The Golden Temple of Amritsar - shining at night.
From Rishikesh, we caught a rickshaw to the holy town of Haridwar, and then caught the overnight train to Amritsar. It probably wasn't Steph's and mine best introduction to overnight train travel in India as we had drawn the short straw and gotten the two berths closest to the door at the end of the carriage.
After a relatively sleepless night, as the door kept banging into our respective feet, we found ourselves blinking wearily in the early morning light, hoping that the platform we were now standing on was actually, in fact, the main station at Amritsar.
Amritsar is the location of the "Golden Temple", the holiest of sites for Sikhs, situated in the province of Punjab. Punjab is also a state that was basically cut in half by the partition of India, after the British Raj was wrapped up at the end of the 1940s. At Attari, just outside of Amritsar, is one of the few open land border crossings with Pakistan and it has become the site of an outlandishly formal and elaborate border closing ceremony that happens every day at sunset.
We were in Amritsar for just one night and we wanted to fit in both of these spectacles while we were here!
We had made a reservation at a hotel which, unfortunately for the hotel originally listed in Lonely Planet, seemed to have its phone number mixed up with another hotel's listing. We just went with it anyway and discovered it was cheap and clean, so we checked in and promptly went to sleep to catch up on the shut-eye we had missed the night before.
We got up around lunch time, had a bite to eat and headed to an internet cafe to catch up on some email. While we were there, we met a Spanish couple that were also heading out to the border to catch the ceremony, so we all shared a minibus out there.
You are now at the border between India and Pakistan - Mum, I promise I won't "inadvertently" wander over (this was my mother's main concern about us going to India's North).
Some of the local kids, asking every foreigner down the line to take their picture!
It starts out with people filling up the stands on both sides of the border. The soldiers mill around nervously like players at the pre-match warm-up. Out the back of the barracks, you could see some of the soldiers start warming up their high-kicks!
Soldiers milling about in their elaborate dress uniforms.
The crowd gathering on the India side of the border...
...and the Pakistani crowd on the other side!
As foreigners, we were shown to the "VIP" section, which I think is just a seperate section so the foreigners don't get too mixed up in the commotion.
The guards at the border are the tallest Indians we had ever seen! The uniforms are designed to make them seem even taller.
As the crowd gathers, people take turns to march up and down the street with the Indian flag, right up to the border gate and back. Mostly women and children, however everybody gets a go if they wanted to, even some of the foreigners.
The crowd dancing on the street, then taking turns to march with the flag.
Then, a professional crowd warmer-upper (I know there's a technical term for this however, I don't know it, and besides, who does?) starts getting the crowd hyped up with shouts of "Hindustan!" and other things in Hindi. We didn't know what he was saying, however we got into it as well.
Everybody in the house shout "Hindustan!"
Then, with a trumpet call and some very loud and long shouts from the sergeant, things really start happening. The soldiers line up, and take some very quick marches up to the border gate, all punctuated by the most amazing high-kicks you've ever seen! If you've ever seen the Monty Python skit about the "Ministry of Silly Walks", these would take pride of place!
Well, this silly walk starts with a high-kick...
...then a very rapid and high knee shot to the chest...
...with some very high arm-swinging thrown in for good measure!
This actually goes on for some time, as various parts of the troop march down to the gate and take their assigned position. The thing that is also amazing is that each soldier has a counterpart on the other side of the gate, doing exactly the same thing!
How to open gates, while high-kicking at the same time!
How to open gates, while high-kicking at the same time!
"Damn good high-kicking, Singh!"
The Pakistani guards on the other side. Every move is done as a mirror image with their counterpart on the other side.
After a lot of ceremony, chest-beating and more cheering from both sides, the two flags are lowered together, at exactly the same pace, the gates are shut and the border is closed for the evening. What a fantastic spectacle!
The flags being lowered...
...and then put to bed for the night, until the border is re-opened the next day.
The sun had pretty much set by the time the border was closed, so we headed quickly past the vendors selling the "Border Closing Ceremony" picture books, postcards, DVDs, statuettes and snow-globes (like it ever snows in Punjab), and then caught the minibus back to town. We had an unashamed "break" dinner of pizza that night, then set-off to the Golden Temple to take a look at this amazing structure by night!
