Amritsar, historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as Ambarsar, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha region of Punjab.
Amritsar not only is home to hundreds of thousands of Sikhs but also is the chief pilgrimage destination for Sikhs living elsewhere in India and abroad. The principal focus for those pilgrims is the Golden Temple and its complex of several adjacent buildings located around the tank. Situated on the west side, facing the causeway to the temple, is the Akal Takht, the chief centre of authority of Sikhism and the headquarters of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Supreme Akali Party), the main political party of the Sikhs in Punjab.
A short distance away from the Golden Temple complex is a spacious park, Jallianwalla Bagh, where on April 13, 1919, British colonial government troops fired on a crowd of unarmed Indian protesters, killing 379 of them and wounding many more. The site of the Massacre of Amritsar—as that incident came to be called—is a national monument.