The Sikh answer to the Taj Mahal, the Golden Temple is plated from top to toe in gold, glitteringly reflected in the surrounding pool of water, the Amrita Saras — or ‘Pool of Nectar’ — from which the city derives its name. It’s here, in the massive Guru-Ka-Langar, that Amritsar serves an estimated 100,000 free meals to all comers, all day, every day. We highly recommend visiting for a meal, where you can rub shoulders with great and small, from bigshot businessmen to the city’s homeless — and join in the mammoth washing-up efforts that go on around the clock.

Amritsar is a little like Agra in that it has one runaway star attraction, beyond which the rest of the city can seem comparatively underwhelming — at least at first glance. There aren’t many ‘sights’ to speak of, and those there are tend toward the melancholy. Jallianwala Bagh, for instance, is where the colonial British army massacred a thousand or more unarmed Punjabis in 1919, while the Partition Museum retells the story of one of the region’s most traumatic periods. Both are undeniably interesting, if rather dark — but neither captures the atmosphere of modern Amritsar, which is one of the kindest and friendliest cities in India.

It’s perhaps not surprising, considering the Sikh tradition of seva: generosity and selfless service to others, but Amritsaris are noticeably warm, and it doesn’t take more than a smile or a ‘hello’ to be invited to sit down for chai and a chat. The old city is a delightful mish-mash of cultures; a shabby but compelling maze of bazaars and courtyards, old havelis with rickety latticework balconies, wooden carts piled with logs or sacks of produce, roadside hairdressers, medieval ironmongeries, curried chickpea vendors and sari shops. It’s eminently walkable (unlike Delhi) and quite as charming as any old town district in India – and the street food is stupendous. Don’t leave without sampling an Amritsari kulcha smothered in delicate white butter.