Amritsar

The first Indian city I visited, Amritsar, is still my favorite one. Things I like include the great streetfood, the narrow roads of the old city and, of course, the Golden Temple.

This holy place of the Sikh religion is amazing! Surrounded by beautiful white buildings and situated in the holy lake, the Golden Temple is the place where Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, is kept during daytime (for the night, it is brought to another site close by). It contains this religion’s holy songs which are played by musicians inside the Golden Temple. The music is transmitted through speakers to the outside and contributes to the very special and peaceful atmosphere of the place.

As Amritsar is very close to the Indian-Pakistani border, I come here often when travelling from one country to the other. I always reserve a few hours for sitting by the lake near the Golden Temple.

This time, I was there at the birthday of Guru Ram Das, the founder of the city of Amritsar. This is one of the biggest holidays there so the temple and it's surroundings were full of people.