Travel to Amritsar and the Golden Temple
Travel to Amritsar
The Mumbai Terminal 2 Airport is clean and modern. The security check has men’s and women’s lines.
I’m feeling a bit off; probably due to a mix of a large latte and malaria pill.
From Mumbai we fly north to Amritsar on SpiceJet. It appears that John and I are the only foreigners on the plane. After a 2.5 hour flight we arrive and the cooler air (19° C) is a shock.
John’s luggage comes out right away. We wait, and we wait. Mine is practically the last bag. Unlike Mumbai we find our pre-booked driver right away. Many people are wearing heavy sweaters, puffy jackets and even a few parkas!
It appears that the lanes in the road are regarded more as guidelines and almost none of the cars we’ve travelled in so far have working passenger seatbelts, though the driver’s work well.
When driving through the outer city we pass a round about with a big tree in the middle. It is clay, slightly
hilled a filled with holes and the holes are filled with rats….hundreds of rats. Personally after having pet rats, I find them cute.
Our hotel, the Abode Hotel is only a block away from the Golden Temple but is in a pedestrian only street so we have to leave the car and jostle through crowds with our luggage to get there…or at least John does, the driver carries mine. Our room is clean, comfortable and ideally located.
We head out for supper. I only see one other foreign couple. We are definitely a minority. It is very different here; exotic. Hymns are constantly amplified through speakers in the pedestrian area. There is a totally different fee
l than Mumbai which has much more of a western influence.
People are friendly and as in Mumbai, people often ask if they can take selfies with us. I feel like a celebrity.
Many young men sport an Elvis type pompadour hair style.
There is no smoking, or meat/chicken dishes allowed in the pedestrian blocks around the temple. As a matter of fact, they even have the world’s only vegetarian McDonalds.
For dinner we choose a restaurant called Bharawan Da Dhaba (recommended by Trip Advisor) for supper.
People here often eat with the fingers of their right hand. They do not eat or shake hands with their left hand because it is the one that is used to wipe themselves when they go to the bathroom.
Being left handed, this poses a challenge for me. I continue to make a mess and use all the napkins at our table…the waiter brings more. At one point, out of desperation I use my left
hand and John accuses me of eating with my poopoo hand.
Despite the challenges, our meal of dal, naan and Amritsar kulcha is delicious.
We walk to take a first look at the outside of the Golden Temple complex but save going inside as tomorrow we have booked a very, very early (4am) morning tour of the temple.
Our room is quiet and sleep comes easily once we unplug the tv (because we can’t figure out how to turn it off).
The Golden Temple
We are up at 3:20am and have a short walk to meet our guide for 3:50am. The streets are lit, people are about and hymns pipe over the speakers even at this hour. It’s cold out so I’ve layered my clothes. We meet up with our guide, Gunveer who works for City on Pedals who organized our tour. We are the
only ones joining him today. Gunveer tells us that 50,000-100,000 people visit the Golden Temple everyday. It’s the spiritual centre of the Sikh religion.
The temple is open 24/7. All are welcome, fed and housed no matter religion or caste. As a matter of fact, I wonder what the long material covered bundles are on the ground. One of the bundles snores and moves. Gunveer tells us they are homeless and pilgrims but they are welcome to sleep in the temple. No one is turned away.
A beautiful bride in a sequined and faux gem encrusted dress gracefully walks past us. Her groom says, “she is so beautiful”. We heartily agree. They are probably doing pre wedding things, Gunveer says. What time had she risen to be so perfectly dressed and coiffed at 4:15am?
Outside the temple, we leave our shoes and socks at the well signed “shoe house” booth
. Before entering the temple we wash our hands and cover our heads. I have a scarf and John takes a kerchief provided in a large bin and ties it to cover his head. Next we walk through a trough of water to enter the temple complex.
Our first view of the Golden Temple is breathtaking. Lit up on this very cool, foggy morning, it seems to rise from the sacred pool surrounding it.
A few older men immerse themselves in the pool. It’s believed to heal body and soul. I shiver in the cool air despite wearing four layers of clothing. My feet are freezing.
We’re happy that Gunveer is with us since he explains much about the Sikh faith, and the background and meanings of what we see.
At 4:30 in the morning, it doesn’t take long to go into enter the Golden Temple. During the daytime the line is very long. Inside, Live musicians play and sing sacred music. This is the music that’s heard in the streets.
Once through, we continue around the sacred pool. Gavere points out the bullet holes from when Indira Ghandi sent troops into the temple complex in the 1984. .Thousands were killed. In retaliation, she was assassinated later by two of her Sikh bodyguards.
Gunveer finds us a place to sit
. Soon drums beat, horns blare and petals flutter as a holy man carries the Holy Book to the Golden Temple. This is why the tour starts at 4am so that we can watch this procession. A similar event occurs each night as the Holy Book makes the trip back.
A couple women ask for a selfie with me. Gunveer jokingly says we should start charging a fee.
Gunveer takes us to the kitchen and says that they feed about 50,000 people daily. The cooking pots are huge and there are many volunteers working.
Then we move to the langer or communal kitchen where anyone can attend to get some drink
and food at no cost. Upon entering the langer we are directed to a spot on long lines of carpets. Everyone eats & drinks sitting on the floor. We have chai and sweet toast and then return to the hotel for a nap.
We breakfast at the hotel restaurant. More hand eating but really good.
I want to see the Golden Temple by daylight. It is much more crowded. The lineup into the main temple is long. More people are immersing themselves into the sacred pool. As I’m taking a video of the complex, a man steps into the frame and asks me to take his picture. I click the camera and we say goodbye.
wow. thanks for the commentary of your experiences, so interesting!