Culture of Amritsar District is found not only in its Gurudwaras and temples, mosques and churches, but also in its theatres and galleries, parks and gardens, archives and libraries, art and architecture, museums and memorials, forts, vibrant folk dances and so on. Thus, Amritsar is described a diamond with many facets. Culture of Amritsar District is vibrant and colourful. It is said that the city of Amritsar a dazzling showcase of composite culture and secular heritage. It has a proud past, a glorious present and a promising future. This city is called the mukut-mani (Jewel of the crown) of Punjab. A rich repository of spiritual and national heritage, it has been hailed as the home of all virtues (sifti da ghar).
Fairs and festivals form an integral part of the culture of Amritsar District. Festivals celebrated here are a wonderful prism of social, moral, religious and patriotic values. People of this district celebrate all the Gurpurbs, Diwali, Baisakhi, Holi, Karva Chauth, Teej festival, Ram Tirath Mela, Vasant Panchami Langoor Mela at Durgiana and more. Vasant Panchami is celebrated with great enthusiasm at Gurudwara Chheharta Sahib on fifth day of the bright half of the month of Magh (end of January or beginning of February). Flying of kites is an unusual feature of the festival. Huge fairs are organized on this occasion. Diwali is celebrated in Golden Temple with great enthusiasm for three days. The celebrations start a day earlier than the general Diwali and come to a close 3 day after Diwali. A big fair is held here about a fortnight after Diwali, for a duration of five days. This fair generally falls during the second half of October or in early November.
Guru Arjun Dev, 5th Sikh Guru, made this city a centre of spiritual literature. Amritsar has been a home to early Punjabi poetry and exegetical literature on Sikhism. Amritsar is the heart-beat of the Majha region which has provided Punjabi literature with its standard language. Around 1940, Amritsar had developed a unique confluence of different traditions which got reflected in the works of Dhani Ram `Chatrik`, Kirpa Ram `Nazim`, Giani Harinder Singh Roop, Maula Bakhsh Kushta, Feroze Din Sharaf, Saadat Hasan Mantoo, Faiz, Girami,Nanak Singh, Gurbax Singh `Preetlari`, etc. A launching pad of several renowned artists, authors and poets, the city has been a home of handloom and carpet industry for more than a century. The city is proud to have the second largest milk plant in the country.