The Golden Temple is housed within a large complex of buildings and, true to Sikhism's all inclusive nature, everybody is welcome to enter without charge, once they've covered their head, removed their shoes and washed their feet.
The Golden Temple at night, with the crowds of people sitting around the sacred pool.
The Golden Temple is housed within a large complex of buildings and, true to Sikhism's all inclusive nature, everybody is welcome to enter without charge, once they've covered their head, removed their shoes and washed their feet.
The Golden Temple at night, with the crowds of people sitting around the sacred pool.
Sikhism is basically a blend of Hinduism and Islam, which grew out of a rejection of the Hindu caste system. The Golden Temple lies in the centre of a sacred pool, which is surrounded by the white-walled complex, containing different shrines as well as the parliament and administrative offices of the Sikh religion.
It is really an amazing place, the amazing sights aside, everyone in there is really welcoming which we've found is a bit unusual with religious buildings. One random guy even welcomed us in and then tried to explain what Sikhism was to us. It was a bit difficult to understand, however it was very nice of him to take the time.
It is really an amazing place, the amazing sights aside, everyone in there is really welcoming which we've found is a bit unusual with religious buildings. One random guy even welcomed us in and then tried to explain what Sikhism was to us. It was a bit difficult to understand, however it was very nice of him to take the time.
One of the walkways off the main path - to the right (which you can't see) is a huge communal kitchen. Anyone entering here, regardless of their religion, can always get a free meal.
We also visited the Sikh parliamentary building. This was the building where, in 1984, some Sikh separatists holed up after the Indian government tried to subdue them by force. Indira Ghandi, the Indian prime minister at that time, unwisely ordered the armed forces to storm the building, almost demolishing the place and causing outrage amongst Sikhs at this desecration of the Golden Temple Complex. It actually resulted in Indira Ghandi being assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards.
The Sikh Parliament.
Suffice to say, the building was restored and is still in the process of having some renovations done to it.
Suffice to say, the building was restored and is still in the process of having some renovations done to it.
We returned the next day so that we could see the Golden Temple in the daylight, which is quite a different view in itself, as well as see the Sikh Museum.
The Golden Temple by daylight
The Golden Temple and the surrounding complex
The sacred pool's very hungry inhabitants
The complex still had a lot of people inside during the day, coming in to have their communal meal as well as just sitting in the shade, trying to escape the blazing hot Punjabi sun.
Steph and one of the Sikhs that worked in the complex. Sikhs are notable as part of their religion they always wear a turban, a hair comb (under the turban) a dagger, a bangle, and usually have their hair uncut as well as facial hair.
Steph was constantly asked to have photos taken with her. She would no sooner stop then a line of people would form, waiting to have a photo with her.
The Sikh Museum was an interesting and grisly place, displaying paintings and photos of past Sikh martyrs, who died whilst upholding the faith. No photos allowed, and it's probably a good thing as a lot of them would give you nightmares for weeks!
After we said farewell to the Golden Temple, we checked-out and made our way to the bus station to catch the local bus to McLeod Ganj.
It was the first time we had taken public road transport in India, and I can say that it definitely didn't fail to shock and awe us - again. The bus was a rickety old bus, where I had to hop up on the roof and lock our bags down - hadn't done that since South America!
We also managed to get lost on the way, and we got stuck on some amazingly small backwater roads as the bus tried to find it's way back to the main highway.
After we said farewell to the Golden Temple, we checked-out and made our way to the bus station to catch the local bus to McLeod Ganj.
It was the first time we had taken public road transport in India, and I can say that it definitely didn't fail to shock and awe us - again. The bus was a rickety old bus, where I had to hop up on the roof and lock our bags down - hadn't done that since South America!
On the roof, making sure our backpacks didn't become road kill
We also managed to get lost on the way, and we got stuck on some amazingly small backwater roads as the bus tried to find it's way back to the main highway.
No, this is not the main highway - even in India!
However, 5 hours later we made it Dharamsala, and then caught a minibus up to McLeod Ganj, nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, to start our Indian/Tibetan experience!
