Visit the Joyous City of Jalandhar in the State of Punjab in India

There are some cities in India that are worth visiting to see the ancient temples as well as the beautiful royal palaces. Such cities can attract two types of visitors, the tourists and the pilgrims. Jalandhar is one such famous city situated in the State of Punjab in India. Jalandhar was ruled by the Hindu kings till seventeenth century. Thereafter, the Mogul rulers took over the city and ruled till the Britishers came to rule over India. Jalandhar is an industrial city and is very famous for the manufacturing of sports goods like cricket bats, hockey sticks, tennis rackets, and other such wooden items.

Jalandhar can be reached by air, train, or bus easily. Chandigarh is the nearest airport, which is around 35 miles away. It is a railway station on Delhi-Jammu railway line. The State Transport buses are available from all the major cities of Punjab State. There are quiet a few places of tourists interest here. Devi Pond is considered very holy pond by all the Hindus. This pond was built before around 200 years. There is a stone wall constructed all around this pond. The artistic sculptures made on this wall are also worth seeing. The Lord Shiva temple, situated on this pond is also visited by all the visitors. The next place is the famous Jumma masjid. This Muslim mosque was made before 400 years and is big enough to occupy 1000 people at a time. The Imam Nasir museum is the next attraction. This museum is around 800 years old. It has in all 2800 specimens pertaining to the ancient history of Punjab. This museum has good storage of the old time's weapons and the cannons. This museum remains open from 10 am to 5 pm on all weekdays. The city market is also worth passing through at least once during your visit to Jalandhar. The wooden handicrafts are the most famous items here that may be shopped from Jalandhar.

There are many excursions available in the near bye locality. Kapurthala is one such place, which is around 11 miles away. There is a most beautiful Hindu temple in the center of the city. This temple was built by the French architect. The Muslim mosque, designed by the same French architect, is also worth visiting in Kapurthala. The Jagjit Mahal is the old palace of the Kapurthala rulers. It has beautifully decorated rooms. The main Durbar hall of this palace is really beautiful. It has a solid gold seat of the king. The Shalimar garden is the next tourist's attraction here at Kapurthala. Kanjali is 5 miles away from Kapurthala and has beautiful lake with boating facilities in it. There is also a bird's sanctuary near this lake. Around 400 types of birds can be seen here in the summer season. Some of them are rare to be seen. The graves of two Muslim kings are located back to back at Nakodar, which is around 15 miles away from Jalandhar. The famous palace, named as Noor Mahal, made by the Mogul king Jehangir in the sweet memory of his wife Noor Jehan is also worth seeing, situated 9 miles away from the town of Nakodar.

There are good hotels available at Jalandhar for the tourists. Hotel Dolphin, Hotel Kamal Palace, Hotel President, and Hotel Green Park are the best hotels here. All these hotels are having at least three star amenities and their tariff is in the range of Rs.1600 ($40) to Rs.4000 ($100) for a nice double room per day with mostly, 24 hours check out time facility. The authentic Punjabi food is really worth enjoying here. The best Punjabi food items are available at the restaurant of the Hotel Dolphin. The summer days are very hot here. Hence, the best time to visit this city is during early winter from October to December. You can plan to stay here for 2/3 days so as to cover all the tourist spots with ease.

Many tourists love this ancient quiet city of Punjab. I have myself visited it once before around 7 years. I hope this article shall encourage many of my AC friends to visit this lovely city during their visit to India.