I rolled out of bed at 2.00 a.m. on the last day of our trip. The plan was to visit Golden Temple at 3.00 a.m . My friend groaned with exhaustion as she followed suit.
At 3.30 a.m. we were dressed and in the lobby waiting for the rickshaw driver who had brought us back from the Partition museum, on the previous day. He had told us we could call him when we were ready to visit the temple, even as early as 3.00 a.m. Something tells me that he hadn’t expected us to be ready at that unearthly time of day. But he came as agreed within 10 minutes of our call. It took us 25 odd minutes to reach the temple, which, considering the absence of traffic on the road felt like a pretty long drive.  I was a teeny-weeny bit nervous, especially since one of the girls had proposed going in the evening as she thought ‘it wasn’t safe for girls’ to be stepping out into the streets at that time of the day in a new city. She had every reason to be scared. I would have been, too. But, I tend to be braver when I travel in a group. I took the leap of faith and decided to continue as planned. The others agreed.

And there we were, the four of us, driving down empty streets lit by dim lamplights and guarded by street dogs that howled every now and then as we passed by. With the shutters of stores closed and not a soul on the street except us, there was little to see. The dawn air was crisp and fresh and the four of us sat huddled in the open rickshaw.
Not a word was spoken. Perhaps each of us was busy conversing with God- praying for our safety.  The silence in the rickshaw was broken by a sigh of relief when one of the girls spotted the tip of a golden dome in the distance. We were headed in the right direction.

The unnervingly quiet roads had us fooled that people were still in bed. The temple was a calming buzz of activity at 4.00 a.m. We took off our shoes at the shoe stand in the temple complex and made our way to the entrance.

There’s a stream of clear water that flows across the path to the temple. You step into it to clean your feet before entering the temple. Then, you climb down a few steps to enter the premises. The temple is a little lower than ground level. A white marble courtyard open to the sky greets you. In the centre is a man-made lake (Amrit Sarovar). The reflection of the golden dome which we had seen from the rickshaw shimmered in the black waters. On the left of the waters, the temple, clad in gold stands. There is an aura about it that is sure to make even the most finicky person, pause and admire it.

The stunning gold embossed work on the walls, dome and door panel of the Sri Harmandir Sahib (Temple of God. It was called the Golden Temple because of its appearance) is sure to take your breath away. The inlay work with semi-precious stones on the marble, in the pillars and some walls of the temple, have flowers, birds and animals engraved on them. But, it’s not just that the gold glittering against the night sky or the white marble with inlay work that leaves you looking at in admiration.

It is the warm glow of the lights on the temple grounds, the peaceful manner in which the male volunteers or voluntary helpers (Sewadars) dressed in white kurta-pyjama and a yellow turban on their head go about performing the morning rituals and manage the crowds, the melodious singing of kirtans (hymns) that echoes through the complex, the way in which devotees and tourists dressed modestly with their heads covered as per the custom throng the temple, that creates an atmosphere that’s hard to put in words. There is of-course faith that holds it all together but also a feeling of being welcome. The temple is open to followers of all faiths. One of the main tenets of Sikhism is oneness of all beings and equality of everyone.

My friends and I had a first-hand experience of this at the temple.

I’m certain we looked distinctly different from the Sikhs and even if our looks didn’t give us away, our mannerisms would have. While the followers of Sikhism sang the kirtans or recited the verses and we did clap our hands to the beat, our lips were sealed. Those around us were kind enough to explain what was happening when we asked them. In fact, they even guided us through the proceedings and that, too, with so much warmth. I found it surprising as in most other places of worship that I have visited, I have experienced people pushing each other to get to the front of the linewhile their lips continue to pray. It’s as if being delayed by a minute will strip them of their right to enter the sanctum or will render the purpose of their visit meaningless. It’s weird they don’t think how being unhelpful and selfish, defeats the entire meaning of being there.

The ocean of people somehow got narrowed into two streams as we neared the entrance to the stunning edifice in gold. In the melee, it’s easy to get separated from the rest of your group. It happened to the four of us. We were alone when we entered the inner sanctum and alone for a while before we met each other again and yet we felt safe.

I stepped out of the Golden temple in which the Guru Granth Sahib (Holy Book of the Sikhs) is placed, and walked towards the exit, my eyes busy looking for my friends, when a lady held my hand and said, ‘Beta (child), you too, can sit here’. I sat down beside the lady and listened to the Kirtans being sung. People joined in the chorus after every chapter. I understood nothing as the kirtans were sung in Punjabi. And yet, I felt at peace, assured and immense gratitude to have had the opportunity to be part of it.

There is something magical about the sound of prayers sung in unison and devotion. It’s not just at the Golden Temple. I have felt the same in Hindu temples, churches and mosques that I have visited.

The beauty of the Golden Temple is that everyday at least 100,000 people are served a meal at the temple. The food is not catered from a restaurant but is made in-house by volunteers or voluntary helpers (sewadars). Men and women who wish to provide the service can participate in the making, serving of the meal and cleaning the dishes after the meal or ‘langar’. We did not have the langar at the temple as it was still too early in the morning and one of the girls wanted to return to the room and sleep. These are some of the adjustments you need to make when travelling in a group. Not everyone will want to do the same thing as you.
I have experienced the langar during my visit to the Gurudwara in Dubai, in March, this year. Sitting on the floor with everyone else (from all strata of society) creates a sense of oneness and piety. The food is simple but delicious. I absolutely love the prasad they give at Gurudwaras. It’s made of wheat, clarified butter (ghee) and sugar and simply melts in the mouth. It, too, is provided free. However, if you want to collect more to carry for friends and family home, then you need to pay a small amount.

