After finally uprooting ourselves from three months of intensive self-study in Rishikesh, we arrived via overnight express in the city of Amritsar in the Punjab.
Amritsar lies less than thirty miles from the border of Pakistan and is the home of the holiest site in Sikhism, the Golden Temple.
The city's name is derived from the pool of nectar (water) surrounding the temple, the amrit samovar.
Given the close ties between Sikhism and the kundalini yoga style we often practice, a visit to the temple was high on our list and it did not disappoint.
Never before have we encountered any people like the Sikhs. For the most part, they were overly gracious, helpful and not-too-pushy to sell you something (a novel concept in India). The facilities around the temple were amazing while the temple itself was spectacular.
A prominent feature of Sikhism is the welcoming of all peoples, from all backgrounds and all religions. The kitchen in the temple complex is open twenty-four hours a day, everyday, and feeds between 50-80,000 people per day for FREE. Those numbers are not a joke.
It is a wild experience because you just follow the lines where you are handed an aluminum plate, bowl and silverware, funnelled into large halls with long runners to sit on with a thousand plus other people, and fed by men who dish out all-you-can-eat dal, beans, rice porridge and chapati from large stainless steel buckets and wicker baskets. Afterwards you can help clean up in long dish cleaning stations or even help in the massive kitchens. How they fund or man such enormous operations is mind-boggling, but profoundly beautiful.
As for the temple, if ever I could imagine a building housing the divine in my soul, the Golden Temple would be it. Maybe it's the supposed 750kg of gold glimmering on the top, but somehow I couldn't help but sit mesmerized by its visage. I'm positive that the countless amicable pilgrims walking around it and bathing in the sacred waters generated ample good vibes, but just sitting there gazing on the temple brought spontaneous smiles to our faces.
Being back in a bustling large city was both exciting and challenging. In addition to the copious amount of turbans available, both meat and alcohol were back on the menus. We found ourselves being very timid with the ordering of either but were pleased at finding some lovely coffee houses to take brief respites from hustle.
While the temple was the highlight, we were awfully cold and ended up cutting short our trip through Rajastan by catching a flight out of Delhi to the south into the former Portugese colony of Goa. That move made Amalia, my little California girl, very, very happy. :)
While in Goa we'll be meditating on the golden temples in our hearts as we warm up laying in the sun and soaking in the Arabian Sea. And since we have opted to rent a small apartment just off the beach for a month, we'll have ample time to do just that.
We know, it's a rough life but someone's got to live it. ;)
PS, click on the last picture to open in a bigger window & tell us what's happening in the shot.
