Visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar can be a holy experience, and for many people it is. But even if you’re not Sikh, it’s an amazing place to see and experience. On this page you will learn everything you need to know in order to have an amazing time visiting the Golden Temple and Amritsar city.
The Golden Temple – or more formally known as Sri Harmandir Sahib – is one of the most spectacular religious sites in the world. In the Indian State of Punjab, far up in the northern part of the country, it’s the most holy place for followers of the Sikh religion, which was founded in this region in the 15th century. Sikhs from all over the world will make a pilgrimage here at one point in their life.
It’s also a popular tourist destination for non-Sikhs, as the temple is literally clad with actual gold. Right in the middle of Amritsar, it’s easy to visit and the Sikhs are notoriously generous and welcoming to outsiders. So read on to properly prepare for an amazing trip to Amritsar and the Golden Temple!
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Amritsar and the Golden Temple – What You Need to Know
Where is Amritsar and the Golden Temple?
Amritsar is in northern India in the state of Punjab, very close to the border of Pakistan. Lahore, Pakistan is the closest big city. The Punjab region encompasses parts of Pakistan as well, as there was no border until 1947. The Golden Temple is just south of the city center.
How to get to Amritsar
There are regular flights from Delhi to Amritsar and a few other destinations in India have less frequent service, such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune. Once in Amritsar you can take taxis or auto rickshaws to the Golden Temple and around the city.
If you are from a western country, I strongly advise against attempting to drive in India. Even if you’re from east Asia it will seem daunting, as the standard rules of the road you know of don’t really exist in India. If you’re from south Asia, southeast Asia, or most of Africa you’ll probably be alright though.
Weather and when to visit
May and June are the hottest months in Amritsar. With an average daily high of about 102 degrees (39 C), spring can be brutal. Amritsar doesn’t get the summer monsoons quite like south India, but the months of July and August are still pretty rainy.
I recommend October – March as the best time to visit. Just keep in mind that November and December can be really smoggy with the farmers in Punjab burning their crops before winter.
Additionally, you should avoid holidays and religious festivals, as there will often be twice as many visitors to the Golden Temple as usual. I was there during one such festival and it was not uncomfortably crowded, but too crowded to enter the temple itself.
Where to stay in Amritsar
Hotels in Amritsar are very affordable. I stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott, which at about $80 a night is one of the most expensive hotels in town. And this isn’t a side-of-the-road Courtyard like in the US. In India, Courtyard by Marriott is a 5-star hotel.
You can get a decent hotel room in Amritsar for about $20 USD if you’re traveling on a budget. Household names like Radisson Blu and Best Western run more like $60-100 per night.
If your main goal is visiting the Golden Temple then you can look for hotels closer to the site, but given how cheap Amritsar is, if you’re looking to stay somewhere nice for pennies on the dollar, this is where to do it.
Where to stay in Amritsar
Budget option near Golden Temple: Hotel White and Restaurant
How long to stay
How long to stay on your trip to Amritsar depends on what else you want to do in and around the city on top of visiting the Golden Temple. A two night stay is enough to see the Golden Temple twice (once during the day and once at night), and to visit some of the other historical sites in Amritsar. You don’t really need longer than that.
Language
The main language in Amritsar is actually Punjabi and not Hindi. People will probably speak Punjabi and Hindi. As in most places in India, anyone who works in hospitality will speak English, as well as most of the highly educated residents.
Religion
The Golden Temple is the holiest site for Sikhs. I won’t get into a full discussion of the Sikh religion, but they historically come from the Indian state of Punjab. If you’ve seen a man wearing a turban before, he is most likely Sikh.
My wife and her family are Sikh and my father in law is from a village just outside of Amritsar. My pilgrimage to Amritsar was more to get in touch with my wife’s family history.
Food in Amritsar
Amritsar has amazing food. You will find plenty of options to indulge your taste buds for very cheap prices. However, if you’re a westerner it’s not a good idea to eat the street food. It’s delicious but can be cooked with unclean water and your stomach is not used to it. You should also experience eating at the Golden Temple, which is free. More on this later.
Money
Cash is king in India. Get some Indian rupees from an ATM at the airport. Hotels and restaurants at hotels will take credit cards but most other places will not. Donations at the Golden Temple will also have to be in cash.
Indian Tourist Visa
You will need to get an Indian Tourist Visa to enter the country unless you have an Overseas Citizen of India card like I do. The process for applying for a tourist visa is constantly changing so consult the Indian e-Visa website for the latest information.
It used to be an in-person interview for an Indian tourist visa, but these days you can apply online and just pay the fee (fee varies depending on what country you’re from) and you should get your visa in about three days.
