AMRITSAR TRIP - GD Goenka Public School | Sarita Vihar

G.D GOENKA PUBLIC SCHOOL, SARITA VIHAR
AMRITSAR OUTSTATION TRIP
THEME: Excursion to the Golden City Of India- Amritsar
REPORT: Outstation trip to Amritsar for the students of Class VII
DATE: Saturday, February 6, 2016 –Sunday, February 7, 2016
EVENT REPORT
Educational tours are about imparting learning to provide a good base of actual hands-on
experience of history that boosts the mind of every student with more innovative ideas by
discovering varied aspects through travelling. The Students of G.D.Goenka Public School,
Sarita Vihar got a golden opportunity to visit the Golden City of India—Amritsar for a two
day excursion on Saturday, February 6, 2016 to Sunday, February 7, 2016. The trip was
indeed a very memorable one for the twelve students of Class VII as they visited all the
places of tourist interest in the city, that is—The Wagah Border, Durgiana Temple, Golden
Temple and Jallianwala Bagh. They were accompanied by the middle school coordinator,
Mrs. Shalini Jain and the tourist guide. The city was founded in 1574 by the fourth Sikh
guru, Guru Ram Das and is known for its rich cuisine and culture. The students boarded the
Swarna Shatabdi Express train on Saturday, February 6, 2016 from the New Delhi railway
station and reached their much awaited destination with a lot of enthusiasm. They had
lunch at the M.K. hotel and visited the Wagah Border located close to the
accepted Radcliffe Line, the boundary demarcating the territories of India and Pakistan upon
the Partition of India, bordering the village of Attari. The border ceremony of the flag
lowering takes place in the evening which is conducted by Indian Border Security Force (BSF)
and Pakistan Rangers (PR).
They had dinner and an overnight stay at the hotel. The next morning saw them through
the city of Amritsar which has a semi-arid climate and a cosmopolitan culture, where people
belonging to different castes, communities, and religions live in harmony. The students
could feel the serenity in the air of this sacred destination that they were visiting.
Amritsar (also called Ambarsar), which literally means a pool of nectar, is known as the city
of the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), the spiritual and cultural centre for the Sikh
religion. Amritsar has also been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage
City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India. As they were
told about the multiple significant aspects of Amritsar —historical, mythical and religious—
and about the festivals and fairs that reflect the vibrant tradition of cultural extravaganza
which is celebrated by the enthusiastic inhabitants of the place. The students were awed by
the authenticity of the place.
They visited the Durgiana Temple which is situated near the Lohgarh gate in Amritsar, in the
Indian state of Punjab, at the site of a small lake known as Durgiana. It is also known by
other names of Lakshmi Narayan Temple, Durga Tirath and Sitla Mandir. The students were
fortunate to attend the evening ‘aarti’ at the temple.
The next stop was the Golden Temple, the Harmandir Sahib, also called Darbar Sahib,
informally referred to as the holiest Sikh gurdwara located in the city.
Jallianwala Bagh, a public garden in Amritsar, houses a memorial of national importance. It
was established in 1951 by the Government of India to commemorate the massacre of
peaceful celebrators, including unarmed women and children, by the British occupying
forces on the occasion of the Punjabi New Year on April 13, 1919. The students learnt about
the historical aspect related to the Jallianwala Bagh and were moved by the history of the
bone-chilling massacre.
Follow-up activities were designed for the students to sum up their overall experience of
visiting the famous city of India. They undertook a questionnaire and did research work
after reading at length the handout which was custom-designed for them to find out
whether the Golden Temple is actually made of real gold, about the rich legacy of this
heritage city- its natural, cultural and historical sites so that all citizens of the global world
can visit, enjoy and learn from this multi-dimensional link to our past architectural and
artistic history which should be preserved at any cost. They were also asked to make a timeline about the sequence of events that took place in Amritsar in the year 1919 leading to the
brutal massacre at Jallianwala Bagh. They were even asked to design a dupatta of their
choice. Phulkari is an embroidery technique from the Punjab region literary meaning flower
work and they used a colour scheme and design of their choice.
The students bought some souvenirs for their family and friends back home. The trip was
immensely enjoyed by all and on the 7th evening the students took the train back to Delhi
taking back numerous pleasurable memories to cherish forever.