Kanyakumari-Kashmir Round trip - Day 12 - Amritsar - Attari - Pathankot - Dalhousie

Day 12 - Amritsar - Attari - Pathankot - Dalhousie (stay in Banikhet, Dalhousie)

Kilometers Covered - 325 KMs

Walking - 12000+ steps

As always, we started early - 6 AM :) the hospitality of Amritsar was awesome bcoz the hotelier insisted us to wait for 15 minutes to have breakfast. He was not happy to leave us in empty stomach. We told him that we're going to have lungar in Golden Temple and convinced him :)

We parked our vehicle in a gully and walked into Jallianwala Bagh. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large, peaceful crowd had gathered to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arrest of pro-independence activists Saifuddin Kitchlu and Satyapal. The temporary brigadier general R. E. H. Dyer, surrounded the protesters with his Gurkha, Baloch, Rajput and Sikh troops from 2-9th Gurkhas, the 54th Sikhs and the 59th Scinde Rifles of the British Indian Army. The Jallianwala Bagh could only be exited on one side, as its other three sides were enclosed by buildings. After blocking the exit with his troops, he ordered them to shoot at the crowd, continuing to fire even as the protestors tried to flee. Estimates of those killed vary from 379 to 1,500 or more people and over 1,200 other people were injured of whom 192 were seriously injured. Britain has never formally apologised for the massacre but expressed "deep regret" in 2019.

We bought orange turban and entered the glorious Golden Temple. It was crowded and the place was clean and tidy. Post darshan, we had our lungar (Dal Makhani, Jeera Rice, Roti and Baingan Bartha) A poor man stole by sandals in the temple - the irony is he liked my Campus sandal and didn't bother to see Mahadevan's Woodland sandal :) 

The next stop was at Durgamai temple, Amritsar (free parking for 2 hours) - another magnificient masterpiece

We thought that the Attari Indo-Pakistan border park was accessible throughout the day and reached there by 9.30 AM only to be informed by the security that they'll allow visitors only after noon :( 

We were not interested to wait for 2.5 hours - walked around the border, took pictures and moved on

We stopped in Narula IOCL filling station for CNG re-fill. I left the wallet and bag in the station and realized that it was missing only when we reached Shani Mandir (10 kms from the pump) If not for the liberty sandal showroom, I wouldn't have thought about the wallet at all. We immediately contacted the petrol pump manager and felt comfortable when they informed us that the bag is safe and secure :) We drove back and took the wallet and bag 

The next trek was Mukteshwar Mahadev Cave Temple, enroute Dalhousie. Mukteshwar Mahadev Temple, also known as Mukesaran Mandir, is a shrine to Shiva and man-made cave complex containing representations of Ganesha, Brahma, Vishnu, Hanuman, and Parvati. It is considered to be one of the most sacred places around Pathankot. According to legend, the Pandavas stayed in the caves for a night during their exile (Agayatwas), and it is said that some of the caves date to the time of the Mahabharata. It's on the bank of River Ravi (crystal clear water - we spent some time in the river bank as well) We had annadhanam prasadam (rice, tamarind kuzhambu / gravy, dal, vegetables) for lunch at the temple premises. 

We moved to Ennan Mata Mandir and Waterfalls - the walk to waterfalls was mesmerizing and we were the only people on that hill - again all alone :)

We then visited Panchpula waterfalls, Dalhousie - not much water though. Had crispy aloo tikki chaat, pani puri and gulab jamoon for evening snacks. Instant upma and peaches for dinner - stayed in Hotel Balaji, Banikhet, Dalhousie

Luv,

Krishna and Mahadevan

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