A visit to Amritsar, Punjab

I'm also looking forward to taking our guests to Amritsar, Punjab. It will definitely be interesting. Amritsar is the home of the Golden Temple, a Sikh temple with an incredible atmosphere and where 100 000 people get fed, every day, free of cost.

It is also located very close to the Pakistani border and every day, thousands of people gather on both sides of the border for the cross-border ceremonies. The Attari-Wagah ceremony is a daily ceremony that has been taking place by security forces from both sides of the border since 1959.

The ceremony starts every evening immediately before sunset with a blustering parade by the soldiers from both sides, and ends with the perfectly coordinated lowering of the two nations' flags.[4] One infantryman stands at attention on each side of the gate. As the sun sets, the iron gates at the border are opened and the two flags are lowered simultaneously. The flags are then folded, and the ceremony ends with a retreat that involves a brusque handshake between soldiers from either side, followed by the closing of the gates again. The spectacle of the ceremony attracts many visitors from both sides of the border, as well as international tourists

I'm looking forward to returning with my guests!