What's on in Amritsar (Golden Temple), India through the year

Busy — Winter break in India, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Dense winter fog (15 Dec – 31 Jan (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in March.

Peak crowds — Baisakhi, Summer vacation (Kerala / far south) in India

• Festival

  Baisakhi

  13–14 AprMajor festivalCrowded

  The wheat harvest and the founding of the Khalsa land on the same day, and Punjab converges on the Golden Temple for it. Kirtan runs through the night, the langar hall never stops, and the marble parikrama is packed well before dawn. Source ↗

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India

• Hazard

  Pre-monsoon heat

  1 May – 25 Jun · usuallyExtreme heat

  The plains bake and the temple marble is unwalkable barefoot by mid-morning, which is the only way you are permitted to walk it. Visitors go at first light or after dark and give up on the middle of the day. Source ↗

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Pre-monsoon heat (1 May – 25 Jun (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in July.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in September.

Peak crowds — Bandi Chhor Divas, Autumn break (Dussehra / Diwali) in India

• Hazard

  Stubble-burning smoke

  5 Oct – 25 Nov · usuallySmoke season

  Paddy stubble is burned off across the Majha districts in the fortnight between the rice harvest and the wheat sowing, and the smoke sits low over the city for weeks. It arrives with the best temperatures of the year, which is the trap. Source ↗

• Festival

  Bandi Chhor Divas

  20 Oct – 15 Nov · usuallyDiwaliCrowdedBook early

  Sikhs mark Guru Hargobind's release from Gwalior on the same night as Diwali, and the Golden Temple is lit end to end with fireworks over the sarovar. Trains and hotels go days ahead and the queue for the sanctum runs for hours. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Bandi Chhor Divas, Guru Nanak Gurpurab

• Festival

  Guru Nanak Gurpurab

  5–30 Nov · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Guru Nanak's birth anniversary brings a nagar kirtan through the walled city and an unbroken recitation at the temple. The crowd is larger than at Baisakhi and the four-in-the-morning cold catches people out. Source ↗

Still on: Stubble-burning smoke (5 Oct – 25 Nov (usually)), Bandi Chhor Divas (20 Oct – 15 Nov (usually))

Busy — Winter break in India, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Dense winter fog

  15 Dec – 31 Jan · usuallyFog season

  Fog settles over the plains overnight and often holds past mid-morning. Trains from Delhi run hours late, flights divert, and the road out to Wagah slows to walking pace on the worst days. Source ↗