We returned to the hotel after our visit and hit the bed for two hours, to catch up on lost sleep. After another wonderful breakfast, we went shopping. The driver who took us was the same guy who had driven us to the temple. He had won our trust. But not for long. We asked him to take us to the shopping street that someone had told us of. And he agreed. But, he took a detour and directed us to another street which also had a number of stores that sold salwar materials, phulkaris (shawls with embroidered work) and another, which sold mojris (shoes). We bought a set each and a pair of shoes each. When he came back to take us to another store, we told him we’d go around ourselves. We ended up buying other similar stuff for one-third the price we had paid at the store he’d taken us to. The thing about Amritsar is that you need to explore stores on your own. All of them sell more or less the same item but the prices vary like crazy. You need to explore stores, bargain and then buy what you like.

After a glass of fresh fruit juice, we returned to the hotel to drop our bags before heading to the site of the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre. It was still early in the evening. However, the hotel informed us that we could go for the light and sound show at the Jallianwala bagh which starts at 7.00 p.m. So, we put up our aching feet before starting out again at 6.00 p.m. On arriving at the site, we were told the museum and the park with the memorial closes at 6.30 p.m. It’s important to double- check the timings to sites you want to visit at Amritsar. Our experience was that people couldn’t be trusted to provide the right information. This included the hotel. So, check with Uncle Google before going.

The history of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, is that in 1919, a peaceful, unarmed crowd of people attending the annual Baisakhi (harvest) festival, gathered together to protest the Rowlatt Act which allowed the indefinite detention of prisoners without trial and judicial review. It gave the police to arrest any person without providing reason. The crowd had gathered to protest against the detention of nationalist leaders Saifuddin Kitchlu and Satya Pal. Seeing the gathering, the Brigadier General at the time R.E.H. Dyer, closed the only exit to the Jallianwala Bagh and ordered the infantry to open fire on the crowd. A thousand-odd people were killed and several others seriously injured. It included women and children. The soldiers stopped firing only after their ammunition had been used up. The massacre was called the most ‘atrocious mostrosity’ by Winston Churchill and resulted in the British army re-evaluatung its policy against civilians post the massacre. It also marked the beginning of the non-cooperation movement to end British rule in India which culminated on August 15th, 1947.

The light and sound show costs around Rs 600 per person (I think) and includes dinner. However, we were in no mood to have dinner there. So, we asked the driver to drop us on the shopping street close by.

We would have liked to visit the site and pay our tribute to those who died but not having been able to, we told ourselves, it would have been too distressing, seeing the wall with bullet holes, and the well in which people jumped to escape the bullets, inside. 120 bodies had been found in the well after the shooting.

The street outside the Jallianwala Bagh, however, was a buzz of activity. It showed no sign of the horrifying incident of the past. At one end of the street is the wall of the Golden Temple. Lit up, at night, it’s a mesmerizing sight and we had to restrain ourselves from visiting the temple again for want of time.

The lighting on Heritage street casts a warm glow on the buildings and the number of busy shoppers made it appear festive even though the time of our visit did not coincide with any festival. Again, we shopped a little, did a lot of bargaining (it’s part of the fun in shopping in touristy places) and I, even had the hot saffron milk served in earthen tumblers. The couldron of milk is constantly stirred while being continuously heated under a low fire. The hot sweetened milk rich with cream tasted great in the cold. The stall owner asked me if I wanted it with a topping of milk cream and I agreed. I generally hate the layer of cream that forms on hot milk. I’m like a whole new person with an insatiable appetite and willing to try all things new when I travel. I don’t even know who that person is. Because, back home, I find cream over milk gross again.

We ended the day with dinner at Kesar da dabba. The driver dropped us off on the main road close to the restaurant and we walked through narrow gullies (lanes) to the restaurant. All the people I had asked about Amritsar had suggested we go there. Kesar da dabba is an unassuming restaurant in a by-lane, with a limited menu and a loyal customer base. It was full and we had to wait for 10 minutes before we could get a table. Not ones to waste any time, we gave the person at the restaurant our telephone number and went into one of the nearby stores to do some window shopping. One of the store owners suggested we have palak panner (spinach with cottage cheese) at the restaurant. So, we did. Check out the slide show below to see it.

We walked back through the gullies (lanes) to where we thought the driver had dropped us. The hotel had sent another driver (as the previous one’s shift had changed). This driver couldn’t find us and we couldn’t find him. With a little time on my hand until we found each other, I clicked a few pictures of doors for the Thursday Doors challenge hosted by Dan Antion.

There were loads of doors in each of those lanes but as it was getting dark and we were lost (until the driver found us), I didn’t have the stomach to carry on taking pictures. It seemed rather insensitive to how my friends felt then, which was, anxiousness In retrospect, I wish I had; those lanes with cramped up homes had some truly fascinating doors.

That’s all from my side. With this, our Delhi trip came to an end. We each took a return flight back home which wasn’t as straightforward as it should have been. We woke up in the morning to a message from the Airlines that our flight had been cancelled. Fortunately, we got another flight in another airline on the same day.

I hope you enjoyed travelling with us. Stay safe. I end this post with pictures of some of the shopping we did there. It feels like ages since I shared a post. I’m currently traveling, hence the delay in replying to comments. I apologize. Now that I have completed the Delhi diaries, I’m back on track.

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Here’s a link to the book, in case you want to check it out. And if you’re in India, this is the link. If you enjoy a story on love, life, loss, relationships and family, set in India, then this is for you. ‘Coming Home’ is available on Kindle as well as Paperback. It’s free for KUL subscribers. Check out what others say about the book on Amazon and Goodreads.