Our wake up call to set off to Amristar was at 03:45 in the morning… definitely not something very humane but we had no other choice as the only bus to Amritsar was at 05:00 from Dharamsala. A taxi took us from our guesthouse to the bus station from where we departed towards Amritsar. The trip took around five hours with just a couple of stops; one for some food and the other to let the people down for crossing a bridge on foot (due to the fact that the bridge was not strong enough to suffer the load of both bus and passengers!).
Once in Amritsar’s bus station we took a cycle rickshaw towards the temple and crossed the extremely busy and noisy centre. We were surprised by how hot this place was compared to cool McLeod Ganj It took us some time to get orientated but soon managed to arrive at the temples lodging quarters. The tourists’ quarters were full so we were given a standard room in the courtyard. The rate per night was only Rs50 (Euro 0.60) which is a bargain price considering that it was full of extras like a fan, wooden bed with no mattress and pillows, cigarette buts, fruit skin leftovers, homeless people living in front of our door and bed bugs!!
We headed immediately out to find somewhere to eat as we were famished. On the way out we got a glimpse of the Golden Temple and we already felt our heart missing a beat as we were really eager to visit it.
After lunch we decided to book a shared taxi to watch the famous Indian-Pakistan border ceremony at Attari. Our taxi left at around 15:30 with a sky promising no good weather. We were sharing the taxi with five Punjabi lads, all in their early twenties. Yakof had a very nice chat with them as they wanted to practice their English. The sky’s promise was totally kept as on our way a storm started. We had never seen such a black sky and there was thunder roaring over the trees. The rain started immediately, hitting down very hard.
Our spirits fell a little bit as we thought we would be missing the ceremony as it could not possibly be held with such a terrible weather. Once in Attari we waited in the taxi for the rain to slow down, which it did for a couple of minutes, before starting hitting hard again. Once the gates opened everyone headed towards the ceremony stands, where miraculously the rain stopped and the sun came out! The ceremony itself was really fun, with soldiers dressed in full uniform, both Indian and Pakistani, festive music, people dancing, banners flying and marching going on.
Everything started with the rise of the Indian and Pakistani banners. Some women from the crowd where asked to hold the banner and walk with it towards the Pakistani gate. This was done two or three times. Then the music started, with women coming down from the audience dancing and men, from the other side, imitating some kind of break dancing. Once the music stopped it was time for the real show to get started. Trumpets made their call and several soldiers marched in unison towards the Pakistani gate. The same procession was taking place on the other side of the Pakistani gate. One by one the soldiers reached the gate, marching like toy puppets, ‘insulting’ in funny ways the soldiers at the other end of the gate. Eventually the gate dividing the borders opened and the soldiers could be seen acting as if they were quarrelling with each other and doing funny gestures. The ceremony ended at sunset, when both the Indian and Pakistani flags were lowered.
Once back at the temple we hurried to our rooms, took off our shoes and headed towards the temple. Any person visiting the temple has to remove their shoes and wash their feet in sign of respect. The beauty of the Golden Temple is not describable in words… it is of such amazing beauty and the atmosphere is so peaceful and unearthly… it was like, once we stepped out of the water where we washed our feet, we were transported to another dimension where everything is perfect and in harmony. The temples splendor was shining both in our eyes and in its waters. The devotees were praying and having a dip in the sacred waters surrounding the temple. We could not stop looking at the temple and enjoying the delicate voices of the singing priests.
We sat in front of the water, unable to find words to compensate for what we were witnessing. One thing was certain… this was the most magical place we have visited so far. Apart from its esthetical beauty it has more of an intrinsic beauty. The peace and faith which is felt inside is unique, nothing like we ever experienced in a church. Ten per cent of the Punjabi’s earning goes to the Golden Temple. With this money the temple can run a 24-hour kitchen which will feed anyone who needs to eat; host homeless people; charge no entrance fee to visit this magical place and be able to pay all the related costs, like electricity, water, candles, etc.
