Punjab, located
in the north west of India, is one of the smallest but
the most prosperous states of India. Punjab is primarily
an agricultural state and enjoys the natural benefits
of fertile soils and abundant waters. The five rivers
Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum gave it its name
'punj-ab' or the 'land of five waters'. The state has
earned its epithet: "of Granary India" through the enterprising
spirit, and untiring toil of its people.
Weather
Punjab
has three major seasons. April to June is Summer time
when the climate of the plains is excessively hot and
dry with temperatures as high as 49° C (120° F). Rainy
season starts normally from July and continues till
the end of September. Winter months are October to March
with cool and pleasant weather. The average temperature
in January is 13° C (55° F), although at night the temperature
sometimes lowers to freezing.
Tourism
Punjab, the land of
five rivers and integrated cultural history, offers
a lot to an avid tourist. For this land of the great
gurus not only boasts of ancient monuments but throbs
with historical embodiments. Since Punjab was the seat
of royalty, there is no dearth of breathtaking palaces,
for instance Quila Mubarak. There are Museums and also
religious places like Golden Temple. If you are a wild
life freak, then this state has sanctuaries, which are
hot favourites with migratory birds.
Places
of Tourist Interest
Pilgrimages
: Temples, Gurudwaras, Mosques and Mausoleums
are places of pilgrimages. Ram Tirth, Amritsar, Durgiana
Mandir, Amritsar ( Lakshmi Narain Temple), Bhagwathi
Mandir, Maisar Khanna, Bathinda City, Shiv Mandhir,
Gur-mandi, Jalandhar, Sodal Mandir, Jalandhar City,
and Panch Mandir, Kapurthala Town are some popular religious
places.
Heritage Sites : includes Archaelogical
Destinations, Forts, the Palaces of Punjab, Museums,
Historical Remains and Homage to Freedom Fighters.
Some popular forts of Punjab are Govindgarh Fort Amritsar,
Bathinda Fort, Faridkot Fort,
Qila Mubark Patiala, Bhadurgarh Fort, Anandpur Sahib
Fort, Ropar, Phillaur Fort, Ludhiana and Shahpur Kandi
Fort.
Major Cities : Amritsar, Chandigarh,
Patiala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Roopnagar,
Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Bathinda, Faridkot, Fatehgarh
Sahib, Ferozpur, Moga, Muktsar, Sangrur and Sirhind
are major cities of the state and has lot of attractions
for the tourists.
Festivals
& Events
Fairs or Melas in Punjabi
are synonymous with the joy and gaiety. After a day
or season of hard work nothing is more welcome to the
people than the prospect of a festival or a fair. The
fairs of the Punjab are linked with its culture and
reflect by and large the various phases of its life.
Broadly, they may be divided into seasonal fairs, mythical
fairs, fairs held in honor of saints and fairs connected
with festivals.
The most famous of the seasonal fairs are Basant
Panchami, the Basant fair, Baisakhi, Chhapar Fair,
Gugga Naumi, Jarag Fair, the Roshni Fair (Fair of
the lights), Haider Sheikh at Malerkotla, Dhesian
Sang, Khwaja Roshan, Mir Shah Husain, Baba Jawahar
Singh, Shiy Chaudas, Nathana, Muktsar Fair and Jor
Mela.
The major festivals of Punjab are Holi, Hola Mohalla,
Gurupurabs, Baisakhi, Teeyan, Rakhi, Dussehra, Karva
Chauth, Devuthan, Diwali and Lohri.
When to
Go
The best time to visit
Punjab is October to March.
Interesting
Fact
Amritsar, the holy
city of Punjab is famous for Golden Temple. Attached
to the golden Temple as in all Sikh Gurdwara's is the
Langer hall, where all people regardless of faith, gender,
status etc all sit together in straight rows to eat
the same simple foods free of charge. The Langer at
the Golden temple serves around 70.000 meals in this
unique way 24 hours a day, with numbers reaching 200.000
on special religio us days. All the food is brought
by donations and prepared and distributed by volunteers
doing sewa, (selfless service).
Write about Punjab
If you are
Punjab insiders or had been to Punjab recently, then
we request you to contribute to our site. Share your
knowledge and experience today with fellow visitors
of this website! To submit your travelogue (Travel Story)
Click
Here |
