The Golden Temple
Trip Start
Jul 08, 2008
1
11
23
Trip End
Ongoing
Amritsar,
Punjab,
India
Friday, August 15, 2008
At the Golden Temple pilgrims as well as visitors are allowed to stay for a voluntary donation and experience the serenity of the setting. It was early morning and after an hour of rest I decided to explore the center of the complex. There was a large building on the perimeter with a queue and this was where shoes were left in exchange for a numbered coin. Cloths were provided to ensure everybody covered their head, a requirement for entry. I was first drawn to the crowds of pilgrims moving orderly like the flow of the Ganges, joining the stream. In a well organized manner each person was handed a large metal platter followed by a bowl and spoon. I followed the crowd entering a large room with hundreds of people sitting on the floor in lines, our crowd forming a new line. In no time an old Sikh man walked along our line holding a basket and with precise aim proceeded to drop two chapattis into the open hands of each person. Shortly thereafter a young boy walked through carrying a large kettle and filled each bowl with water. Soon enough each person had a helping of dahl to soak up the chapattis and refills dropped in from above with each pass of the server. After getting my fill I had to motion "no more" as one of the men seemed to say "come on. Just a little more" with his expression ladling more dahl onto my plate. When finishing I joined another stream of people leaving the room, dirty plates in hand. One by one, there were robed men accepting the dirty bowl, spoon, and plate and I watched as the plates and bowls were banged free of any food and relinquished to the assembly line of dishwashers. The utensils came out shiny and clean on the other end reentering the perpetual flow of pilgrims about to start their meal.
I walked towards the center of the complex as the sounds of tablas, harmoniums, and the chanting from the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, echoed louder and louder. There was a shallow bath where pilgrims were to submerge their feet before advancing to the parkarma, the pathway surrounding the large "pool of nectar" with the magnificent Golden Temple resting in the center. The crowds were massive but the order and reverence was of greater magnitude making for a peaceful setting. The movement of the crowds largely flowed in a clockwise direction around the pool of water, where some were bathing as a purification rite. The clockwise walk reminded me of how Buddhist temples are generally approached and I spent some time circling the temple and taking in the surrounding sites, sounds, and general peaceful feel.
Coincidentally it is believed that the Buddha visited this site about 2500 years ago when Amritsar was a dense forest containing the large pond that is now the pool of nectar and the site had significance in the early years of Buddhism. That came to pass until Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, resided here in the 1530s. The tank was enlarged and the temple was complete by the early 1600s. I spent four days here, my allotted time as a visitor, and decided to make use of the railway reservation desk located outside the temple complex. As I was out of the mountains I could now experience another interesting feature of India; train travel...