The Sikh religion is an inspiring one. They believe that all human beings are equal, that is why the temple is open for everyone, irrespective of casts or religions. The Sikh man have five predominant features : they let their hair and beard grow without cutting it; they have to own a comb to groom themselves and were a turban; they wear a steel bangle in sign of courage, they wear a small dagger in sign; they wear loose underwear in sign of simplicity. Eventually, once recovered from the spell (or so we thought), we made our way to see the inside of the temple.
Whilst approaching it we could sense the peace and faith surrounding it. The first floor is where the chanting was coming from… it resembled more a small fairytale palace than a temple. There were priests singing and playing instruments and people walking around them as sign of devotion. The second floor hosted some sacred scriptures as well as a priest who was praying, while the third floor was the temple’s roof. After this mesmerizing experience we went to eat in the city centre and where glad to find a good pizza place, similar to Pizza Hut.
After dinner we made our way back to our room with full intention to get some sleep but that was wishful thinking! We were not alone on our wooden planks… we had company… bed bugs… different shapes, colours and sizes and above all… hungry!! Usually we never feel their bites when they do bite us, but this time it was different… we could really feel them, so we were closing our eyes, trying to sleep for fifteen minutes and killing the bugs for another fifteen. Finally we gave up and, at three o’clock in the morning; we made our way towards the temple.
The adoration and praying was still going on. We stayed there till around five o’clock in the morning and headed back to our room. We were so exhausted by then that we collapsed in a three-hour sleep. That sleep would turn out to be a king’s style banquet of the bed bugs on Yakof’s flesh.
Once awake we went to make train arrangements and were glad to find out that there was a train leaving for Haridwar at ten o’clock that night. That gave us more time to visit the temple again. Once the ticket was bought we went around for some shopping. Janet bought two pairs of typical Punjabi shoes and Yakof bought a very nice orange turban and was very happy wearing it. Back at the temple we visited its very interesting museum and had a final look at the temple itself in the morning light. Back in our room, we finished off our packing and killed the rest of our time by eating and sitting at an internet cafĂ©. At around nine o’clock that evening we left for the train station, bidding farewell to this amazing place. Although in a train smelling more like a public toilet than anything else we managed to fell asleep due to our lack of it.
Once in Amritsar’s bus station we took a cycle rickshaw towards the temple and crossed the extremely busy and noisy centre. We were surprised by how hot this place was compared to cool McLeod Ganj It took us some time to get orientated but soon managed to arrive at the temples lodging quarters. The tourists’ quarters were full so we were given a standard room in the courtyard. The rate per night was only Rs50 (Euro 0.60) which is a bargain price considering that it was full of extras like a fan, wooden bed with no mattress and pillows, cigarette buts, fruit skin leftovers, homeless people living in front of our door and bed bugs!!
We headed immediately out to find somewhere to eat as we were famished. On the way out we got a glimpse of the Golden Temple and we already felt our heart missing a beat as we were really eager to visit it.
After lunch we decided to book a shared taxi to watch the famous Indian-Pakistan border ceremony at Attari. Our taxi left at around 15:30 with a sky promising no good weather. We were sharing the taxi with five Punjabi lads, all in their early twenties. Yakof had a very nice chat with them as they wanted to practice their English. The sky’s promise was totally kept as on our way a storm started. We had never seen such a black sky and there was thunder roaring over the trees. The rain started immediately, hitting down very hard.
Our spirits fell a little bit as we thought we would be missing the ceremony as it could not possibly be held with such a terrible weather. Once in Attari we waited in the taxi for the rain to slow down, which it did for a couple of minutes, before starting hitting hard again. Once the gates opened everyone headed towards the ceremony stands, where miraculously the rain stopped and the sun came out! The ceremony itself was really fun, with soldiers dressed in full uniform, both Indian and Pakistani, festive music, people dancing, banners flying and marching going on.
