Brilliant Temple in the City of Sikhs
Review of Golden Temple
First Posted in Tripadvisor:
The brilliance of the place is due to myriad and complex factors at play – not limited to the religious under currents that one associates with a temple. For starters, the wide pedestrian-only access leading to the temple allows one to soak in the cultural heritage of the place. On both sides of the pedestrian zone, one can see numerous shops selling local stuff that range from Amritsari jooti (sandals), to ear rings, and numerous other knick-knacks. The façade of the place is consistent with homogenous design – to such an extent that the Mcdonalds signage gets camouflaged in the background.
One reaches the entrance of Golden temple – after about 8-10 minutes of walk from Ranjit Singh chowk where the car parks are located. Remarkably, one common problem that tourists face in any famous temple is that of quacks and thugs trying to fleece you – however, in the couple of times we went to this temple, we faced no such problems whatsoever.
In fact, one incident warrants particular mention. There were number of hawkers selling ear rings – and there was this gentlemen with a small suitcase with very limited collection of stuff waiting for his turn. Warmed to his (mis) fortunes, especially when our family was buying ear rings in truck loads, I approached the man and asked him if he was not upset with state of affairs – to which he politely said – God shall take care of me. No wonder this was Golden Temple in Amritsar – a place where a Langar (community kitchen) runs 24 hours – and we are told about 75,000 people have free food there DAILY – possibly the biggest such community food service in the world. With limited staff manning the kitchen, there are number of voluntary sevaks (care givers who donate their work free for community welfare).
After leaving our footwear and collecting a token (again no fees are involved here), we entered the Temple – after stepping through a small pool of water to wash our feet. The temple inside was brilliant, mesmerizing and paradoxical.
“Brilliant” because of its sheer expanse and its architecture. In fact, some of the views from high above made the temple look even more fascinating.
“Mesmerizing” because of the exquisite Golden Glow of the temple seated at the center of Amrit Sarovar (Lake of Nectar or Lake of Holy water), also from where the name of city was possibly derived. The lake was presumed to carry holy water and even in December chill, we saw pilgrims taking a dip.
“Paradoxical” because walking across the whole periphery I found numerous occasions where ordinary pilgrims were picking trash from the ground and throwing in dustbins – and this was same city where just outside you could find number of places where waste was not managed properly. The vast expanse of the temple was spotlessly clean – and again we are told that the carpets that lay across the periphery for pilgrims are washed regularly. Keeping such huge compound spotlessly clean was almost a miracle in itself.
After traversing the periphery of the lake clockwise, we entered the bridge which led to the Sanctum Sanctorum. It was pretty busy place where crowd movement was very slow. It took us about 1 hour to reach the main temple right in middle of the lake – while it was very busy, there was not too much of push. Then there were separate queues for females – though few females were part of common queue.
Inside the main temple, we made our prayers and came back. Some though were sitting around the central temple and making extended prayers. Almost everywhere one could see thick carpets for sitting of pilgrims. After collecting our prasad, we came out. Apart from the beauty and views, there was an envelope of serenity and calm that had descended the whole place.
Late in the evening, we went back only to see the brilliant temple glowing in tremendous glory. Again we are told that temple is open almost from early dawn till 10 in the night – so you can schedule your visit accordingly.
To sum it, the place should be in your must watch list – and if possible, try to visit twice, once in day and another time at night. Go there not just for the beauty but for the elusive peace with the bhajans (religious songs) playing in the background.
PS: Some small areas of Improvement at this brilliant place:
• Separate queues for people over 65 years or wheelchair bound people should be created on the bridge – like the one made for women pilgrims for their safety.
• Movement of vehicles, pickup/drop near Ranjit Chowk needs to be streamlined
• Pockets of litter near parking lots needs to be cleaned up & Street vendors should be regulated.
