Amritsar

Amritsar (ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ in Panjâbî) - words Panjâbî Amrit (basin, lake) and sar (nectar) - located at the North-West of the state of the Indian Panjâb is a city. Its population exceeded 2,5 million inhabitants at the time of the census of 1991. The city shelters the Harmandir Sâhib , also called the Temple of Gold, center spiritual and cultural of the community Sikh E.

At the 16th century, the work undertaken by 4th of the Gurûs of the sikhism, Gurû RAM Das, will transform a modest village into important city. They begin in 1573 with the digging of the basin crowned which gives its name to the city. In 1601, the Temple of Gold is finished and three years later the book crowned sikh, considered also as the last Gurû of the Sikhisme, the Âdi Granth, is installed by the successor of Gurû RAM Das, Gurû Arjan. During the reign of the mahârâja Ranjit Singh, the town of Amritsar exceeds Lâhore like principal city of Panjâb.

Amritsar, in addition to its importance for the community sikhe, is the administrative center of its district. It is located on the portion of the Grand Trunk Road between the capital Chandigarh and Lahore today at the Pakistan. The latter, which was the historical capital of Panjâb before the partition, is to about fifty kilometers in the west, on the other side of the border. It is served by the airport Rajah Sansi International Airport located at some eleven kilometers of the center town.

The economic main activities count tourism, the textile industry and the manufacture of carpet, the agricultural production, the craft industry…

Massacres

The city is known for the two massacres of which it was pilot:

the Massacre of Amritsar or massacres of Jalianwalla Bagh, of the April 3rd 1919, which made 379 dead and 1200 wounded.
the Massacre of the Gold Temple of the May 31st 1984 where more than 400 people found death.

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