Tag: Punjab

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Central India Itinerary

5 days itinerary for Punjab

Punjab is called the land of five rivers. And Punjab has a unique combination of culture and beauty of nature that interacts with many peoples. Every year many visitors visit Punjab. I recently have been Punjab and in this article, I’m sharing my experience. I’m sharing with you what I visited in five days’ holiday and what I learned from the people of this city. If you don’t visit once in your life then I think you don’t enjoy your life. No doubt Punjab is famous for its culture but also famous for its delicious food and tests as well. So I suggest If you plan for any trip then you have to visit this time Punjab and spend some time here.

Day 1– Arrived at Chandigarh

When I was visiting Punjab, first I reached Chandigarh airport then I booked a cab to reach the hotel. Many people think that you are new then a taxi driver traps you. But no my dear friends I personally feel that they also take care of their passenger. You can hire a guide as well if you want. They visit you with all the important places that you should visit. So back to my talk, when I reached the hotel then I took breakfast. And ready for the visit to Punjab, I was really excited because I love to meet new people and see the culture. I went to the sheesha mahal, qila Mubarak and NIS and our guide explained to us why it is famous. In the afternoon, I ate chole bhature that famous and really delicious. I still remember the taste of Punjab’s food. After ate lunch, I spent my afternoon in kali Mata temple, dukh niavran gurudwara and then I visited the local market of Patiala. And also buy some stuff for me. If you visit Punjab then you can buy a handmade sari or handmade decorative things that suites in your house. I enjoyed very much in Patiala market and captured some pictures. When I visited the local markets of Patiala then it was 5 o clocks, I can’t imagine time ran out so fast. Now I left the market and reached the garden in the Chandigarh. So I visited the rose garden, it is famous for its natural beauty. Next, I went to a rock garden, and sukhmana lake after 7 o’clock and sector 17 as well at night. Now I feel too tired then I returned the hotel and took my dinner and then took rest because I had to wake up early morning for visiting the next day.

Day 2- Patiala to Fatehgarh to Ludhiana

The second day I woke up at 5 a.m. I felt very tired because I roam too much the first day but also very excited to visit new places. I ready for leaving the hotel packed my bag. In the morning I had a heavy breakfast because I had to travel long-distance approximately 30 km. During traveling Patiala to Fatehgarh I visited tohar mal haweli, Amm khass bagh, joty swaroop, as well as organic gill farm that is located in the sanhali village. I enjoyed so much of my journey Patiala to Fatehgarh now I reached here finally and I was very much hungry. So I ate lunch in a restaurant and then started the next journey that is Fatehgarh to Ludhiana. The distance between Ludhiana to Fatehgarh is 60 km. I reached Ludhiana at night so I took my dinner and went to the room for taking rest.

Day 3- Ludhiana to Jalandhar

So this time I was in Ludhiana, I woke up and took heavy breakfast in the Ludhiana hotel. After took breakfast I left the hotel and enjoyed my further journey. During traveling Ludhiana to Jalandhar, I enjoyed it really and on the way, I visited so many places like malerkotta and gurudwara mehdiana. This gurudwara is famous for its architectural carved creativity on the walls. Next, I saw a nur mahal located in doaba. When I reached Jalandhar so it was a time like approx 8 pm so I just took my delicious dinner in the magnificent haveli. During dinner, I enjoyed Punjabi folk music, bhangra dance which is famous and unique of Punjab. After enjoying all the dance and music I stayed a night in this haveli.

Day 4- Jalandhar to Kapurthala to Amritsar

I woke up early morning and left for the next journey. I took my breakfast on the way of Jalandhar to Kapurthala. And also visited some places like panch mander, Jagatjiit place, factory of rail coach, durbar hall Moorish. I ate my lunch during traveling Kapurthala to Amritsar that is located 60km away.  I reached Amritsar at night so I went to the golden temple that is famous in Punjab. Many pilgrimages come here to pray to god. Moreover, the golden temple holds the attraction of tourists. Next, I went to the Jallianwala bagh and visited the old market of Amritsar. Next, I ate dinner with Punjabi special tadka.

Day 5- Amritsar to Anandpur sahib

This was my last day so I check out from the hotel and went to the Paonta sahib village. This village is famous because of guru Gobind Singh and also visited the Anandpur that is the birthplace of Shri keshgarh sahib. So I spent my whole day in both villages and stayed in Anandpur hotel.

Departure-

I took a heavy breakfast from the Anandpur hotel and check out from the hotel. And I traveled Anandpur to Chandigarh airport and finally I back to my home.

I really enjoyed the 5 days itinerary for Punjab. Hope you also enjoy my journey!

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Festival

Celebration of Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti in Punjab

Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti is celebrated every year on the 5 January.  The Guru Gobind was the tenth guru of Sikhs and he was born in Patna. But in Punjab, this Jayanti also celebrates grandly. This day all gurudwara decorates from the lights and candles. Most of the pilgrimages visit Punjab for celebrating Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti. Recently I went to Punjab at this grand celebration and enjoyed really. So I suggest once you should visit Punjab on this day. Here I am sharing my experience and some enjoyable moments.

