The Golden Temple, langar for 100,000 — and the richest street food in Punjab
Amritsar is home to Harmandir Sahib — the Golden Temple — the holiest shrine in Sikhism, where a community kitchen called the langar serves free meals to 100,000 people every single day, regardless of faith. Beyond the temple, the city is the street food capital of Punjab: kulcha chole at Kanha Sweets, amritsari fish fry on Lawrence Road, and lassi so thick it's eaten with a spoon. The nearby Wagah Border ceremony between India and Pakistan is one of the world's great theatrical rituals.
Amritsar was founded in 1577 by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru, who excavated the sacred pool (Amrit Sarovar — Lake of Nectar) that gives the city its name. The Golden Temple was completed by Guru Arjan Dev in 1604 and has been rebuilt several times, most devastatingly after Afghan invasions in the 18th century. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 — when British troops fired into a peaceful crowd, killing hundreds — remains one of the defining traumas of India's independence movement.