Day 5 – Amritsar

Saturday 16th February 2019

Amritsar-Golden Temple : Durgiana Temple : Wagah Border Ceremony

Dave and I decided to omit the scheduled visit to the Jallanwallah Bagh, a memorial site to the people killed by British Troops during a peaceful demonstration against the British Raj.

Instead we chose to visit the Golden Temple again and also the Hindu Durgiana Temple.

We passed the blue Hindu temple as we walked to the Sikh Temple this morning with Babu. This is apparently known locally as the ‘Saturday Temple’ as many worshippers visit it and make offerings on this day of the week.

Sikhism preaches that one must do three things, work hard, pray day and night and be kind and helpful to others.

Well our guide definitely works hard; he lives and works on his parents’ farm that is situated in a small village outside Amritsar. The farm has five cows and forty buffalos. Every day, he rises at 3am to deliver fresh milk door to door. He then travels into the city for his work as a local guide.

Strolling slowly around the Golden Temple’s beautiful sacred water Babu offered us various snippets of information regarding Sikhism.

He told us that it was the individual’s choice to be baptised, not the parents’. Babu has made the decision not to be baptised. Once a Sikh is baptised he never cuts any of his bodily hair again. Elastic on turbans is used to control facial hair or to train the hair to go into a particular direction.

Many men were undressing, preparing to dunk in the holy waters. Some believe that by bathing in the holy waters (known as a sarovar) that their past sins will be forgiven. The sarovar at the Golden Temple is fed from the River Ganges.

I was surprised to see a man picking up a turban and placing it on his head, ‘oh, I thought that it was a long length of material that had to be wound around the head’ I said. Babu advised that if cared for properly the headwear would stay in place for a couple of days. However, I still think the one I saw was ready made!

Babu was reluctant for us to visit the interior of the Golden Temple due to the long queue. However, as we insisted, Babu managed to get permission for us to walk down the VIP line, on condition that we took no photographs inside the temple and that I removed my ‘goggles’. We of course complied and I promptly put my sunglasses in my bag. Babu led us up the stairs; the scenes were similar to yesterday, with an atmosphere of serenity. Babu allowed us a few minutes to absorb the scenes before he ushered us along and led us to the roof of this magnificent temple.

Babu pointed out a very tall Sikh in traditional dress. He had a long white beard and smiled broadly as he spotted our guide. He came over and after nodding at us he greeted our guide and the two of them conversed for a few minutes. This gave me ample time to take in the huge man! His head was crowned with a large orange turban with two strands of material hanging down at either side of his face; he was wearing a royal blue three quarter length coat and a white skirt. I would have loved to have photographed him.

My eye caught the view below, behind the tall Sikh and Babu; men bare-chested and clad in only their shorts and various coloured turbans were dunking in the holy waters in Sikhism’s holiest site. So much to photograph but I would have to, instead, commit it all to memory.

Babu later explained that the man he had been speaking with was a Sikh Warrior and also his teacher. He added that the warrior’s traditional costume included a skirt as it gave freedom of movement when fighting.

A flag ceremony started to take place next to us. The flag is changed on a daily basis as many people wish to donate a new flag and to take part in the ceremonious procedure. Sikh guards lowered the flag and removed it together with the material that covered the flagpole.

A family of four including two sons in their twenties stood watching and the lady offered the new flag still in its packaging to one of the guards.

The saffron coloured flag manufactured from holy material was soon blowing in the breeze; the flagpole was padlocked back into place and the brass railing put back around it.

The day old flag was cut into long strips and a piece was draped around the shoulders of each family member. The family then offered a cash donation to the Sikhs that had performed the ceremony and Babu said that special prayers would be said for them.

Leaving the temple we saw and heard some musicians singing and playing their instruments. A few people sat engrossed with the performance. ‘They are singing about God’ Babu informed us and we stood and watched for a while.

Dave and I were drawn again to one of the beautiful ornate buildings that we had first admired yesterday. Its white marble exterior was inlaid with semi precious stones including agate, jasper and lapis lazuli. Beautiful flower designs were created from the stones.

Entering its interior we saw a Sikh perched on large cushions reading the holy book; he would read it for five hours and then someone else would take his place. The book is completely read within 24 hours.

It was time to visit the kitchen which feeds 150,000 people daily. As with the Sikh Temple that we visited in Delhi, there is no charge for the meal and the kitchen runs continually 24 hours per day.

All the food was vegetarian so that it would be suitable for all faiths. An army of volunteers peeled, podded, chopped and sliced the piles of fresh produce.

In one room there was a gigantic electric dough machine and various work stations for the chapattis to be prepared and cooked. One young lady who was rolling out the dough told us that she was studying at one of the universities in the city. She had given up her Saturday to help out in the kitchens.

Huge metal pans stood on gigantic gas burners, their contents bubbling away. Volunteer cooks periodically stirred them with giant sized utensils. Sacks of basmati rice stood nearby.

We walked through the washing up area which was deafening with the banging and clattering of the shiny metal plates before we returned to the peaceful scene of the temple surrounded by the sacred water.

Reluctantly we walked towards the exit of this iconic site but we couldn’t resist snapping another couple of photographs before we left.

Vikki, our driver, was waiting for us and we drove through the bustling streets to the Durgiana Temple.

The Hindu Temple is reached by a small footbridge to cross what is usually a body of water. Unfortunately at the time of our visit there was just thick mud with traces of dead fish below us.

The temple’s architecture is similar to that of the Golden Temple. Gold covers the upper half of the building and it is decorated with carvings of Hindu gods in bas relief.

Its huge doors also have bas relief but these designs are created from silver. The Mandir is dedicated to the goddess Durga.

Inside there were a few worshippers and a Hindu priest sat singing accompanied by a couple of musicians. Ornate pictures of the god Vishnu adorned the walls.

We drove through a fruit market on the journey back to the hotel, some of the fresh looking produce was piled high on handcarts, and some was just laid on small rugs on the pavement.

Babu confirmed that he would meet us a couple of hours later to go to the Wagah border ceremony. Wagah is actually in Pakistan, and Atari is the name of the village in India close to the border but generally it is known as the Wagah Border.

It is around 30 kilometres west of Amritsar and it is the only road border between India and Pakistan. Each afternoon a military ceremony takes place in a huge stadium to lower the two countries’ flags. The tongue in cheek performance involves soldiers from both countries marching and adopting threatening stances towards each other.

This daily event attracts thousands of people. Huge metal gates separate the two countries and their audiences.

Gigantic screens show a short film that could have been used as a recruitment video for the Border Security Forces.

The proceedings commence with a warm up, members of the audience queue to run up and down proudly carrying their country’s flag. There is loud music and dancing and a brilliant master of ceremonies is warming the crowd up. The showman gets one side of the stadium competing with the other side and the frenzied shouts and screams of ‘Hindustan’ (India) become louder and louder.

A similar scene is occurring at the other side of the metal gates, in Pakistan.

Through my zoomed in camera lens I succeed in capturing a shot of a one-legged Sufi swirling around and holding aloft the green Pakistani flag with the white crescent moon.

The spectacle continues with smartly dressed soldiers from both sides marching towards the gates; they all execute high kicks and elaborate threatening stances.