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Amritsar Golden Temple Walking Tour

Witness the blissful book opening or closing ceremony, aka the Palki Sahib Ceremony and get backstage access to the world’s largest community kitchen with our slow-paced guided walking tour inside the Golden Temple. Our expert and knowledgeable tour leader will navigate you through the crowd and ensure you're in the right place at the right time to experience the scheduled ceremonies, events and activities inside the holy shrine. Perform volunteer work and understand in detail the intriguing reasons behind customs like submitting shoes, cleaning hands and feet and covering the head before entering a gurdwara while learning about the various Sikh customs like wearing a turban and carrying a sword. Get know about the fascinating story of the healing powers of the undefiled Sarovar and the history behind Miri-Piri, the mighty swords. Although extremely popular amongst solo travelers, couples, and groups, the tour is also highly favored by the Sikh expat families who are looking forward to bringing their children closer to the rich values of the Sikh religion.

Get 10% off by booking our tours up to 10 days in advance! Terms.


  • Mixed group of travelers at the Golden Temple
  • Witnessing the majestic early morning ceremony
  • Volunteer making food in the community kitchen
  • Waiting for the early morning ceremony
  • Female travelers during early morning Golden Temple visit
  • Roti machine of the community kitchen
  • Overwhelming feeling after seeing the size of cooking pots
  • Inside the community kitchen



Highlights

  • The Holy Book Opening/Closing Ceremony, aka Golden Palki Sahib Ceremony
  • Backstage access to the world’s biggest community kitchen and the Langar Hall
  • Witnessing and performing volunteer work such as food making and dishes cleaning
  • Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Parikarma (encircling walkway), Watch Towers of Ramgarhia Bunga, Dukh Bhanjani Ber, the Ath Sath Tirath (68 holy places), Ber Buddha Ji
  • Main entrance, clock tower and the holy sarovar (Pool of Nectar)

Inclusions

  • English speaking guide as tour leader
  • History overview and explanation of interesting sites inside the temple
  • Sharing of pictures taken by tour leaders
  • Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 5%

What to expect

We will start our tour from the common assembly point at the entrance of the Saragarhi Sarai and then will walk all around heritage street to the Golden Temple. We reach the clock tower side of the Golden Temple and deposit our shoes. After entering from the northern side of the Golden Temple, we see the first glance of the temple while getting down from the stairs. Then we move towards the right (in an anti-clockwise direction) and pay our visit to the Ber Baba Budha Ji, an ancient banyan tree that was named after the first head priest of the Golden Temple

We will now walk to the entrance gate leading us to the bridge connecting the main temple monument. We walk down the bridge towards the sanctum, absorb the calmness and appreciate the inner beauty of the holy shrine. We will not talk much while being there since it might disturb other pilgrims who are offering their prayers. We will observe the gold plated walls and the beautiful limestone paintings enhancing the architectural value of the Golden Temple. After visiting the Golden Temple, we walk down again on the bridge towards the main square and take Holy Pudding as a token of blessing.

From there we move towards Akal Takht, the Throne of God, opposite to the bridge leading to the Golden Temple. This is the place where the holy book rests during the night. We will sit at a convenient place to look at the holy ceremony of the religious book.

It is here when our tour leader will explain the history of the Golden Temple and Sikh religion until the devotees bring a golden carriage and decorate it with flowers and scent to place the holy book, which marks the beginning of the Morning or Evening Ceremony. We will observe the various traditions and proceedings with this ceremony such as head priest of the holy shrine bringing the holy book out from Akal Takht or the main Temple, placing it over his head and then placing it inside the golden carriage. During this whole procession, there are the sounds of the drumbeat, trumpet, rose petal showers and people chanting holy hymns all around.

After the ceremony ends, we will walk towards the memorial that belongs to one of the greatest warrior and martyr who sacrificed his life in a war for the freedom of the Golden Temple from the invaders during the Mughal Rule. On the way, we will also visit the Dukh Bhanjani Ber (sorrow healer tree) and understand the history and significance of the holy pond.

