We were up early today and made
our way to Amritsar via the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple is the spiritual home of the Sikh
religion and is a pilgrimage sight for all Sikhs that can travel. Our hosts rented a bus for our
convenience and off we went with our new family for the two hour drive.
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Deborah and Another New Bodyguard |
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On the Bus to the Golden Temple |
The Temple is located within the
city of Amritsar but vehicles are not allowed to drive all the way to the
entrance. We parked the bus,
purchased our head scarves, and hopped on rickshaws for the final 300
meters. Stan and Doreen were in
the front while Deborah and I hung off the back.
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The Ladies Were Ready |
We checked our shoes and walked
the remaining 100 meters in bare feet.
Some might be squeamish about walking barefoot in India so I won’t speak
about the experience of using the washroom. Fortunately almost everywhere we went involved dipping our feet in water.
Sikhs bathe in the pure waters of
the Temple pond to cleanse their souls and to bring them good fortune. We lingered by the side and took
pictures.
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We Were Quite the Curiosity to Many Especially Children |
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Once Inside the Gate - The Line Was Long to the Temple |
The lineup for the actual Golden
Temple was an approximate 2 to 3 hour wait. Jinder's cousin Natha talked to a guy who talked to a guy and soon Jinder, Stan and I
were sitting in an office in front of some kind of big official. He didn’t waste a moment being friendly
while Jinder pleaded our case (we had a 3:50 flight to Mumbai). He questioned us about where we lived
and then took an inordinate amount of think time before dismissing us with a
wave of his hand. Soon we were guided
through a reverse process, entering through the exit. Our guide led us past the long line of hot, patient, holy, waiting
worshippers. Guilt and worries of
entitlement crossed our minds as we walked purposefully past the long line
directly to the entrance. When we
crossed the threshold of the inner temple Stan and I both mistakenly stepped on
the threshold. Bad enough we
bypassed the line but we stepped where everyone else touched his or her
foreheads before entering. Stan got a gentle slap from a nearby patron.
We finished the visit by sharing
food in the dinning hall. The
Temple feeds thousands, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There is no reason anyone in the area
should ever be hungry. Every food preparer
is a volunteer. Everyone picks up
a food tray, files in, and takes a seat on the floor, in long straight lines
across the room. Servers come
along and ladle four different types of food onto your tray. We promised ourselves we would not take
part in eating due to the fact the trays are rinsed in local tap water but not
to eat would have been disrespectful.
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Volunteers Peeling Vegetables for the Meals |
We finished dinner and rejoined at
the bus. It was a short ride to
the airport and we made our good-byes.
There were promises to return and expressed hope for a chance to return the
generosity.
