Punjab, area by area

Home of the Golden Temple, langar for 100,000 daily, and the loudest, greasiest food streets in north India.

Punjab's biggest city — hosiery mills, bicycle factories, and the best butter chicken you’ll eat outside Delhi.

Sports goods capital, huge NRI population, and the sweetest jalebis in Punjab at Lovely Sweets on Model Town Road.

Old princely capital with a working fort, the world's biggest peg of whisky, and Punjabi paranda-and-jutti bazaars.

Cotton belt city with a 1,900-year-old mud fort, thermal plants on the horizon, and no tourists — which is the appeal.

Chandigarh's IT twin — the PCA stadium, wide sector roads, and where every Punjabi tech worker actually lives.

Le Corbusier's grid city — clean sectors, the Capitol Complex, and the calmest urban experience in north India.

The stopover between Punjab and the Himachal foothills — army town, junction station, decent kebabs, not much to see.

Doaba town famous for wooden inlay work, mango orchards, and a huge Punjabi diaspora — half the town is in the UK.

Tiny princely town with a French-inspired palace, Moorish mosque, and a cluster of monuments most tourists miss entirely.

Birthplace of the Khalsa, five historic gurdwaras, and the massive Hola Mohalla festival every March.

Site of the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh's younger sons — a somber, essential stop on any Sikh heritage circuit.

Malwa pilgrimage town — site of the last battle of Guru Gobind Singh, hosts the massive Maaghi Mela every January.

Border cantonment with the Bhagat Singh martyrdom memorial at Hussainiwala and its own daily flag-lowering ceremony.

Former princely capital with a striking Raj Mahal, Baba Farid's shrines, and one of Punjab's better preserved forts.

Former princely capital of Jind state — quiet, orderly, best known for Banasar Bagh gardens and a growing farm-stay scene.

Small Malwa market town — grain trade, cotton, and a very local Punjab you won’t find on any tour brochure.

Central Malwa dairy town — Nestle's biggest plant in India, wheat fields to the horizon, and quiet residential streets.

Riverside township at the base of Bhakra Nangal Dam — one of the tallest gravity dams in the world and Nehru's 'temple of modern India'.

Home to Gurdwara Tarn Taran Sahib — a sacred pilgrimage site with the largest sarovar of any Sikh shrine.

Ancient Majha town where Guru Nanak was married — old havelis, gurdwaras, and a slow pace few tourists notice.

District town on the Pakistan border — main draw is nearby Dera Baba Nanak and the Kartarpur Corridor to Guru Nanak's final home.

Sutlej-side town at the foothills — Indus Valley archaeological site, gateway to Anandpur, and a quieter alternative to Chandigarh.