The city has grown around its serene temple-in-a-pool and has evolved from being the main venue for the consolidation of the basic tenets of the founder of Sikhism to become a city to which every Sikh tries to return for gaining blessings and to express gratitude. It is the main city of the relatively less literate and less developed Majha region of Indian Punjab.
After partition, it has competed with cities like Chandigarh and Ludhiana to take the pre-eminent position that Lahore held in Punjabi hearts. It continues to be famous for its ghee dripping food and sweets, rich hospitality and its cloth and wool market. The congested bazaars of the old city and the last few horse driven tongas await the more intrepid tourists. A museum inside the Company Bagh has a few relics of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Jallianawala Bagh, a short walk from the Golden Temple, commemorates the hundreds massacred by a merciless British officer.
