Trip with sister: The Golden Temple
At about three o'clock in the afternoon we arrived to the all-open-to-sun town of Amritsar. The train station looked surprisingly sleepy and lazy and even intruding auto-wallas did not persist and just let us go when we decided to walk away from the station to get a vehicle in yet more relaxed settings. An old man in dazzling white kurta and pants confidently walked towards us and offered his rickshaw. I was so taken aback by the stunning whiteness of his outfit, well-trained accent and great English that showed the learning capabilities impressive for his age - we just surrendered. He brought us to the Golden Temple, on the way feeding us with tales about the town and probing the ground for selling us accommodation services. The latter we politely rejected, got off in front of the entrance to the temple complex, paid and partied with your guide.
The temple is considered to be the most sacred place for Sikhs largely inhabiting the State of Punjab. We stored our luggage, removed our shoes, covered our heads, symbolically washed our feet in the shallow basin at the gates and climbed the steps. What I saw through the beautifully arched gates made me immediately discount all the miseries experienced throughout the journey to the place as the temple was astonishingly beautiful. The Golden Temple looked like a gorgeous boat anchored in the middle of a small harbor: the temple is indeed positioned in the middle of a pool surrounded by galleries and passages of white marble.
One could clearly sense the devotion of the pilgrims drawn from closeby and far away. The singing was coming from the temple, resonating with the water in the pool, filling in the entire complex and staying there, in this well isolated from the mundane reality place. People were sending their prayers upon entry and queuing for a purifying bath.
We joined the pilgrims moving clockwise through the galleries of the complex.
The walk around enriched us with an array of impressions. We saw Sikhs with pompous turbans and sabres who appeared as reminders of the martial past of the community.
We visited the kitchen of the temple that is said to feed up to 10,000 people a day with 3,000 at a sitting.
As the other parts of the temple it is run on a voluntary basis and offer meals free of charge. It was particularly interesting to watch and interact with people peeling and cutting vegetables for the meals to be cooked.
We saw people relaxing at a small tranquil garden nearby the kitchen.
We saw red fish dancing in the waters of the pool.
The anticipation was building up as we were approaching the bridge that would bring us to the Harmandir itself.
Dozens of ceiling fans were not enough to cool down the tension of the worshipers queuing on the causeway. At the door people rushed to give their offerings in return for sweets. Once allowed inside we got terrified by the abundance of incredibly rich decorations inside: marble walls were covered with the mirrorwork, gold leaf and the floral designs in semiprecious stones. It is on the ground floor where the Holy Book is kept under a jewel encrusted canopy and where singers and musicians are reciting devotional verses from the Book - from the dawn to the sunset. Two floors of the temple along with its rooftop seemed to rest not on its solid basement, but on the continuous flow of the prayers and music reinforced by the dynamics of moving queue of the devotees.
If just felt like dissolve in the serenity of the temple's courtyard
and merge with the pre-sunset reflection of the Harmandir.
The temple complex safely sheltered us from the troubles and concerns of the trip ahead. And as if anticipating those we were postponing the leave.
The temple is considered to be the most sacred place for Sikhs largely inhabiting the State of Punjab. We stored our luggage, removed our shoes, covered our heads, symbolically washed our feet in the shallow basin at the gates and climbed the steps. What I saw through the beautifully arched gates made me immediately discount all the miseries experienced throughout the journey to the place as the temple was astonishingly beautiful. The Golden Temple looked like a gorgeous boat anchored in the middle of a small harbor: the temple is indeed positioned in the middle of a pool surrounded by galleries and passages of white marble.
One could clearly sense the devotion of the pilgrims drawn from closeby and far away. The singing was coming from the temple, resonating with the water in the pool, filling in the entire complex and staying there, in this well isolated from the mundane reality place. People were sending their prayers upon entry and queuing for a purifying bath.
We joined the pilgrims moving clockwise through the galleries of the complex.
The walk around enriched us with an array of impressions. We saw Sikhs with pompous turbans and sabres who appeared as reminders of the martial past of the community.
We visited the kitchen of the temple that is said to feed up to 10,000 people a day with 3,000 at a sitting.
As the other parts of the temple it is run on a voluntary basis and offer meals free of charge. It was particularly interesting to watch and interact with people peeling and cutting vegetables for the meals to be cooked.
We saw people relaxing at a small tranquil garden nearby the kitchen.
We saw red fish dancing in the waters of the pool.
The anticipation was building up as we were approaching the bridge that would bring us to the Harmandir itself.
Dozens of ceiling fans were not enough to cool down the tension of the worshipers queuing on the causeway. At the door people rushed to give their offerings in return for sweets. Once allowed inside we got terrified by the abundance of incredibly rich decorations inside: marble walls were covered with the mirrorwork, gold leaf and the floral designs in semiprecious stones. It is on the ground floor where the Holy Book is kept under a jewel encrusted canopy and where singers and musicians are reciting devotional verses from the Book - from the dawn to the sunset. Two floors of the temple along with its rooftop seemed to rest not on its solid basement, but on the continuous flow of the prayers and music reinforced by the dynamics of moving queue of the devotees.
If just felt like dissolve in the serenity of the temple's courtyard
and merge with the pre-sunset reflection of the Harmandir.
The temple complex safely sheltered us from the troubles and concerns of the trip ahead. And as if anticipating those we were postponing the leave.
posted by Olga Tikhonova | 10:31 pm
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