In the morning a group of us went to the Golden Temple and judging by the crowds so did a couple of thousand other people. Derrick was told to put out his cigarette as smoking was not allowed within two miles of the temple and then he had his cap turned round by a policeman as not only has the head to be covered for both male and female but the back of the neck also. Free scarves were available for people to wear.
Shoes had to be taken off before the temple and they could not be carried in in a bag as no leather is allowed in the temple. Washing our hands then walking to the temple on mats that were wetted to keep them cool we then washed our feet before entering the temple properly.
This is what I saw, and what a sight it was:
I did queue to enter the centre part, the golden temple itself, This took about 30 minutes to get into the building and a young Sikh couple talked to me while waiting and then showed me round explaining things all the time I was there, which certainly helped a lot. I asked why some people were going into the temple without queuing and was told it was because they paid baksheesh (a bribe). It works in temples as well so it seems!
The golden dome is said to be covered with 750kg of pure gold. A causeway called the Gurus' Bridge leads to the two storey marble temple which stands in the centre of the sacred pool, The Pool of Nectar. The people wash and drink in different parts of the pool and carp live in it as well. Four priests continually chant near holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, which is kept under a pink shroud during the day and is processed ceremoniously at night and put away in the Akal Takhat.
In the evening I went back to the temple again as I had been told that it would be lit up and would look different. It certainly did and the effect was startling in the least. Seeing this makes it easier to understand why people take their religion so seriously.
After the morning visit to the temple we went to the Bagh Gardens. It may have been the wrong time of the year to go there as many parts were dry with few plants to see, though there were some roses, but there were a number of beautiful old colonial building to see and all in a bad state of repair. It was about them.pity to see them in this state but there is nothing to be done about them.
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| The policeman and us |
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| The policeman |
Shoes had to be taken off before the temple and they could not be carried in in a bag as no leather is allowed in the temple. Washing our hands then walking to the temple on mats that were wetted to keep them cool we then washed our feet before entering the temple properly.
This is what I saw, and what a sight it was:
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| The Golden temple of Amritsar |
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| The Golden temple of Amritsar |
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| One of the towers |
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| Behind the temple |
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| The family wanted a picture taken with me |
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| Bathing |
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| A friendly family |
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| The guardians of the temple |
The golden dome is said to be covered with 750kg of pure gold. A causeway called the Gurus' Bridge leads to the two storey marble temple which stands in the centre of the sacred pool, The Pool of Nectar. The people wash and drink in different parts of the pool and carp live in it as well. Four priests continually chant near holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, which is kept under a pink shroud during the day and is processed ceremoniously at night and put away in the Akal Takhat.
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| Waiting to go into the inner part of the temple |
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| Further views of the temple |
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| Children always wanted their picture taken with the girls |
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| Was it worth taking this picture! |
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| The Sadhu with what I believe is is own very long hair curled under the turban |
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| The Sadhu |
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