Everything started with the rise of the Indian and Pakistani banners. Some women from the crowd where asked to hold the banner and walk with it towards the Pakistani gate. This was done two or three times. Then the music started, with women coming down from the audience dancing and men, from the other side, imitating some kind of break dancing. Once the music stopped it was time for the real show to get started. Trumpets made their call and several soldiers marched in unison towards the Pakistani gate. The same procession was taking place on the other side of the Pakistani gate. One by one the soldiers reached the gate, marching like toy puppets, ‘insulting’ in funny ways the soldiers at the other end of the gate. Eventually the gate dividing the borders opened and the soldiers could be seen acting as if they were quarrelling with each other and doing funny gestures. The ceremony ended at sunset, when both the Indian and Pakistani flags were lowered.
Once back at the temple we hurried to our rooms, took off our shoes and headed towards the temple. Any person visiting the temple has to remove their shoes and wash their feet in sign of respect. The beauty of the Golden Temple is not describable in words… it is of such amazing beauty and the atmosphere is so peaceful and unearthly… it was like, once we stepped out of the water where we washed our feet, we were transported to another dimension where everything is perfect and in harmony. The temples splendor was shining both in our eyes and in its waters. The devotees were praying and having a dip in the sacred waters surrounding the temple. We could not stop looking at the temple and enjoying the delicate voices of the singing priests.
We sat in front of the water, unable to find words to compensate for what we were witnessing. One thing was certain… this was the most magical place we have visited so far. Apart from its esthetical beauty it has more of an intrinsic beauty. The peace and faith which is felt inside is unique, nothing like we ever experienced in a church. Ten per cent of the Punjabi’s earning goes to the Golden Temple. With this money the temple can run a 24-hour kitchen which will feed anyone who needs to eat; host homeless people; charge no entrance fee to visit this magical place and be able to pay all the related costs, like electricity, water, candles, etc.
The Sikh religion is an inspiring one. They believe that all human beings are equal, that is why the temple is open for everyone, irrespective of casts or religions. The Sikh man have five predominant features : they let their hair and beard grow without cutting it; they have to own a comb to groom themselves and were a turban; they wear a steel bangle in sign of courage, they wear a small dagger in sign; they wear loose underwear in sign of simplicity. Eventually, once recovered from the spell (or so we thought), we made our way to see the inside of the temple.
Whilst approaching it we could sense the peace and faith surrounding it. The first floor is where the chanting was coming from… it resembled more a small fairytale palace than a temple. There were priests singing and playing instruments and people walking around them as sign of devotion. The second floor hosted some sacred scriptures as well as a priest who was praying, while the third floor was the temple’s roof. After this mesmerizing experience we went to eat in the city centre and where glad to find a good pizza place, similar to Pizza Hut.
After dinner we made our way back to our room with full intention to get some sleep but that was wishful thinking! We were not alone on our wooden planks… we had company… bed bugs… different shapes, colours and sizes and above all… hungry!! Usually we never feel their bites when they do bite us, but this time it was different… we could really feel them, so we were closing our eyes, trying to sleep for fifteen minutes and killing the bugs for another fifteen. Finally we gave up and, at three o’clock in the morning; we made our way towards the temple.
The adoration and praying was still going on. We stayed there till around five o’clock in the morning and headed back to our room. We were so exhausted by then that we collapsed in a three-hour sleep. That sleep would turn out to be a king’s style banquet of the bed bugs on Yakof’s flesh.
Once awake we went to make train arrangements and were glad to find out that there was a train leaving for Haridwar at ten o’clock that night. That gave us more time to visit the temple again. Once the ticket was bought we went around for some shopping. Janet bought two pairs of typical Punjabi shoes and Yakof bought a very nice orange turban and was very happy wearing it. Back at the temple we visited its very interesting museum and had a final look at the temple itself in the morning light. Back in our room, we finished off our packing and killed the rest of our time by eating and sitting at an internet cafĂ©. At around nine o’clock that evening we left for the train station, bidding farewell to this amazing place. Although in a train smelling more like a public toilet than anything else we managed to fell asleep due to our lack of it.
When we woke up we were just one hour away from Haridwar.
To see photos click on JOURNEY below :
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