I'm now in Amritsar visiting the Golden Temple and to see the border crossing pageantry between India and Pakistan tonight before catching a train to Jaipur tomorrow night.
I was visiting the Golden Temple yesterday afternoon when a young man with a woman and child came up to me to shake my hand. I seem to get a lot of smiles and handshakes throughout India. The man was very nice and spoke a little English and so I shook his hand and that of the woman and the child. A bit later on in walking the circuit around the temple I came across them again and so we spoke further as we walked. He gave me his name (Karen) and his email address so I could contact him. He also invited me for tea at his family home just outside Amritsar but I felt I didn't have enough time so I declined.
As we (I was with Lynne, the quieter of the two English ladies I'm here with) walked around there were groups of volunteers in a bucket brigade of sorts taking water from the central healing pool and passed up the steps to wash the surrounding marble walk. The brigade moved swiftly around the entire perimeter washing down the surface. A leper was cured at the pool several hundred years ago and it is said that bathing in the pool will cure all ails, mental as well as physical, and that the book of songs will solve all problems. You have to take your shoes off inside the temple complex and there's a place where you can check your shoes just like checking a bag at a museum. You also have to wash your feet before entering and there are faucets as well as shallow troughs of water cut across all paths into the complex which you walk into and out of.
Lynne and I walked around inside this incredibly opulent literally golden temple with birds and flowers set in white marble around the base... a mixture of Hindu and Muslim architecture. The inside is painted with all sorts of richly red and gold and green ornate natural decorations and there's a large crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the middle of a two story atrium. At the entry level in the center of the atrium space there is a group of four or so priests singing the songs written down in the Sikh holy book and accompanied by a tabla player and a harmonium. The sounds were really beautiful and they are broadcast by loudspeaker around the entire temple complex. The chanting is also played live over the Internet and you should be able to listen in by going to the following link... http://www.sgpc.net/
I think they are also supposed to have live video feed, but I couldn't find it with my slow India Internet connection. There were times even in the line to get in when people around me would join in the chanting... I was actually a bit overwhelmed emotionally from this place and the niceness of the people and their smiles and the music and the visual splendor.
Inside the temple on the roof garden we once again ran into Karen with the woman and young boy. They were sitting down and invited us to join them. I found out that Karen worked for Airtel (the Indian cell company), the woman was his sister Rachan, and the child (3) was their nephew Iemaan. Rachan is getting her degree and will go to work in a medical clinic next year. She is also engaged to be married (arranged) in February and they invited me to the wedding! We took some photos and I will try to post them if I can get a decent connection.
Karen then invited us to come have food with them at the temple kitchen which provides a free meal by volunteers 24/7 to anyone who wants. The temple access is also free and the only stipulation is that you cover your head (they provide free orange - Sikh color - head scarves). As we walked to the cafeteria Karen took us on a tour of the complex and proudly explained his religion and described the acts and monuments to the 10 Guru's of Sikhism (also explained somewhat on the website). The Sikh's are peaceful loving people but also warriors and their symbol is a cross of swords. There are a few "warriors" walking around the temple dressed in orange robes with blue head wraps and swords.
During the early 1980's the Golden Temple was occupied by extremists intent on creating an independent Sikh homeland, by violence if necessary. On the orders of then-prime minister Indira Gandhi, they were finally evicted by the army in 1984 in a controversial military action that resulted in hundreds of Sikh deaths and widespread damage to the temple. Later that year Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
From Wikipedia: "Their followers, with their turban and uncut hair, are proud and definitely distinct; yet show respect to the followers of other religions. Non-Sikhs can partake fully in Sikh prayer meetings and social functions. Their daily prayers include the well being of whole mankind. The concept of saint-soldier is another unique feature which sometimes confuses observers. Every Sikh is required to aspire to sainthood by his devotion to God and service to mankind, but also, according to the situation, to adopt the role of the soldier. Sikhs are not required to renounce the world, and aspire to be the best but not be obsessed by the act, wanting the best but not craving to accumulate. Seva (service) is an integral part of Sikh worship. This is very easily observed in the Gurdwara (temple). Visitors of any religious or socio-economic background are welcomed. Langar (free food for all) is always served."
In walking around the complex on the way to the cafeteria, Karen invited us to eat some of the "holy" food which was a mixture of semolina flower and sugar and water in a paste that is very sweet and light... the little boy loved it. We saw a 600 year old plum tree held up by a steel support structure, and a several thousand year old mango tree root wrapped in cloth said to be the tree where the original Guru Nanak sat to meditate (not unlike the Buddha).
The cafeteria serves a simple meal of flat bread, spicy lentils, and a sweet mixture of sugar, water, and grain that tasted like tapioca pudding. They also offer a bowl of water to drink which I was reluctant to have but did so on encouragement from Karen without wanting to offend (so far I feel great... perhaps I have been cured by the holy water). Everyone sits on the floor on strips of canvas in long rows inside a vast hall and we took some more photos together.
After eating we walked outside and Karen, Rachan, and Iemaan said goodbye as the boy was tired and they were headed home. Karen gave me his phone number and his email and said to please call him for anything within the state of Punjab. I've been meeting some truly beautiful people who are very generous and kind. Clearly a smile goes a long way.
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