The beginning of my trip

Most of the pilgrimage visited the Amritsar because of the golden temple. And I also visited the golden temple in Amritsar. I reached Amritsar before 2 or 3 days ago because the celebration started in 2 days ago. So I visited other places in the mornings like Paonta village and Anandpur villages. The Paonta village is famous because here guru Gobind Singh writes rules and books for Sikhs dharmas. And the place of Anandpur is the birthplace of Shri Keshargarh sahib. I visited both villages and ate food in Anandpur villages. On the occasion of Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti in Amritsar, I saw the better arrangement of managing people.

Exploring the culture

As I mentioned above the city is decorated with lights and candles. And here I stay in the hotel that is near to gurudwara.  At night the celebration started with prayer. However, the festival of Jayanti is started 2 days ago of Akhand Panth and it culminates on 5 January. When I entered the gurudwara the pundits were reading holy Shri Granth sahib that is written by guru Gobind sahib. Before 2 days of Jayanti, the Prabhat Pheri start. In this Pheri, many processions were singing hymns and others were offering tea or sweets of the pilgrimage who visited. On the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh the kirtan start. I enjoyed the kirtan but when you visit gurudwara you have to wear a kurta salwar.

The most awaited moment

On the 5th of January this day I was really excited to see the golden temple. So I went temple after ready and prayed to the god. However, in gurudwara, you can eat langar every day, but today’s langar is special. Today, the food prepared of Sarson ka sag with ghee or other vegetables for the langar. I really enjoy the food that I ate in the langar.  This day I saw the culture of Punjab many pilgrimage sing prayers and bhangra dance. I also joined bhangra dance and learn other cultures as well. At night I visit some gardens like a rock garden, Jalliawala bagh, and many more.

The end

I enjoyed too much my journey and I suggest you should also visit Punjab on the occasion of Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti. Not only Amritsar but also on the Paonta villages also celebrates this day. So I visited so many places on the occasion of Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti.

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Central India Group Travel Itinerary Solo Women Travel Spiritual Hubs

Best of Amritsar in 24 hours

Amritsar in Punjab is more than just a city filled with history, it is the cultural capital of Punjab. When we planned to visit Amritsar, we just had 24 hours to explore the best of the city and since there was so much to do, we prioritized the top-places to see. We landed in Amritsar via road early morning at 6 am. The sky was filled with the hue of sunrise and the entrance of Amritsar is adorned by a beautiful dome-shaped welcome sight. Amritsar, the place that played an important role in Indian history during British Raj got its name derived from a lake surrounding the Golden Temple. Amrit Sarovar, literally meaning a holy pool of nectar surrounds the Harmandir Sahib. These stories were told to us by our cab driver who was a resident of Amritsar, so we left it up to him to let us experience the food, culture, sights of Amritsar in the best ways possible.

1 Golden Temple aka Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara

We started our day with a visit to the iconic Golden Temple. Thankfully, we were already dressed in traditional Indian clothes so we already had a dupatta to cover our heads which is mandatory before you enter the Gurudwara. Since it a popular pilgrimage and we were there on a Sunday, we had to wait in long queues before we got inside. But even there, we were just enjoying the architecture and observing how immersed people were in their prayers. After paying our respects, we moved to the langar area and had prasad. The community meals are offered to every person who visits the Gurudwara and the langar was delicious. Moreover, the halwa (known as kada in Punjabi) is given as prasad to everyone. The Gurudwara also allows people to stay there for free if they offer service at the temple in return. We did not have much time or we would have loved to experience that as well.

  1. Jallianwala Bagh

The next stop on the tour was the infamous Jallianwala Bagh. Though Jallianwala Bagh is just one km away from the Golden Temple, it takes some time to reach there because that area remains quite crowded. As soon as we entered the garden, we were reminded of the heart-wrenching tragedy that took place there back during the British rule in 1919. There is a memorial in the garden commemorating the Martyrs who were massacred there. The well in which people jumped to save their lives can be seen but one look inside the dark well is enough to give you a nightmare for days. We could also see the bullet holes in walls and there are boards everywhere to help tourists who do not know what happened in Jallianwala Bagh. Paying our respects to the martyrs of Jallianwala, we refrained from clicking many pictures there as we usually do. But just being in that space reminded us of how far India has come and how many people have laid down their lives to make it independent.

  1. Maharaja Ranjit Singh Museum

After Jallianwala Bagh left us reminiscing on the History, we visited the Maharaja Ranjit Singh palace which is now in the shape of a museum. The Palace is preserved as it was 400 years ago when the king used to live there. Now, the swords, armors and other historical artifacts are kept there for the visitors to see. There were many paintings in the Museum as well, along with other belongings of the King like the old currency. It was quite a quick visit to the museum before we went to the most-awaited spot on our visit to Amritsar- The Wagah Border.

