Amritsar Environs

The area surrounding Amritsar is inextricably linked with the Sikh Gurus. The 4th Guru, Ram Das, decreed that the succession would be hereditary within a particular family, and one important motives for this was financial. Since the first four Sikh Gurus were not blood relations, after the first three Gurus died their assets devolved to their biological heirs rather than remaining with the Sikh community, and the new gurus were forced to relocate.

When Guru Nanak died Guru Angad shifted from Kartarpur to Khadur Sahib. Guru Amar Das served Guru Angad in Khadur Sahib and was designated his successor, but had to resettle the community in nearby Goindval. One of his enduring legacies there was to dig a well, which at the time may have been to gain access to a reliable water source, but which has now become a Sikh bathing place. His successor Guru Ram Das moved the Sikhs from Goindval to Amritsar.

Another important regional site is Taran Taran; a town founded and built by Guru Arjan (5th Guru) to promote regional economic expansion. The Taran Taran gurudwara has similar architecture to the Harmandir Sahib, and sits at the edge of an enormous artificial lake.

The final stop to be mentioned, though usually the first stop on the tour itself, is Tahla Sahib, a site associated with the mortal wounding of Baba Deep Singh Ji. When the Afghans desecrated the Harmandir Sahib in 1757, Baba Deep Singh vowed to avenge it, and though he was killed in battle, according to one legend he continued to fight even after his head had been severed from his body. There is also a memorial shrine to him in the Golden Temple complex itself.