India Guide
Haryana and Punjab
The prosperous states of HARYANA and PUNJAB occupy the fertile river plain that extends northwest from Delhi towards the mountains of Kashmir and the Pakistani border. Crossed by the five major tributaries of the Indus, the former British-administered region of Punjab ("Land of Five Rivers") was split at Independence. Indian Muslims fled west into Pakistan, and Hindus east, in an exodus accompanied by horrific massacres. The Sikhs, meanwhile, threw in their lot with India. In 1966 prime minister Indira Gandhi, in response to Sikh pressure, moved the Punjab Hills into Himachal Pradesh and divided the rest into predominantly Sikh Punjab, and 96-percent Hindu Haryana.
There's little of tourist interest in the two states other than the beautiful Golden Temple in Amritsar and the wacky Rock Garden of Chandigarh, but the region – known as India's "bread basket" – is very important to the nation's economy. Punjabi farmers produce nearly a quarter of India's wheat and one-third of its milk and dairy foods, while Ludhiana churns out ninety percent of the country's woollen goods. Helped by remittance cheques from millions of expatriates in the UK, US and Canada, the state's per capita income is now almost double the national average.
Most travellers simply pass through the region en route to Himachal Pradesh, or to the Indo-Pak border at Wagha, but a visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar is well worth the effort. If you want to linger longer, there's also Le Corbusier's experimental city of Chandigarh, the Mughal monuments at Sirhind and Pinjore, the great gurudwara at Anandpur Sahib, the European-inspired Kapurthala or any of the countless brick villages. The inhabitants are extremely hospitable. Crossing Haryana and Punjab en route to, or from, Delhi, you're bound to travel at some stage along part of the longest, oldest and most famous highway in India – the NH-1, alias the Grand Trunk Road, stretching 2000km from Peshawar near the rugged Afghan– Pakistan frontier to Kolkata (Calcutta) on the River Hooghly. The first recorded mention of this trade corridor dates from the fourth century BC, when it was known as the Uttar Path (the "North Way").
Highlights
1 Rock Garden, Chandigarh This bizarre and seemingly haphazard sculpture garden, assembled from industrial debris by a local eccentric, offers curious contrast to the ordered city that surrounds it.
2 The Golden Temple, Amritsar One of the great sights – and sounds – of India; kirtan (devotional songs) are performed throughout the day and into the night.