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However, it did not become the industrial centre
of Punjab due to its proximity to the volatile Indo-Pak border. The
city boasts an international airport (Raja Sansi International
Airport) that is about 11km from the city centre. Several
International airlines operate flights from here. It is connected with
Singapore, Tashkent, Ashgabat as well as London, Birmingham in the UK
and Toronto in Canada. The main commercial activities include tourism,
carpets and fabrics, farm produce, handicrafts, service trades and
light engineering.
Golden Temple
Originally during 1574, the site of the temple was surrounded by a
small lake, in a thin forest. The lake was enlarged and a small
township was established during the leadership of the fourth Sikh Guru
(Guru Ram Das, 1574-1581). It was during the leadership of the fifth
Guru (Guru Arjan, 1581-1606), that full fledged Temple was built. The
land on which it was built was gifted to Guru Ram Das by the Mughal
emperor Akbar. A Muslim saint Hazrat Mian Mir of Lahore in December
1588 initiated the construction of the building by laying the
foundation stone. It was completed in 1601. The temple was later
attacked and had to be substantially rebuilt in the 1760s.
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