History of Amritsar

The city of Amritsar very famous world over for the Golden Temple Gurudwara is the temporal seat of the Sikh religion. The city was conceived by the fourth Guru (master)of the Sikh religion Sri Guru Ram Daas ji and was called Chak Ramdass pur, there are two theories about the land of Amritsar, the first is that the land belonging to village Tung was bought by the devotees of Guru Ram Daas Ji, the new city was planned on this land bought in 700 Rs. The other theory is how King Akbar visited Govindwal sahib and attended the spiritual congregation of the third master Guru Amar Daas ji in 1569. In your Amritsar Tour Packages you can learn about the history of Amritsar city from the expert Amrtisar tour guide.

It is said he also had food at the community kitchen and the thing to ponder is that the emperor sat amidst the common people squatting on the floor and had the langar. So pleased he was that he offered land to the master, The master Guru Amar Dass is said to have denied and the land was given as dowry to Bibi Bhani the daughter of Guru Amar Daas Ji, it is said that the city of Amritsar later was developed on the same land donated by king Akbar. The name Amritsar arises from a holy blessed pond circum ambulating the holy Gurudwara.

The old chronicles say this pond or the Sarovar was known since ages to have curative properties An old story of how Bibi Rajni’s husband a Leper was cured of his leprosy by taking a bath in the holy pond.

Even today the Sikhs before bowing down at the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden temple do not forget to take a bath in the holy water of the Amrit Sarovar. The elixir of the Sarovar is known to wash away all the bad karma of the devotees then after becoming clean they bow before their Guru the eleventh master Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. Sri Guru Ram Daas Ji constructed the pond and invited business men and artisans to come and live in the city of Amritsar.

During the time of the fifth master Sri Guru Arjun Dev ji the small town of Amritsar flourished as more and more devotees came and settled in the newly developed city. The money coming in charity from the devotees led the city to develop and flourish. The sixth master Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib ji later constructed the Gurudwara. A seat of temporal authority for the Sikhs Sri Akaal Takht Sahib was also constructed by him, the Akal Takht is the most powerful temporal authority of Sikh religion. The city kept on developing but the Gurudwara was occupied by the brother of seventh Sikh guru Dheer Mall t who is said to be in occupation of the oldest hand written version of Shri Adi Granth Sahib.

Maharaja Ranjit singh in 1822 constructed the walled city of Amritsar. The city with twelve gates was later completed by the son of Maharaja Sher Singh. The fort Dhor kot was also constructed during the reign of the maharaja. After the Sikh wars the British took over the city of Amritsar which was a fortified city. A new gate the 13th one was added to the city.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh also rebuilt the Gurudwara in year 1809 the fresh construction was done and the Gurudwara was built with marble, copper, lime and mortar. The inner walls were painted with frescoes, , the outer walls were covered with Gold in 1830 by the Maharaja. Today the city of Amritsar lying in the Majha area of Punjab is the second most populated city and is centre for tourism, its also centre for hosiery industry and other related industries.