Amritsar is only about an hour's drive from Lahore, one of the biggest cities in Pakistan, and yet it feels like it's a world away. On the road from the border crossing driving into Amritsar, it's farms and small shops along the way and yet gone are the donkey and horse carts and roadside markets typical in Lahore. The outskirts of Amritsar may be rural but it's all bicycles or even motorcycles and trucks and all of the streetside stalls have become shops. And within a couple of minutes drive away from the border office, there are wine shops. Yep, it's India now!
It's a short drive into Amritsar city. After lunch (there's ice cream too!), we head into town to visit the iconic symbol of Amritsar - the Sikh Golden Temple. What the Golden Temple means to the Sikhs is what Mecca means to Muslims and all devout Sikhs are expected to try to visit the Golden Temple at least once in their lifetimes, so I felt incredibly fortunate to be able to visit the site. Both men and women have to cover their heads and go barefoot into the Temple precincts. Our guide adeptly help the men in our group to wrap a turban around their heads whereas for women, we just need a scarf. The Temple staff will give out bright orange squares to men who don't have any turban cloth (although any thin scarf can make a decent turban). After leaving our shoes at the entrance with the temple staff, there's a short walk down a dirty-ish and damp (UGH) path to the actual entrance of the temple buildings. Why couldn't they have just put the shoe area closer to the temple itself??
The Golden Temple itself (which holds the holy book of the Sikh faith) sits in the middle of a large pool which itself is surrounded on all sides by various white meringue or wedding cake-like buildings. Old and young, families and individuals throng the temple complex, including a few foreign tourists. It is a busy place, especially where people queue up to view the Sikh holy book, but like all great places of worship, there is also an overwhelming sense of peace.
Many parts of the greater temple complex has been donated by the Sikh community and their names are inscribed in marble plaques along the walls. I meander slowly around pool watching the devotees pray and dip themselves into the holy water. Tucked into the white meringue buildings are various nook and crannies where devotees can carry out different types of worship and where there are various holy places, like the small pool of water under a tree where miracle cures were supposed to have occurred. Believers give their thanks by asking "book keepers" who sit in little glass kiosks around the sacred pool to read from the Sikh holy book and a donation is made for the reading. As the book keepers read, they wave a wand with a large tail of white hair across the holy book - apparently this is just a mosquito swat and nothing more exotic! On one side of the temple complex is a free kitchen where meals are cooked 24x7, 365 days a year - over 50,000 nutritious vegetarian meals are served free of charge each day. The charity - really, the efficiency of the charity - is just mind-boggling.
The temple shines gold and white in the bright sunlight, and by the time we leave a couple of hours later, it was dark but the Golden Temple is lit up and its golden shadows are reflected in the sacred pool. It reminded me of visiting the Taj Mahal where the marble appeared to change colours from white to pink as the day faded.
I am so thankful to have had the chance to visit. Heading up north to Kashmir and Jammu tomorrow.
