It was so lovely coming down from the mountains and the cold, to the beautiful plains of the Punjab. As far as the eye can see, there is agriculture, so many things growing. I could see wheat, maize, sugar cane, exotic fruit trees and so many plants I didn't recognise. The air is smokey from the farmers burning to clear the land ready for the next crops. I read in the paper yesterday that there is a machine going to be available soon that costs 10 times less than the harvesters (which they can't afford, hence the burning). It goes across the land just churning and mulching, so much better for the land and the environment.
We eventually pulled into the Amritsar bus station - its huge, so many buses! I didn't even have to look for a rickshaw, a driver had got on the bus, spotted me - not hard. I am so used now to being the only westerner travelling on buses and trains with only Indians. Not only that, but also the only western woman, so obviously a source of intense interest. I am so used to being stared at that I hardly notice any more. Anyway, I was at my hotel in 5 minutes, and although I hadn't slept for more than 24 hours I just had a shower and walked straight to the Golden Temple, 2 minutes away from my hotel. AND THERE IT IS! Looking so beautiful, just as I always remembered it. I sat down and soaked up the amazing ambience and was transported.
The Golden Temple itself juts out into the lake that is just so tranquil and reflective. This huge tank was dug out in the mid 1500's, and is the reason so many people flock to Amritsar, as the water is considered very holy, and to have special powers. It is considered to be very lucky to drink some of it, and bathe also if possible. There is a screened area for women also jutting out into the lake, so their modesty is preserved, but although there is an area for men, a lot just jump in where they are. One of the loveliest sights is the women in their beautiful brillant saris and salwar kameez highlighted against the white of the Temple surrounds, they really stand out.
It is so lovely to just sit around the perimeter, as so many others are, and become absorbed listening to the beautiful music and kirtan coming from the Temple itself, transmitted by speakers all over the complex. During my 4 days here I came a few times during the morning, afternoon or evening - although my favorite time was at dusk and early evening, because the sky was such a beautiful colour of apricot and amethyst, darkening to midnight blue as the sun was disappearing. The colours reflected into the water - magic!
I availed myself of the free meals a couple of times,rice, chappati, dahl and veg curry - and on one occasion, oh joy - rice pudding. FOr the first time as my donation, I helped peel dozens of heads of garlic, and escallots for the next days meals. Its a lot of fun because the husbands and wives who are also doing it are very chatty - with my little Hindi and their little English we are able to communicate quite well, the only problem being the incredible amount of noise from the dishwashing. The plates, cups and cutlery are all stainless steel and are thrown from huge washing baths to the rinsing, washing with soap, rinsing again helpers - its the one job I couldn't bring myself to volunteer for! I am sure I wouldn't have been able to hear for a few hours.
It was great that nothing had changed since my last visit, almost 2yrs to the day. Apart from the odd piece of scaffolding, but I soon found out what that was about - Diwali! They were painting, and putting in place the mountains of little lights all over the buildings, it going to look stunning. Before I left they had different sections lit up, and I would have loved to see the full effect.
I went to the fabrics bazaar that a rickshaw driver had told me about, one late afternoon. What a madhouse- talk about being carried along with the crowd! Its quite a big area but the laneways are very narrow and the fabrics - saris and salwar kameez etc are laid out on trestles all along the streets. Its hard to have a good look at anything properly there are so many women clawing through - talk about David Jones sale, they would be envious, this happens every day! It was a great experience anyway.
Found the same little restaurant that Marlieke and I used to eat at last time, and also - new - a stall on the street selling the best kulfi I have ever had. Had to make sure I didn't have one every day, they are made from sweetened, condensed milk (not like ours), ground pistachios, cardamon etc. If you wanted you could have some rose essence on as well, and I can tell you, I am sure they were making a fortune because people were lined up constantly.
My hotel, Lucky Guest House had had some not so good reviews, but I was really comfortable there after sorting out a little cleaning issue when I looked in the room. The staff were lovely also and looked after me well. But, as always, its time to leave and head off to Delhi for a couple of nights. On my last day I developed a cold - surprise surprise - after the bus trip here. Well actually I was surprised, because I haven't had a cold for as long as I can remember, and didn't really expect to get one, but I guess after the very close proximity of the seriously coughing people on that long trip it had to happen. A Sikh man told me why they were all coming there - I saw lots of similar folk. He said that at Diwali the beggars come to the Golden Temple from all over India as they are given free blankets and clothes by the Sikh community, what an amazing gesture.
I also went to Jallianwala Bagh, a beautiful gardens area established to commemorate the huge loss of life during a peaceful rally, when the British commander ordered the troops to fire. There are many visitors and such a feeling of respect here, with people relaxing and thinking about the past.
