Sunday, May 30, 2010
Moving on from New Delhi, I hopped on a train and made my way to a city known as Amritsar, located in the North Indian state of Punjab. I chose Amritsar for one reason, and that is to see the Golden Temple. What Mecca is to the Muslims, the Ganges River is to Hindus or even Vatican City is to Catholics, the Golden Temple is to Sikhs. To be quite honest, I didn't know much about the Sikh religion. The only think I can say I knew is that some men who practice the religion wear turbans, but not more. Anyways, visiting this temple I learned a good amount about these kind people and the strong traditions they have. First off, here's a quick map showing where I'm at.
Getting to Amritsar had me taking a sleeper train from Delhi. Taking a sleeper train was quite an experience. The trains are set up in compartments and you are given a birth. A birth basically referes to which part in the compartment is yours. So on this train ride, I was in the sleeper train, which is the cheapest class and the one that most of the Indian population takes. Each compartment in the sleeper class has 6 births, 3 on each side (bottom, middle and top) and then two at the other end of the compartment.
As you can see from my backpack in this picture, I was bottom bunk or bottom birth. I think this is the best place because you don't have to worry about getting down, only problem is you'll run into your occasional cockroach/EVERY OTHER INSECT IN THE WORLD
Stuck my head out the train at night to get some fresh air. Don't think you can do this on American trains...
People getting off and on at the station before the one I'm waiting for
After a rough 9 hour train ride, I arrive at the Amritsar train station
Once I arrived, I caught an auto-rikshaw and made my way to the hotel, which was located right beside the Golden Temple. This is another thing, hostels are not common in smaller cities such as these. The hostel I stayed in at Delhi is literally one of the only hostels in India. The concept is not very familiar here, but the Indian version of a hostel is a guesthouse. Here everyone will receive their own room (for a great price also!) but the rest is communal, such as shower, computers, etc. In Amritsar though, I stayed at a hotel, which was interesting because it was the first time I was literally by myself and didnt' have the opportunity to meet many others. Regardless, this didn't phase me, I was excited to see the Golden Temple. The night I arrived, to my luck, was a very special day. The Sikhs were celebrating Vaisakhi, a festival marking the beginning of their harvest season. As the state of Punjab is known for its agricultural background, this festival is very important and celebrated proudly amongst Sikhs. The night was cool and everyone was wearing their brightest sari or kurta. It was amazing seeing so much color, but stepping inside the Golden Temple grounds itself, was amazing...
The entrance to The Golden Temple which was right outside my hotel. The bright lights and decorations were meant for the Vaisakhi festival
Hello Beautiful.
So, as you can see in the pictures, the main portion (temple) is located in the middle of a man made lake if you will. There is a walkway leading to this central temple, which houses the holy book of the Sikhs and is where all the people who are standing in line in the walkway are going to get their blessings/say their prayers. This specific night, being a festival night, the line was especially long. For some reason, when you're inside a beautiful facility like this, things such as queue time and queue length don't matter. I actually stood in line for about 4 hours, just taking in the beauty of the temple. While in line, I met families that spoke to me about my travels and also told me the relevance of the various parts of the Golden Temple complex. Quite a bit of history has taken place here but one of the coolest facts I was told is how although this temple is "the one" for Sikhs, it is meant for everyone. For this reason, it was built with four doors. Each door representing the major religions of the time (Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and Christian).
Awkward
Video from inside at night. This was right before I entered into the 4 hour line
So, every evening the holy book located inside the temple is taken out of the temple and put in another room to get to sleep. People I was standing in line basically said that the book is treated like a king. The king is available during the day to listen to what the people have to say, but like any king (or real human being), it needs its rest and is taken to sleep. This function is very interesting because a carriage is brought out and then taken inside the complex. Anyone can go and help carry the carriage if they can get under it on time, people usually wait hours for this so that they can get close to the holy book. The following video is when the carriage is about to be taken inside the temple to go get the book.
Carriage being taken into the temple to retrieve the Holy Book for the night
So, seeing the Golden Temple at night is amazing, but to get the best views would be in the morning, specifically sunrise. One of the beautiful things of traveling is that you're always excited, at least that's how its been for me. You can ask my family and friends and they'll unanimously tell you I would never wake up at sunrise to go see something. I've been excited ever since I left Seattle, so getting up at 4 AM or getting 3 hours of sleep means nothing to me. With that said, I headed to the temple around 5 AM to catch the sunrise/morning bhajans (prayers) at the temple. On top of that, you get the AMAZING views of the completely gold temple glistening in the sunlight. I'll just let the pictures do the talking.
I may have failed to mention this, but everyone must cover their head when inside the complex. This is why I have a white head scarf on at this time. It doesn't matter the color, just needs to be covered. Women usually take their dupatta (shawl) and pull it over their heads National Geographic style
One of the many security guards at the Golden Temple complex. The guy I'm taking a picture with now is a little tame in style compared to others. Some of the other guys have multiple talwars (swords) and some extravagant turbans.
Assortment of head scarves guys can choose from outside to put on before entering the temple
Good Morning
Entering the walking to go to the temple. Got inside in about 20 minutes, unlike 4 hours from the night before
Here's a video from my final walk inside the temple when I was there in the morning
The Golden Temple is just one of those places you can spend hours and you wouldn't want to leave. It's also one of those places where you can take a picture from any angle and you will still get an amazing shot. I would recommend EVERY traveler who wants to see India, to make a stop here for at least a day. Next stop for me is the India/Pakistan border to watch the border closing ceremony. The border is about a 1.5 hour taxi ride away from Amritsar and is known to be quite an interesting show. Headed there in the evening and felt like I was at a cricket match between both countries...
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