It will then be time to go into the community kitchen, which is said to be the largest community kitchen in the world where food is served to nearly 100,000 pilgrims from all around the world for free. While moving through the kitchen, we will witness the chefs and volunteers preparing the dishes like lentils, puddings, roti, vegetables, and tea. We will also visit the second floor of the kitchen and witness the roti making machine, which can make as much as 6000 rotis in one hour.

With the intense feeling of spirituality, selflessness and deep respect for the volunteers, we will take rest as we sit inside the kitchen sipping into our cup of tea and try to find answers to our questions with the help of our tour leader as we recall all that we experienced in the last few minutes into our tour. After our discussions and reasoning, we will bid farewell to our group members and tour leaders and take back this overwhelming memory with us.

Private/Custom tour option

This tour is also available for reservation as a private or custom tour with a similar or modified itinerary, desired start time and duration. Contact us directly with your requirements.

Clothes and accessories

It is recommended to wear comfortable t-shirts, pants, and shoes. Clothes covering full arms and legs are recommended as they are mandatory to enter some of the religious places. During winters, it is also recommended to carry a warm jacket and hand gloves.

Avoid bringing heavy backpacks, camera bags, expensive clothes, and accessories on this tour. Avoid slippers or sandals and loose outfits as it may hinder the walking experience since the roads may not be even or smooth and clean.


Important Information

You must arrange your transportation to the assemble/starting place of the tour. We highly recommend using OLA or Uber as they are more reliable than the regular taxis and have a fair pricing system. In case you are far from the city center, you may want to ask your hotel/host to help you arrange transportation to the assemble/starting place of the tour. We can also help in arranging the transportation but we also mostly rely on OLA for the pickup.

It is important to contact your tour leader at least a day before the tour to make it easy for them to share important updates or changes
  • It is important to contact (call or WhatsApp) your tour leader 5 min before the tour starts if you cannot locate the assemble place. If in case you are going to be late to reach the assemble place, please contact your tour leader immediately
  • Please check the assemble place of your tour carefully. Some of our tours do not start at our hostel. In case you are staying at the hostel, you must gather in the common area at least 20 min before the tour starts so that we can arrange the transportation to the assemble place
  • Please be informed that since some of the tours don’t start from our hostel or may have external dependencies such as cab vendors, there may arise the chances of the tour starting late. We usually take a buffer of 15 minutes and catch up for the loss of time in such cases during the tour
  • Tours in other languages may be offered upon request
Other Information
  • Adult pricing applies to all travelers
  • Recommended not to bring anything heavy with you for a smoother and enjoyable tour. However, you may bring your phones, pocket cameras and some money (in case you would like to buy something on the way)
  • Recommended to leave all other personal belongings at your current place of stay
  • Operates in all weather conditions except rains. If canceled due to poor weather, you will be given the option of an alternative date or full refund
  • Please note that the street food and meals may not conform to recommended national or international standards of hygiene
  • Please advise any specific requirements at the time of booking. eg, allergies in food items, etc.
  • Recommended to use the toilets before joining for the tour
  • Required to accept the conditions mentioned in the WAIVER AND RELEASE OF CLAIM page
Also known as
  • Amritsar Gurudwara Walk
Best with
Amritsar Heritage Walking Tour or Amritsar Heritage Bicycle Tour
Part of
Amritsar One Day Tour
The Amritsar Golden Temple Walking Tour is designed to complement the Amritsar Heritage Bicycle Tour or Amritsar Heritage Walking Tour which is the best way to learn about Amritsar’s architecture, history and culture. Get backstage access to the real old Amritsar. Explore hidden gems and sightseeing places. Taste delicious street food.
Disclaimer

All our tours are undertaken on the responsibility of its participants. City On Pedals does not assume any responsibility for accidents that are caused by its customers or can be traced to their own actions. Participants have to agree to the terms mentioned in our WAIVER AND RELEASE OF CLAIMS page before undertaking all trips which means that they realize that all activities carry an inherent risk.