Jalandhar is one of the oldest cities in Punjab, named — depending on who you ask — either after a mythological demon king who lived in water, or simply for its location between two rivers (jal meaning water). It served as the capital of Punjab until 1953, when Chandigarh took over, and today has an urban population of about a million.
The city sits roughly halfway between Delhi and Amritsar, making it a natural stop on the way to the Golden Temple. Jalandhar itself is known more as a commercial centre — particularly for sports equipment manufacturing — than as a tourist destination, but it has lively bazaars and a handful of old temples and gurudwaras worth visiting: the Devi Talab Mandir (the temple that gave the city its name), the centuries-old Baba Sodal shrine, and the 14th-century Imam Nasir Mausoleum in the old city. Just outside town, the Jang-e-Azadi Memorial at Kartarpur is the largest museum of the Indian independence movement, and Pushpa Gujral Science City on the road to Kapurthala is a long-standing family attraction. Sports fans should make time for Sansarpur, the village in the Cantonment that produced fourteen Olympic hockey players.
The best time to visit is January to March, when the weather is pleasant and you can catch festivals like Lohri (bonfires and dancing to mark the winter solstice) and Basant Panchami (kite flying to welcome spring). Summers are brutally hot from April through July, followed by monsoon rains through September.