Travel Insurance
Having travel insurance is a good idea when visiting India. We use World Nomads when we travel internationally. Word Nomads provides coverage to travelers in over 100 countries. You can search for a coverage plan using the link below.
India for first-timers
If you’re a westerner visiting India for the first time you can be in for quite a culture shock. Be sure to check out my guide for preparing to visit India for the first time before the trip.
How to Visit the Golden Temple
The highlight of a visit to Amritsar is without a doubt seeing the Golden Temple, the most significant of all the Sikh gurudwaras in the world. A gurdwara is essentially a Sikh church. Most of them are pretty small, and the Golden Temple is no different.
It’s not large by any stretch of the imagination. But the grounds are large and there is a sprawling complex of other beautiful buildings. The temple is surrounded by a manmade pool said to contain holy water.
The temple itself is built from marble but it is clad with a layer of gold foil. You can’t help but be impressed with this temple and its significance to the millions of Sikhs around the world.
Visiting the Golden Temple
Visiting the Golden Temple is actually very simple. The complex is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week and there is no entry fee or anything like that. The temple itself has more standard hours and it closes overnight.
It’s an operating gurudwara where people go to pray and worship. Anyone is allowed in, all you have to do is cover your head and remove your shoes. A thin bandana is provided for men and a saree for women before you enter the temple grounds. There is also a window to check your shoes (you’ll get a number, like a coat check at a concert venue).
From wherever you are in Amritsar just hop in a taxi or auto rickshaw. Amritsar is not big, but traffic is horrendous, like any Indian city. There are multiple entrances but ask your driver to take you to the main entrance, Golden Temple Plaza (where the shoe check is).
You can also choose to visit as part of an organized group tour. These tours are usually half or full day tours and include a visit to the famous India-Pakistan border that we will discuss later. Here are a couple tour options with GetYourGuide you might like:
The temple grounds
The temple grounds hold some other significant buildings, including multiple other gurudwaras. Akal Takht serves as the supreme seat of power for Sikhism and is also the headquarters for the Sikh’s political party in the state of Punjab. There is also a museum of Sikh history and various other gurudwaras.
Go inside the temple
The Golden Temple is free for all to go inside. You just have to wait in line. It’s fairly organized but can be painfully long.
When I was there the line was just too long due to the Parkash Utsav Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (sort of like a Golden Temple anniversary day). We waited in line for an hour and the line barely moved so eventually we gave up. My wife has been inside many times, though, on less busy days.
Inside, it’s much like any other gurudwara, separating men and women. You don’t have to make an offering to the temple, but it’s customary to give a few rupees. As a westerner visiting for the first time, just follow along with what the others are doing and remain respectful.
Holy water
A large artificial pond surrounds the Golden Temple and there are steps down to the pond so that anyone can take a dip in the holy water. The water is said to have healing powers and can cleanse you of any ailments that bother you. It was important for me to show my respects to my Father in Law’s culture and take a little swim in the pond. You can’t go far, as there is a metal fence in the pond to keep people to the edges of it.
If you’re visiting the Golden Temple you should consider taking a dip in the water. There are no locker rooms or anything like that, but you’ll see many people undressing down to swim trunks or underwear to get in the water. If you’re getting in the water you might want to bring a small towel, or be prepared to air dry.
Eat at the Golden Temple
One of the most amazing features of gurudwaras is that they serve meals – known as langar – after services. It’s meant to show inclusion and feed the needy and hungry, but anyone is welcome.
This happens not just at the Golden Temple, but any gurdwara around the world. It’s usually a simple vegetarian meal with roti, rice, and some vegetable curries and/or dal. But it’s always good.
At the Golden Temple this concept is on a whole other level. Anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 people eat langar at the Golden Temple every day. Yea, you read that correctly. It’s the largest communal kitchen on the planet.
It’s truly astonishing to see it in action. And everything is made by volunteers. With so many people coming in each day, the volunteers get you through the lines and into the dining hall with rapid precision. You eat on the floor with your hands, meant to show humbleness, though you are provided with a spoon.
When you are done eating you can head out, or you can volunteer to help wash dishes. When serving tens of thousands of meals per day, you can’t just throw the plates in the dishwasher. It’s like an assembly line of dish washing.
I recommend helping on the dish washing line to show your gratitude. The locals will appreciate it. If you can’t figure out where to go just ask someone. Anyone will be able to point you in the right direction.
Exploring Amritsar City
While visiting the Golden Temple is the main reason most people come to Amritsar, there is more to this bustling Punjab city. Amritsar has a rich history. Some important events in Indian history have happened here, not to mention the division of the Punjab province into two separate countries, splitting families apart. Here are a few things to see before you leave Amritsar.
Jallianwala Bagh
Jallianwala Bagh is the site of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Amritsar Massacre. At this site in April 1919, a British general ordered the massacre of unarmed innocent civilians protesting political arrests made by the British.
