Amritsar

From Open Encyclopedia

Amritsar

Image:WikiprojectIndiacities amritsar.png Location of Amritsar
Location	31.6331° N 74.8656° E
State	Punjab (India)
District	Amritsar
Mayor	Mr Sunil Datti
Altitude	218 metres
Area	50sq km km²
Population (2001)	1,011,327
Density	?/km²
Codes • Postal • Telephone • Vehicle	143001 +0183 PB02
Time zone	IST (UTC +5:30)

Amritsar (Punjabi: ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ, Hindi: अमृतसर), meaning "Pool of the Nectar of Immortality", is the administrative headquarter of Amritsar District in Punjab, India. It has a population of over 1,000,000 in Amritsar city and over just over 3,096,077 in Amritsar district from the 2001 Indian census. It is located in the northwest part of India in the State of Punjab, 32 miles east of Lahore. Its name came from Sanskrit Amŗta-sarovar = "Nectar Lake"; in Hindu belief Amŗta (nectar) is a liquid that Hindu devas drank to keep them immortal.

It is home to the Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, and is the spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh Religion. In Maharaja Ranjit Singh's time, Amritsar had superseded Lahore as the pre-eminent city of Punjab. It is also the location of the Amritsar Massacre and Operation Blue Star.

1 Background
2 Language
3 Climate
4 Religions Shrines
5 Education
6 See also
7 External links

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Background

The city is dominated by history of the Sikhs and many of their sacred shrines are found in and around the city. The city lies on the main Grand Trunk (GT) road from Delhi to Jalandhar to Amritsar connecting to Lahore in Pakistan. Lahore, which was the historic capital of the pre-partition Punjab, is about 50 km west of Amritsar. The city is the administrative centre for the Amritsar district. Amritsar developed from a small village pool to a business centre. However, it did not become the industrial centre of Punjab due to its proximity to the volatile Indo-Pak border. The city boasts an international airport (Raja Sansi International Airport) that is about 11km from the city centre. Several International airlines operate flights from here. It is connected with Singapore, Tashkent, Ashgabat as well as London, Birmingham in the UK and Toronto in Canada. The main commercial activities include tourism, carpets and fabrics, farm produce, handicrafts, service trades and light engineering.

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Language

The main spoken language in Amritsar is Punjabi. Other languages spoken in the city are Hindi, English and Urdu.

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Climate

The weather in this region of India is seasonal with four distinct seasons. The winter season (November to March) where temperatures ranges from 18 °C to about 0 °C, the hot season (April to June) where temperatures can reach 46 °C , monsoon season (July to September) and post-monsoon (September to November).

Amritsar is the most temperate between October and March.

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Religions Shrines

The following Shrines are found in the city:

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Education

The Khalsa College is one of the oldest educational institutions of the region. The century old institution was founded in 1892. It offers courses in Science, Arts, Commerce, Computers, Languages, Education, Agriculture & Physiotherapy.

In 1969 Guru Nanak Dev University was established here.The city also is home to DAV College and BBK DAV College for Women.

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