One of the best things about traveling without a set agenda and on my own is that I can change my plans on a moments notice or at the suggestion of a fellow traveler. Over the last 5 months I’ve seen too many temples to count and wasn’t planning to go out of my way to see another one but it seemed like everybody I had met since arriving in India said that the Golden Temple was a must see- some said it was the best thing they saw in India. So I headed north to Amritsar to see what al the fuss was about.
The Golden Temple is the Sikh’s holiest shrine. Sikhism is a religion derived from Hindu and Muslim practices and around 30,000 people make daily pilgrimages to worship at this temple that is suppose to be made of 750kg of pure gold. It’s located in the center of an artificial lake and stands out like it’s on fire against the plain, white, marble buildings that make up the compound. Before entering the courtyard all visitors must take off their shoes, wash their feet and cover their heads with a scarf. Inside the temple four priests chant in Punjabi from the Sikh holy book and their singing is broadcasted through loudspeakers around the complex day and night.
The Sikh men adore their hair. They wear turbans and grow ZZ Top style beards to go along with their long, white, flowing outfits and often carry long spears or wear sharp knives strapped to their hips. The complex has a huge dormitory area and dining hall where the thousands of pilgrims (and tourists) can sleep and eat for free.
The temple definitely lived up to all the raving and I am really glad I made this detour. It was really interesting to see a place of such active worship but it was also very strange walking around because everybody wanted to take photos with me!?! I felt like a celebrity as whole families lined up beside me to take a “snap”…very strange and not exactly my favorite position on that side of the lens. 🙂
Amritsar is only 30km away from Pakistan and I headed up to the boarder one evening to watch the daily closing ceremony. Everyday at dusk hundreds of people gather at the boarder to support their country. The event has gotten so big that stadium seating had been built on both sides so spectators can have a better view. It was sort of a confusing ceremony- some of the highlights included the crowd chanting victory cheers, some random men from the audience twitching away in typical Hindi dancing fashion and the very serious Indian guards- straight-faced in highly starched uniforms- marching with their knees so high they almost hit their chins and then kicked their legs like Michael Jackson at each other. The finale is when each country lowers their flag just before the sun goes down. It’s amazing because the crowd gets even more rowdy at this point and all I kept wondering was how do they do this every single day of the year!!!
After Amritsar I headed to McLeod Ganj to check out the Dalai Lama’s home. McLeod Ganj reminded me a lot of Nepal and that included the weather. It rained nonstop, low clouds hid all the mountain views and Tibetan monks made up most of the population. Unfortunately the Dalai Lama was up north so I didn’t get to hear him speak but it was nice walking around his residence that is filled with temples and prayer flags.
The best and worst part of McLeod Ganj was all the tourists. Next to Tibetan refugees tourists make up the bulk of the population. It seems like westerners come here to “find themselves” and that means learning to meditate and taking up yoga. However, having so many tourists around also meant real Italian food!!! I can’t begin to explain the sheer pleasure of eating something that actually tastes like you expect it to and to top it off my favorite restaurant in town, Nick’s, served a proper warm chocolate brownie topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce! I thought I died and gone to heaven! It’s amazing how the simple things from back home can make me so happy after being on the road for so long.