how to reach amritsar, Amritsar Travel Information, Best Season to Visit amritsar

The Sikh's holy city of Amritsar , site of the fabled Golden Temple, is the largest city in Punjab, noisy, dirty, dusty and hopelessly congested. Its one saving grace is the Golden Temple, whose golden domes soar above the teeming streets. Amritsar is also an important staging post for those crossing the Indo-Pakistani frontier at Wagha, 29km west.

Area	114.95 sq km
Language	English, Punjabi and Hindi.
Population	2.7 million
Altitude	234 m
Rainfall	59.2 cm
Temperature	Summer : Max 34ºC, Min 15ºC. Winter : Max 18ºC, Min 0ºC.

Founded in 1577 by Ram Das, the forth guru of Sikhs, Amritsar is both the center of Sikh religion and the major city of Punjab state - where the majority of Sikhs live. Amritsar, or pool of Nectar, is the name of the sacred pool by which the Sikh's Golden Temple is built. The original site of the city was granted by the Moghul emperor, Akbar, but in 1761, Ahmad Shah Durani sacked the town and destroyed the temple. It was rebuilt in 1764, and in 1802 was roofed over with copper-gilded plates by Ranjit Singh and became known as 'the Golden Temple'. It is Amritsar where the smouldering surge of Independence of our country burst into a full fledged "Flame of Liberty" in the form of Jallianwala Bagh massacre in which about two thousand people were killed. In December 1919 the All India Congress Committee held its session at Goal Bagh in Amritsar, in which most of the National Leaders participated. The Muslim League also held its session in Amritsar in 1919. Many buildings were constructed during the British rule.

Air : The Rajasansi airport at Amritsar is well linked by flights from all over India. Recently, it was elevated to an international airport. Chandigarh has excellent air service, and it is linked with Delhi. Ludhiana and Amritsar also have daily air service to New Delhi

Road : Almost all major towns and cities have buses going to Chandigarh. Between the major cities, New Delhi, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Chandigarh, there is deluxe bus services. In addition, there is taxi service available in various towns.

Rail : There are direct links from Delhi to Amritsar by train. Trains pass through all major towns and cities. Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Jalandhar are on the main line and have excellent daily train services

Amritsar has an extreme climate with very hot summers and very cold winters. Monsoon hits the city around the first week of July and brings average rainfall. The best time to visit Amritsar is between October and March.