After nearly 2 weeks of shanti-shantiness arriving in Amritsar, after the 10-hour bus journey, was a slap to the face. Back to "real" India - intense heat, humidity, constant horn-beeping and the hustle & bustle.
With our big ruck-sacks we headed to the Golden Temple (the holiest shrine in Sikhism) to organise accommodation. We were lucky to be able to stay in the Golden Temple, though not lucky enough to get beds, we were sleeping on the floor of this little, hot basic room, oh joys!! This sign was hung up in the room and if you saw the guard you would understand why it is so funny:
After a typical Indian thali lunch we entered the grounds of the Golden Temple, we had to remove our shoes and cover our heads. The temple is beautiful, as you walk in you see the entirely gold building glistening in the sun and reflecting in the water surrounding it. We sat at the side of the water just looking in awe at this beautiful building and taking photographs until the sun went down.
The following afternoon and evening we ate at the Golden Temple, the Langar. Thousands of people are fed at the same time. You can observe as the food is prepared before you go up, you are then handed a plate, bowl, spoon and cup and proceed upstairs to wait to be fed. everyone waits behind a rope and when it is time the rope is lifted and it is a mad scramble with everyone pushing their way to the front to find an area to sit. When everyone is seated men walk along the rows of people seated cross-legged on the floor and throw chapatis into their out-stretched hands. They then proceed to basically throw ladels of rice, dahl, veg and rice-pudding onto the plates. The food is magnificent, really tasty. When the food has been finished everyone carries their plates and cutlery downstairs were it is cleaned and of course chai is drank.
The food and accommodation in the Golden Temple is free, though small donations are always welcome. It's a wonderful experience I would recommend to anyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment