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 time-

line 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.