Amritsar: The Golden Temple

Ugh. Getting out of Jaisalmer really took it out of me. Out that far in the desert, getting to Amritsar, my next destination, could only be accomplished by enduring two consecutive night trains, with a stopover in Delhi. Seeing as how the first one was four -- count 'em! -- four hours late in departing, then took twenty hours to reach Delhi, my bunk near the door causing my overhanging feet to be banged into all hours of the night, and then to do it all over again on the way to Amritsar... there's little wonder as to how I spent my first hours in town: out like an Indian power outage.

My wits back about me, I packed my shoulder bag with the usual sightseeing gear -- Lonely Planet, Nalgene bottle, TP, etc. -- and rickshawed it down to the Golden Temple. The focal point of the Sikh religion, which has its home base in the state of Punjab, it was not to be missed. Left my shoes with the people in front and covered my head with one of the bandanas from the communal bin, as per the rules. The marble covering the complex felt cool on my bare feet, and I had a nice stroll around the periphery, people watching. Punjabi men, while devout and rather metrosexual in their turban-shirt color coordination, are some robust customers, let me tell you.

The temple complex is in the shape of an expansive square. On site are dormitories offered to pilgrims at no charge, as well as a massive dining hall serving free chapathis from a machine. The Golden Temple itself -- named Harmandir Sahib -- sits in the center of the square pool comprising the center of the whole complex. It's really made of gold... 750 kg of it! A longish queue of wrapped heads leads to the entrance. Inside, two or three priests hammer out an unending prayer, using harmonium, tabla, and voice, the melodic mixture resonating throughout the temple grounds.

Felt a tad strange to be loitering in a place so holy to a religion I know quite little about. (That it's a monotheistic offshoot of Hinduism, counting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as one of its members, is about all I know.) Still, it's fascinating to see such fervent devotion in action. By Western standards, India is a poor, third world country. But there is such a spiritual wealth here we have yet to understand!