Amritsar - Part II

From Srinagar we flew 450 km south to Amritsar, the capital of the state of Punjab. We were especially keen on coming to Amritsar to see the Golden Temple, one of the most holy places of the Sikh religion.

Once we arrived in Amritsar, we could immediately feel the hustle bustle of the city, which was quite the contrast to the calm and slower paced feel of Srinagar.  Punjab, like Kashmir, is one of the few states in India that is home to primarily one religion other than Hinduism. Walking in the crowded streets of Amritsar I was taken away by all the color in the air -- not only from women adorned in beautiful salwar kameez and saris but also by Sikh men who adorned brightly colored turbans.

Geographically, Amritsar lies very close to the northwest border of India with Pakistan. In fact, we were only 30 miles away from where Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan.  The closest border crossing to Pakistan is the Wagh Border, which until recently was the only road connecting India and Pakistan. Every evening before sunset the border hosts the Wagah Border Ceremony – a daily military practice that the security forces of India and Pakistan have jointly followed since 1959.

We were very curious to see this much-celebrated ceremony so we drove there our first afternoon. The last mile to the border we walked in the blistering heat amongst crowds of Indian nationals. Once we arrived we noticed that the Indian nationals had to wait in long lines to gain admittance to the ceremony. Meanwhile, International tourists went through a fast lane and were priority seated in a VIP section. We literally waltzed in with our U.S. passports and got great seats amongst rows of International tourists.

In this picture you can see the closed gate on the border of India and Pakistan where much of the ceremony takes place. In the distance is the Welcoming Gate to Pakistan. On our side of the border is India’s welcoming gate with a prominent picture of Mahatma Gandhi.

We arrived about 30 minutes before the ceremony began but for us the entertainment had already begun. Popular Indian music blared over the loudspeakers as the Indian nationals sung and danced in circles to show their immense pride in India. School kids of all ages joined in the fun. There was so much patriotism buzzing in the air that it was infectious! It felt like Indian Independence Day!!

Then the ceremony began. The ceremony started with a blustering parade by the soldiers from both sides, and ended up in the perfectly coordinated lowering of the two nation’s flags. A soldier stood at attention on each side of the gate and, as the sun set, the iron gates at the border were temporarily opened while the two flags were lowered simultaneously.

The flags were then folded and the ceremony ended with a retreat and the soldiers shook hands before the gate closed again.

It was a really beautiful ceremony with lots of pump and circumstance. As we all know, India and Pakistan have a very strained relationship, plagued by hostility and suspicion, dating back to the partition of British India in 1947. After seeing this ceremony one almost thinks that maybe relations are getting better but in reality this is a completely staged spectacle. Michael Palin of Monty Python fame said it best when he described the ceremony as a display of “carefully choreographed contempt”.

After the ceremony we traveled back to Amritsar to visit the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion. Once we get in the vicinity of the temple we parked our car and walked the last half-mile through narrow alleys bustling with vendors sitting on mattresses in their stores selling all kinds of fabric. The walk was not an easy one as we constantly dodged motor scooters and stray dogs to get to the shrine – but it was well worth it!

Once we got to the temple we had to remove our shoes, wash our feet and cover our heads.

By the time we arrived at the temple, the sun had set and the lit-up golden temple took on a regal feel as it glistened in the pool surrounding it. It was simply breathtaking! Unfortunately the crowd of people waiting to enter the temple was not deterred by the darkness or the long lines.

It normally takes two hours to navigate through the line and enter the temple but our tour guide knew the inside scoop on which line moved faster. Taking his advice we stood in line and made it in under an hour. Oddly enough, as we were standing in line, feeling very proud of our inside information, we noticed the occasional person entering through the exit line. We thought perhaps they were VIPs. We later learned that these supposed “VIPs” simply bribed the guard. Leave it to India – nothing is impossible with a bribe!

While standing in line we stared in awe at the temple’s beauty. The Golden Temple sits on a rectangular platform, surrounded by a pool of water called the Amrit Sarovar from which the City is named. The temple is simply breathtaking with its rich ornamentation full of marble sculptures, golden gilding and precious stones! It’s no surprise that the shrine attracts more visitors than even the Taj Mahal!

Upon doing some research I realized that the location of the temple has much historical significance. Originally the site of the temple was a small lake in the midst of a quiet forest where wandering sages came to meditate. Even the Buddha spent time here meditating. Two thousand years later, Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, came to live and meditate by the peaceful lake. After he passed away his disciples continued to frequent the site – and over the next 70 years, in the early 1600s, the lake was enlarged and the Golden Temple was built.

On numerous occasions the Muslims destroyed the temple – a recurring theme in Indian history – but each time the temple was built even more beautifully. The architecture of the final rendering draws on both Hindu and Muslim artistic styles.

This is an aerial view of the temple during the day. 

Once we entered the temple we walked through an ornate archway with intricate inlay work. After going up and then down a flight of stairs we passed through the Darshani Deori to enter an ornate chamber where musicians sang and played beautifully melodic music on the harmonium, sitar and tabla in front of their Guru. Onlookers were chanting and praying and seemed to be in a spiritual state. It felt so calm and peaceful to be in their presence. It was a beautiful experience!

The next day we visited the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial, the site of the April 13, 1919 massacre of hundreds of innocent Indians by British troops – a major event in India’s struggle for freedom.

Spread over 6.5 acres of land, Jallanwala Bagh was a popular ground for holding meetings and protest during the Freedom Struggle in India. On the day of the massacre a large crowd of around 20,000 people had assembled at Jallianwala Bagh to protest against the arrest of two Indian freedom leaders. As they were listening to the speeches of their leaders, a British General ordered his soldiers to block the only exit gate and to fire 1,600 rounds of bullets on the unarmed and helpless crowd.

This memorial was extremely moving and seemed especially familiar as it is represented in the movie “Gandhi”. Akash watched the movie in school last year with his History class and vividly remembered the massacre and its impact on India.

The Indians trapped in Jallanwala Bagh that day were so desperate to escape the bullets that they jumped into this well and then drowned.

The memorial also preserved the remnants of this wall, which has actual bullet marks from the massacre.

At another side of the garden is an eternal flame of remembrance, named the ‘Flame of Liberty’, set up in commemoration of those who died at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The main memorial is in the shape of a bullet so that Indians never forget the violence that erupted on this sad day in Indian history.

This ended our sightseeing in Amritsar. A couple hours later we boarded a flight back to Delhi. While waiting to go through security we noticed a Sikh man dressed in religious clothing carrying a strapped curved sword. Very religious Sikh men wear this sword as one of the five items of faith to the Sikh religion. In this day and age, we never thought he would get through security but, sure enough, he breezed right through. Priya was especially shocked and exclaimed, only in Amritsar!

When we arrived back in Delhi the kids were thoroughly exhausted from our busy travels but came back with great memories of our trip. We saw so much that weekend; it’s not often that you get to visit meccas of two major religions in one weekend!