Punjab is the home of the Sikhs, butter chicken and bhangra (music/dance). Here, Sat Sri Akall replaces Namastee as the preferred greeting, and Sikh gurdwaras outnumber Hindu temples as places of worship. Tourists and worshippers flock to Amritsar s gleaming Golden Temple, while nationalists and the curious join in the fun at Attari Wagah s entertaining border-closing ceremony on the India Pakistan border.
Haryana and Punjab comprise the Indian half of the erstwhile Punjab region that was tumultuously split when India and Pakistan separated in 1947. Punjab (translating to Five Waters ) is named after the five rivers of this fertile rice bowl and bread basket : the Beas, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej.
Hotel Venice (%2225061; www.venicehotel india.com; Dhangu Rd; r from 1780; a) has the best accommodation and restaurants. There are also hotels on Railway Rd and for those with ongoing rail tickets, there s the train station retiring rooms (d 200).
Sultanpur is 46km southwest of Delhi and getting there is tougher than spotting a red-crested pochard! There are irregular, power sockets in bali bone-shaking buses ( 40, one hour). It s better to hire a taxi (return 1400).
No comments:
Post a Comment