Talk:Amritsar

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[edit] Lahore is west of Amritsar

Actually, Lahore, in Pakistani Punjab, is WEST of Amritsar, not east.

Well Done! - Sharp observation – Page has been corrected! Hari Singh

[edit] Recent edits

I made several changes to this article for a variety of reasons and I'd like to explain them here: 1) I deleted the "Massacres" section completely for several reasons. First, Jallianwala Bagh is already mentioned up front in the first paragraph of the article. It doesn't need to be mentioned again. There's a link to the Jallianwala Bagh article for people wanting more details. Likewise, you can read about Operation Blue Star in the Golden Temple article.

Plus, it's awfully POV to call Operation Blue Star a "massacre" isn't it? Even if you might not think it is, can we at least agree that its "massacre" status is more controversial than Jallianwala Bagh? We can all agree that Jallianwala Bagh was a massacre.

Finally, isn't it weird to have a "Background" section, a "Climate" section, and then a "Massacres" section? It makes Amritsar seem like an awfully violent city, which it isn't, if we have to include an entire SECTION for massacres!

2) The opening paragraphs went way too much into detail about the history of the Golden Temple. All of that is in the Golden Temple article. Also, calling the Golden Temple "breathtaking and serene" is injecting an opinion into this, which violates NPOV.

3) Likewise, having a simple statement of when the "best" time to visit is injecting an opinion into this article.

I think this article needs to be expanded, too. There is very little about the history of Amritsar here. Could some expert on the subject expand this, please?

Thanks! --Hnsampat 16:33, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree, it is POV to call it a 'massacre', however Operation Blue Star is an event that scarred Punjab for two decades. That certainly needs a mention.
If you check the history, you will realise that I ensured I removed "breathtaking and serene" when I revereted because I too felt this was POV. However, the Golden Temple is by far the most well known icon of Amritsar and probably all of Punjab. A few lines on the building and its relation to Amristar shouldn't be removed.
I never reverted the best time to visit, because again I agree it's POV. And yes, any experts who wish to expand, please do! Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 23:33, 26 December 2005 (UTC)
My apologies. I just noticed that you didn't revert ALL my changes.
I agree with your point that Operation Blue Star should be mentioned, as should Jallianwala Bagh, but I don't think they should be mentioned in a separate category called "Massacres." Just having that as a separate category gives the reader the impression that massacres are so common in Amritsar that they warrant creating a separate category. What I think should happen is that someone who knows Amritsar history should write a "History" category and include these two as part of that category, rather as a separate "Massacres" category.
Your wording of "most temperate" is a pretty good NPOV way of saying what the "best time to visit" thing said before.
I still think, though, that the lines about the building of the Golden Temple should be removed. While it is the most famous landmark in the city, it digresses too much from the main point at that part of the article. Alternatively, we could create a separate "Famous Landmarks" category and write about the Golden Temple briefly there (while including a link to the main Golden Temple article).
Sound good? --Hnsampat 05:39, 27 December 2005 (UTC)
How's this version now? Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 12:16, 27 December 2005 (UTC)
Better. I still think, though, that the one sentence on the background of the Golden Temple distracts from the rest of that paragraph. That paragraph is supposed to be focused on famous things about Amritsar and, by talking about the history of the Golden Temple there, even briefly, it distracts from the focus of that paragraph.
Nice job with the way you incorporated Jallianwala Bagh and Operation Blue Star into the end of that paragraph.
One other thing: can we please use the word "devas" instead of "gods"? It's inaccurate to refer to Hindu "devas" as "gods"; the word "deva" has no direct translation into English. So, why not use the word "deva" in italics, especially since Wikipedia already has an article called on the subject. (Deva (Hinduism))
I've changed "gods" back to "devas." I haven't deleted that one sentence about the Golden Temple's history yet because I'd like for you and me to come to an agreement on that before I change it.
Hopefully that's better now. Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 17:17, 27 December 2005 (UTC)
Yup. Looks good. Thanks for your help! (P.S. Could any and all who know about Amritsar please contribute to this article to expand it, especially information about Amritsar's history? Thanks!) --Hnsampat 22:43, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Ramdaspur

According to [1], the city of Amritsar was known as Ramdaspur up until sometime around 1800. Surely this should be mentioned in the article? And why does Ramdaspur currently redirect to Guru Ram Das, instead of Amritsar? (BTW, there seems to be a Ramdaspur, Bangladesh, also, so if the redirect is fixed, there should be a top-of-page dab for that.) --Quuxplusone 04:54, 15 May 2006 (UTC)