A city shaped by pilgrims, palaces and plots
Amritsar's landscaping demand is unusually varied for a city of its size, largely because of what surrounds the Golden Temple. Hotels and guest houses in the lanes near the shrine cater to a constant flow of pilgrims and tourists, and many of them have small internal courtyards or entrance patches where a neat, easy-to-wash pebble finish adds a calm, clean look without competing with the architecture around it.
Move a few kilometres out to Ranjit Avenue and the picture changes completely — this is one of the city's most established independent-house localities, with owners investing steadily in garden upgrades, driveway borders and water-feature surrounds over the years.