I was lucky to have Harky take me to Golden Temple with 2 of his friends the day before last. We took the first train from Chandigarh to Amritsar. The train station was spotlessly clean and buzzing with media when we arrived. The train was adourned with flowers for its first journey to Amritsar. There were army personnel everywhere with AK-47s, as the Chandigarh Govenor was coming to cut the ribbon for the train. Many news reporters were very interested in me as I was what they thought to be the first white person (and Canadian) to be on the train. Yes I made it onto Indian television!!
Once we were boarded, the Army joined us on every cabin of the train. Harky's friend Aman explained to me that it is because of the common terrorist attacks on inaugural trains... not so comforting to hear that! And then they all got off at the first stop. And that is Indian Politics! We arrived safe in Amritsar after 4 hours and made our way to Golden Temple. I must say that the traffic in Amritsar was suprisingly isane! I was expecting another calm, sophisticated city like Chandigarh... not so!
Before entering the temple you have to was your hands, feet, and cover your head. It was the first time I have felt cleansed prior to entering a temple. Once entering down a set of marble stairs, the temple opened onto a vast square of holy water, filled with Coy fish! Devout Sikhs bathe in this water to purify their souls. I must say that it is the cleanest area of water I have seen in India yet. And then, with a regal walkway leading to it in the midst of the water, was the Golden Temple. We walked around the outside of the water first, to admire the temple. The architecture of the building was breathtaking, all the detailing in the entire complex was beautiful. Just like so many other holy places in India, inlayed flowers of semiprecious stones everywhere. The amount of effort and time that must have gone into building it baffles me. We dont have anything like this in Canada.
We joined the queue to enter the temple. I had been warned to be patient as the line can take 2 hours before you reach the inside of the temple. Luckily for us it only took 25 minutes. Harky walked me through how to enter the temple, to respectfully pray, and then leave the temple. Even tho he is not as devout as the rest of his family, I was so happy to go and experience this with him, to see a side of his family that was before unknown to me.
He explained that in Sikhism, they believe that God resides in every person, in every thing around us. This is why they welcome anyone to pray in their gurdwaras. It is quite a beautiful religion I have realised after having learnt all of this. Upon exiting the temple, we were given Parasaad, a blessed food to be consumed after prayers. Warm and sweet, it was much better than any other communion I have had!
This trip to India really has been so special. Learning about myself, Harky and his heritage has been a gift to myself that I was not expecting. Even tho it has notn all been easy, it has been a great learning experience and I actually I am excited for wherever our next adventure may take us! Only a couple more days now until we make our way home. Time flies!
