Showering At The Golden Temple..

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  Amritsar, India
Friday, October 13, 2006

Hello from Amritsar, the beating heart of the Sikh religion.

Not only is Amritsar the biggest city near the main border crossing (and possibly the only border x-ing we think) with Pakistan it is also the holiest city for the Sikh religion and home to one of the most recognisable symbols of that religion, the Golden Temple.

The Golden Temple is an exceptionally beautiful and serene place, in contrast to the bustling and grimy alleys of the surrounding old city. During the unrest in Punjab in the early 1980's, the Golden Temple was occupied by extremists intent on creating an independent Sikh homeland, by violence if necessary (don't they all). On the orders of then prime minister Indira Ghandi, they were evicted by the army in a military action that resulted in hundreds of Sikh deaths

01 Pilgrims Praying Before Hari Mandir Sahib..

. Later that year Indira was assassinated by her Sikh body guards.

The Temple is open to all and no one asks for money (very unusual for India). Western visitors and pilgrims are able to sleep and eat free of charge and both are quite the experience. The kitchen feeds 35,000 people per day and it's one of those backpacking experiences that everyone who visits the temple should do. You get shepherded into the multi-level dining hall where food gets slopped down in front of you by Sikh pilgrims who run along the line of people seated on the floor. The food wasn't great and we had a constant audience watching us swallow every mouthful of dahl. Needless to say I got diarrhea and Kat got a nice case of dysentery.

Unfortunately this meant we had to spend an extra day in Amritsar close to the dunny. But it also meant we could walk around and see a couple of extra things. First on the list was Jallianwala Bagh which is a small park which commemorates 2000 Indians who were killed or wounded here by the British authorities in 1919. It was a peaceful demonstration until a chap called General Dyer arrived with 150 troops and ordered his soldiers to open fire without warning. Bloody pommy bastards.

We also managed to make our way up to the border where the Indian and Pakistani military meet on a daily to engage in an extraordinary 20 minute ceremony of pure theatre

02 Sikh Parliament Building..

. The drill is to parade up and down in front of your home audience, stamp your feet, throw in some yells and, once puffed up, march off to face the other side with scowling faces, pumped up chests and clenched fists.

The border gates are flung open, bugles blow and flags are lowered, quickly folded and marched back to their respective guardrooms. The gates are then slammed shut and the show's all over red rover. Quite the spectacle and the Indian audience really gets into it, dancing and singing like they're in the latest Bollywood blockbuster.

Amritsar, certainly a great place to visit and spend a couple of days. Just watch out for the food at the Golden Temple. We thought our stomachs were pretty much ironclad by that stage but it just goes to show you never know little bug's waiting in your next bowl of dahl.

Next Pod - McLeod Ganj, India.

Love,

Nath and Kat.

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03 Colourful Ladies..	04 Siesta Time..	05 Hari Mandir Sahib From Another Angle..	06 And Yet Another Angle..
07 Pilgrim Washing In The Holy Pool Of Nectar..	08 Bullet Holes At The Jallianwala Bagh..	09 School Girls Parading The Flag..	10 Puffed Up Prancers..
11 Closing The Border Gate..

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