14 India

Day 15 a.m. – Amritsar

I got up at 0700, which was late for me.  It was early enough to make breakfast at 0800.  That was very disappointing and I had to make do with tomato sandwiches.

A Traffic Jam

Typical Tractor

We set off for the Golden Temple at 1000 in cycle rickshaws.  I was sitting with Chris again.  Soon we found ourselves in the best traffic jam of the holiday.  There were no lorries, but the road was packed with horse and carts, tractors with trailers, bikes, motorbikes and cars.  The jam was so dense that the motorbikes and bicycles created extra lanes by going onto the pavement, so the pedestrians were forced to weave their way between all the traffic in the road, adding to the confusion.

Jude out of Traffic Jam

At long last we turned left and broke free.  We were told to get out of the rickshaws so that the driver could cycle it up the steep slope of a bridge over a railway line.  Once he reached the top of the bridge, we climbed back in and had a mad drive through the shopping area, followed by another walk when the road sloped upward again.

The Golden Temple

Eventually we reached the Golden Temple.  People were selling head coverings, but I had brought the scarf which Rafeeq had given us for Shimla.  Then we had to take our shoes and socks off, wash our hands and then walk through a trough to wash our feet.  Properly cleansed and attired, we were now able to walk through the gate into the temple complex.  There were lots and lots of people there.

Girls Wanting my Photo

Why?  Guards look Good Though

We could see the Golden Temple itself in the centre of the “tank” (lake) in the middle of the complex.  It seemed a lot smaller than I had imagined.  I took a lot of photos though and nearly lost the group because I was waylaid by five girls, wearing all-white outfits, who wanted photos with me in them.  I must have looked a sight with my scarf, patterned skirt and ethnic bangles round my wrist.

Mike with Fully Fledged Sikh

Our guide took us round the temple and explained some of the history and what it meant to be a Sikh.  There was a holiday atmosphere because we were coming up to an important date in the Sikh calendar in two days time – the anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak Sahib, the first guru.

Long Queues on the Causeway

The queues for the temple were very long, but we were led through by the exit.  Apparently it is not queue jumping for Europeans, but intended to protect us from pick-pockets.  Chris and I fought our way against the crush.  The people who were leaving all seemed to be eating something – and dropping it too.  This was special food given to the worshippers as they left the temple.

There was some confusion as to where we should go.  One lady said that we had to go the way we had come in and did not understand that we had come in through the exit.  An official pointed out a route up some stairs and, to our big relief, we spotted Jill and Lucy.  Now we could relax and look around us.

Girls in Holiday Mood

The decoration on the inside of the temple was very intricate with red and gold patterns.  From our vantage point, we could look down at the main part of the temple, which had an awning and a lot of people listening to someone speaking.

Boys Posing in Holiday Mood

We climbed up another staircase and reached the roof.  A man was reading aloud from a very large book.  People were sitting all around.  Some were reading; some were meditating; and some were just watching and listening.  I walked round and reached another staircase.  I made my way down and out of the temple.

Procession Outside Temple

Once we were all together, we continued our tour of the temple complex.  As we passed one of the gates, we saw a procession going past and went outside to watch for a while.

Washing Up

We had to wash our feet again to get back inside and then headed for the kitchen – the biggest in the world.  We went in through the washing up area.  It was all being done by hand by an army of people, all volunteers.  Used food trays were thrown into tubs of water, which meant that the floor was very wet in places.  The trays made their way through the “production line” until the clean and dry trays were stacked at the end.

Clean Trays

Huge Curry Pot

We moved on to the kitchens proper where huge cauldrons were cooking the curries.  My favourite part was where they made the chapatis.  There was a machine for this.  A man kneaded the dough and placed it on the machine, where it was flattened and then cut into circles.  A second man separated out the unused dough around the circles and the machine took it back round to be reused.  The chapatis moved on to the hot section of the machine which moved at just the right speed to ensure that they were nicely cooked when they fell off the conveyor belt.  People then scooped them up and put them into baskets.  It would have been nice to try one, but we were just observers.

Chapati Production Line

Kneading the Dough

The Cut Chapatis

Collecting the Cooked Chapatis

After allowing us time to explore the site, our guide led us out of the temple complex  and, after a short walk, through a narrow passageway to the Jallianwala Bagh.  This was an enclosed park which was the scene of a terrible massacre in 1919, when Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered his men to fire on a gathering, killing lots of unarmed men, women and children who were unable to escape.

Eternal Flame

Museum

The site included the eternal flame to commemorate the fallen and a museum.  I stood near Mike when we were in the museum and he sounded appalled at what the British had done.  I think we all were.  Richard Attenborough did not hold back on the incident when he included it in his film “Gandhi” and it is a dark moment in the film.  The park included a wall which contained 28 bullet holes and the “Martyr’s Well”, which many people had jumped into to avoid the bullets, but then got crushed.  More people were crushed in the rush to the few, narrow exits.

Wall with Bullet Holes Marked

Memorial and Boys

Despite this being the site of an atrocity committed on the order of a British General, there were no ill feelings towards us.  In fact, it was here that I experienced more friendliness than anywhere else.  As I walked round, a couple approached me and I was asked if I would be in a photo with the wife.  She was very shy and had a mask over her mouth, but she removed it for the photos.  Perhaps she had a cold or something.  I was very happy to pose with her and then took a photo of the couple with their camera.  I passed them again later and we greeted each other as friends.  I wish I had taken their photo with my camera too.

There were lots of young people in the park and we kept on being approached by groups of boys and teenagers who wanted us to take their photos.  I asked if they had email addresses, so that I could send them on, but they did not seem to understand.  My photos from earlier holidays have been criticised for not having many people in them, but I made up for it here with lots of smiling faces.

Procession through Amritsar

Colourful Crowd Watching Procession

Eventually it was time to leave and we headed back through the narrow passage.  By this time, the procession was in full swing and we walked alongside it while we made our way to the rickshaws.  People were playing musical instruments as they marched and a brightly coloured crowd had gathered to watch.

Once we were all aboard our cycle rickshaws, Rafeeq took us to a very nice restaurant for lunch.  I had vegetable jalfrezi and naan and it was possibly the best meal of the whole trip.