It was a particularly tense time in the feud between the colonized Indians in Punjab and the British overlords. The official death toll is 379 with thousands injured, but the numbers are disputed.
Today there is a large memorial at the site as tribute to the “martyrs” who lost their lives that day. The original brick walls are left intact with bullet holes as a reminder of the massacre. It’s free to visit and the gardens are lovely. It’s definitely worth a stop after the Golden Temple.
Partition Museum
The Partition Museum is dedicated to teaching the history of the division of Punjab between India and Pakistan in 1947. If you have not done your research on this before arriving in Amritsar it could be useful to check out this museum. Entry is pretty cheap, just a few US dollars, depending on the exchange rate at the time.
Gobindgarh Fort
While not as impressive as the forts in Jaipur, the sprawling sandstone Gobindgarh Fort is worth a visit. At about $8 USD for entry, it’s a bargain.
Street food
The street food in Amritsar is awesome. But I have to do my due diligence and tell you, as a westerner, not to try it unless you’re accustomed to eating street food in Asia.
If you’re from South Asia then by all means devour it. But if not, your stomach probably won’t be able to handle it. You don’t know what they cooked it in or what water was used.
There’s a good chance you will get as sick as I did if you eat the street food. I felt pretty terrible for a week after getting back home. But my god that gulab jamun from the side of the road was so good it was almost worth it!
Outside of Amritsar
The villages outside of Amritsar can be worth your time, especially if you appreciate beautiful temples. The surrounding villages are full of gurudwaras and other Sikh religious sites and monuments.
You’ll need to hire a driver (as I’ve already explained you probably don’t want to drive yourself in India) but it can be a worthwhile day trip on the road. Here are the top villages to hit for some of the most beautiful temples and shrines. These places all have historical significance to the history of Sikhism.
Ramdas
Ramdas is literally on the border with Pakistan. Outside the village you’ll find the gorgeous Gurdwara Smaadh Baba Budha. In the village center you can stop by Gurdwara Tapp Asthan Baba Budha Ji for some more exquisite temples.
Goindwal
Gurudwara Goindwal Sahib is a sprawling complex of beautiful marble buildings. Here you can take a dip in some more holy water, this time at the bottom of a well. You go down some marble stairs to reach the water.
There will be a lot of people in such a small place so if you’re not up for it don’t feel like you have to jump in it. And if you’re claustrophobic I wouldn’t even go down those stairs. It’s literally a little pool underground with no natural light.
Baserke Gillan
Here you’ll find Gurdwara Janam Asthan Guru Amar Das Ji (as well as a few others). This one was my favorite in terms of architecture.
Too many more to mention
There are of course hundreds of spectacular gurudwaras you could visit in Punjab. These are just the ones that my father-in-law recommended and took me to. These all have some historical significance to the history of the Sikhs, but they are not the only ones of course. You could spend weeks traveling around Punjab just going to all the temples
The India-Pakistan Border
As you’ve probably realized by now there’s quite a lot of tension between India and Pakistan in terms of the border. And I’m not even going to get into the situation in Kashmir.
There is only actually one place where the border can be crossed, and that’s right outside of Amritsar. It’s called the Wagah Border and it’s pretty wild. People make the journey to the border just to see it. You can’t cross unless you have a visa to enter Pakistan. Most people just come for the spectacle though.
There is a ceremony every afternoon performed at the same time on each side of the border. It’s pretty silly when you see it, but if you get over the cheesiness of it all, it can be quite enjoyable.
The Golden Temple – Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to go to the Golden Temple?
Visiting the Golden Temple is completely free. Eating langar (the meal served at gurudwaras) is also free. All are welcome at the Golden Temple.
What is not allowed in the Golden Temple?
The rules for visiting the Golden Temple are the same for other Sikh gurudwaras around the world. You must remove your shoes and socks and cover your head (bandanas are provided free of charge). At the Golden Temple, you’ll actually have to check your shoes and socks outside the main entrance to the compound, so you’ll be barefoot already. Then obviously, of course, weapons are not allowed in the compound.
Can I wear jeans in the Golden Temple?
There is no particular dress code for visiting the Golden Temple, and you’ll see most men wearing jeans. It’s best to wear long pants, though it’s not forbidden to wear shorts like it is in many Buddhist temples in Asia.
What time is langar at the Golden Temple?
Unlike most gurudwaras that have set times for meals after services, the food service at the Golden Temple runs 24 hours a day. With visitors arriving at all times, langar is always available.
Final Word
Visiting the Golden Temple is truly memorable experience. It’s one-of-a-kind and you can’t visit without feeling overcome with emotion. You’ll also feel so welcomed by the Sikhs that you’ll want to go visit all the other temples of Punjab.