  1. The Indo-Pak Border

Right after our tour of the museum, we went to the Wagah Border. The Wagah Border has a parade that starts at 5 pm and we were lucky enough to reach there by 4:30 pm so we could still watch the hour-long parade live. We could not find good seats since people start coming in from 2 pm to find a seat. There is a huge rush on the Indian side of the border. There is tight security present there but we were allowed to carry essentials like water bottles, our sunglasses, and phones. The entire parade is a sight to behold and afterward, one the crowds started to disperse, we went and clicked some pictures with the soldiers. From the Wagah Border, we could easily see the other side- Pakistan and wondered why there wasn’t as big a crowd gathered on that side of the border as well.

  1. Go shopping

No trip to Amritsar is complete without shopping for Amritsari jutti. There is a Kapra Bazaar near the Golden Temple where we went to buy the famous Phulkari cloth and look for Amritsari Jutti. The -Kameez, Dupatta or Phulkari-cloth. We also bought some dresses from the Kapra Bazaar but the best place to buy Amritsari Jutti, as suggested by many locals there is the Raunak Store in Pink plaza. Amritsari Jutti is leather footwear traditionally called Jutti. It complements the traditional Indian-wear and is a great ethnic-wear accessory.

  1. What’s Punjab without Punjabi Food?

Throughout the day, we munched on local Amritsari cuisine. The day began with Aloo Parantha with extra butter and a glass of Lassi for breakfast at a local Dhaba. Then the langar at Golden Temple worked perfectly as lunch and for snacks, we had jalebi and Amritsari Lassi at a Dhaba near Golden Temple. For dinner, there are plenty of options in Amritsar but it is a bit hard to find pure vegetarian restaurants. There is a place called Brother’s Amritsari dhaba that serves delicious Paneer Butter Masala, Daal Makhani, Channa and Naan. We got the veg thali which had salad and raita as well as Amritsari Papad.

When it was finally time to leave Amritsar, we realized that within 24 hours, we had seen most of the popular places in Amritsar, shopped and enjoyed Punjabi delicacies while being entertained by our cab driver’s Punjabi commentary on everything.

Categories
Culture Historical North India

Ropar- A Historical Treasure

Lately, Punjab has been working on its tourism and the small town of Ropar (Rupnagar) which was previously unheard of is now a good place for history explorers and nature lovers to spend their time. We reached Ropar by bus from Delhi and it took approximately 6 hours. While we expected Ropar to be a rural slum with no facilities or good hotels whatsoever, the small town surprised us with its unexpectedly good hospitality. We stayed at Hotel City Heart and the facilities were well.

Recent excavations show that the Harappan and Mohenjo-Daro civilization lived prosperously in Ropar and there was also an inscription by Shah Jahan that was discovered in this wetland. So to satisfy our curious mind, we started the history trail at Archaeological museum of Ropar. All the extracted artifacts are displayed there in the form of pottery items, beads, jewelry, toys and Terracotta figurines. It is known that this area belonged to the Indus Valley civilization and the river Sutlej was used in their river system. But this takes you to the history of mankind, if you wish to know more about the history about Sikhism, then this next place we visited is for you.

Virasat-E-Khalsa and Anandpur Sahib were locations that mixed history with sacredness. They told the history of how Sikh religion was formed through pictures and tales. It was a clean and well-organised place and the building in itself was stunning. Then we got to see the cultural section and it varied from the popular festivals of Punjab to daily lives around Gurudwara. Then we see the real history of Sikhism along with the history of Gurus. The story is told by a recorded narrative that is a unique sensation in itself and a great way to learn about history.

We wandered around soaking in all the information and the beauty of the place for three hours and then stopped to relax at a Cafe nearby. We decided to skip ordering food in a restaurant and instead ate langar at the nearby Gurudwara. After all, if you are in Punjab, trying Langar is a must.

After knowing the history of the Gurus, we became curious about another place. Ropar which was Gurudwara Parivar Vichhora Sahib. Like the name says, this Gurudwara signifies a great separation. This was the place where Guru Gobind Sahib separated with his family and it was an emotional experience to be there. Though the Gurudwara itself was magnificent, it was the story that the place told that had me welled up.

Then we visited the place of the treaty where Maharajah Ranjit Singh met British Viceroy to sign a treaty dividing the territories. The place is signified with a monument inside the park. The monument is fairly new and was probably not standing when the treaty was actually signed but it does mark an important chapter in the history of Punjab which makes it a place worthy of a visit. Moreover, the park is beautiful.

After we had had enough of historical visitations, we wandered on to the Sadabrat nature trail which is a wetland area and we found beautiful trees and bird there. We saw fruit bats hanging upside down from trees and there was such an abundance of these bats. There were also a few herbal trees around along with Datura tree.

Some other places we saw were Jateshwar Mahadev temple and Gurudwara Bhatta Sahib. We were fairly impressed by what Ropar had to offer and how much it had developed. It is definitely one of the places to visit while in Punjab.

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