Seeking The Golden Temple

Yesterday we had the privilege of taking a day trip westward to Amritsar – home of The Golden Temple. Built in 1764, the temple is the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion and houses the Guru Granth Sahib (original book written by the 10 gurus of Sikhism.) The dome of the temple alone is said to be gilded with 1650 lbs of pure gold.


Perched in the middle of the Amrit Sarovar (Pool of Nectar) and accessed by a bridge, the temple drew quite a Sunday crowd of pilgrims and visitors. Some bathed in the pool, which is reported to have once turned a devoted wife's leper husband into a healed, handsome young man.


To even enter the complex, we were required to leave our shoes outside, cover our heads with scarves, wash our hands, and walk through a warm puddle of water to wash our feet. Once inside the courtyard, we could experience the echoing peacefulness of the melodic chants from the priests and delight in the vibrant colors of turbans, dupattas and scarves.


We were thankful to have our neighbor and friend, Captain T.P. Singh, as our guide and navigator through all lines. Below a pilgrim reads and meditates on writings of the Gurus.


After seeing the Golden Temple, we visited the memorial at Jallianwala Bagh for the 2000 un-armed Indians who were killed and wounded in 1919 by British General Dyer and his troops. This massacre served as a major landmark in India's fight for Independence (it is depicted in the 1982 film "Ghandi".)



A short ride from Amritsar took us to the Wagah Border - the famed border between Pakistan and India known for its spectacular and dramatic flag lowering ceremony. Just waiting "in-line" for the gate to open to walk to the official gate meant that we played Sardines with about 300 anxious patriots for half an hour - bodies pressed close enough to each other to feel the other guy’s lungs expand and contract, smell the baby’s wet pants, see all curious eyes stare at your foreign self, hope your shoes weren't untied...


When the gates were finally opened, the crowd surged forward as if their team had won the World Cup - all to get a good seat for the show. Luckily we avoided being trampled and still found a fine view. It’s certainly a full-sensory experience.


Every day at sunset, the India and Pakistani border guards perform a ceremony full of marching, national pride, and synchronised flag-lowering in which the flags cross paths and are never higher than one another.


Perhaps if you mix a high school homecoming pep rally, precision military marching, and over-dramatic acting together, you'll have a pretty good idea of what we experienced. Just 50 yards away, a crowd of Pakistanis also gathered for the occasion.


It was surreal to look through the heavily guarded barbed wire fences to see both land and faces that looked nearly identical to what was on the Indian side. To know that the guards from each side practice their crowd pleasing routines together despite what happens elsewhere along their borders brings me hope that one day it won't have to be an act that two countries can get along. It's a start, and a closely watched one at that.

Jimmy