entry Free, everybody is allowed to entry the Gurudwara, better visit early morning, when the crowd is less.
Need to leave your foot wear outside and cover your head, while entering the temple premises.

Do check out the complete series on this trip of mine here. 

The Qutub Complex - A Photo Essay

Qutub Minar is one such heritage site, which non of the travelers visiting Delhi give a miss. I still remember my grandma, narrating her tour to Qutub. More than the minar, the remains of Jain temples in the complex was what she used to remember from her tour. My grandparents had traveled most of central and western India(especially Jain Pilgrimages), and which is related to me starting this blog, yes that of course needs a separate blog post to narrate my grandparent's travel dairy. Meanwhile getting back to Qutub Minar, we reached here after the visit to Lotus Temple. We took our entry ticket in the HOHO Bus itself, thats one of the best things, if you opt to explore Delhi in HOHO Bus. Though the ticket counter was not that crowded, we were told there are very long queues during weekends. 

Though the tower is visible right from the entrance, you walk through other monuments in the complex to reach it. As you walk through the main gate, there is information center, where you get the audio guide. After a walk through the garden, you reach the Qutub Minar through the Alai Darwaza, the main gateway from southern side of Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque.

Decorated in redstone and white marble, with inscriptions, Alai Darwaza is said to be the first building in India with Islamic architecture in construction and ornamentation.

Of the remnants of seven capital cities of Delhi(check the seven capitals here), the construction of Qutub Minar was started during the second capital, Mehrauli. It is said to be started in 1192 by Qutab-ud-din Aibak to celebrate the victory of Mohammed Ghori over the last Hindu kingdom in Delhi, which was then added upon by Iltutmish and Firoz Shah Tughlaq(the last two storeys) to get its present structure by 1388.

This 73 m-high tower has five distinct storeys, each marked by a projecting balcony and tapers from a 15 m diameter at the base to just 2.5 m at the top. The first three storeys are made of red sandstone, the fourth and fifth storeys are of marble and sandstone, marking a variation in construction material and architectural style from Aibak to Tughlaq. The tower along with the other surrounding monuments are listed as UNESCO World Heritage site.

It is said that, the structure was constructed by demolishing many Hindu and Jain temples. Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque in the complex still preserves many structures, which proves the same.

 

While there are many monuments in the complex, the iron pillar is one which gains significance just after the minar. The pillar is said to be originally erected by Chandragupta II in front of Vishnu Temple complex in Udayagiri around 402AD, which was later shifted here by Aangpal in 10th century. This 7.21 meters pillar weighing six tonnes, is said to be corrosion resistant which makes the pillar world's foremost metallurgical curiosities.

There is a belief that a person's wish comes true if he is able to join his hands around the pillar with his back to the pillar. The pillar is shot in many Bollywood movies, the one I remember is the movie Cheeni Kum, when Mr. Amitabh Bacchan is here to wish his loved one's well being.

 

There are many tombs and a Madarsa in the complex, including the tomb of Itutmish, who added to the construction of the minar and Alauddin Khilji, the second Sultan of Delhi.

Alai Minar is yet another structure you can't miss as you are on the way back from the complex. This is a abondoned minar, which was started by Alauddin Khilji and said to be started to be built double the height of Qutub Minar. Its construction was abondoned just after the completion of 24.5meter height. We can just image, how tall the structure would have stood, if it was completed, a minor double the height of present Qutub.

The complex is just not about Qutub Minar, but reflects a series of architectural flow from Jain temples to Islamic architecture, through the Aibak and Tughlaq rule, till the British era. The complex has lot to see and explore, which definitely needs half a day to explore in ease. 

Travel Info:

Qutub Complex is in Mehrauli, Delhi. Nearest metro station is Qutub Minar station.

Entry fee:

Indian visitors: Rs. 10/-

Foreign visitors: Rs. 250/-

Open all days, sunrise to sunset

Related Posts: Check out the complete series on Golden Triangle Tour.