The land for this temple was originally sanctioned by the Emperor Akbar. It was pillaged and destroyed by Ahmad Shah Durrani the Afghan conqueror. The temple was rebuilt and in 1802, it was covered over with copper gilded plates by Ranjit Singh to be named the Golden temple.

During the independence and partition period, this region faced great turmoil. The city was also the focal point of political turbulence in the mid-'80s during the Khalistan movement. The infamous Operation Bluestar and The storming of the Golden Temple later led to Mrs. Gandhi's assasination.

The Jalianwala Bagh Massacre

On April, 13th, 1919 troops commanded by the British general Reginald Dyer fired on an Indian crowd peacefully demonstrating against the Rowlatt Acts, by which the British administration had recently given itself emergency powers in Amritsar. The exits had been blocked off and the only way out was through a narrow opening or a deep well.

Casualties were officially estimated at 379 deaths and some 1,200 wounded. Hundreds of women and children dived into the well to avoid getting shot, but most who dived into the well, died of the fall. The well and walls of Jalianwala Bagh still have bullet marks on them and have been preserved as a reminder of the spirit of the Indians who died. The site of the massacre, an open area, is now a national shrine.