Journeys: Golden Temple, Amritsar

Visit to India (2014)

Golden Temple, Amritsar -- Sept 30 to Oct 3

On our first visit to the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) in Amritsar, spiritual home of the Sikhs, we were blessed to be part of a group celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of my father's first cousins and his wife. As devout Sikhs, they wanted to share their spiritual passion with family and friends, and they succeeded.

Golden Temple

Masses of pilgrims queued every day to enter the inner sanctum, the Golden Temple itself, in nearly silent and unwavering devotion. One old woman, bent double, made her way slowly along the marble path, holding on to the gold balusters for support with one hand and her walking stick with the other. Her back was horizontal, parallel to the floor, and I wondered how many years it had been since she had been able to see anything other than the ground in front of her. It was a sad sight, and yet she probably felt full of hope and anticipation as she endured long, painful minutes to be able finally to commune with her God in what for her is the most holy of holies.

Golden Temple queue

Pilgrims queueing to get in to inner sanctum

A few of us went back to the Temple at 4am the next morning to see the ceremonial procession of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, being taken from its nightly resting place into the Harmandir Sahib (the formal name of the Golden Temple). Outside the temple complex, pilgrims lay curled asleep in rough blankets on the hard marble floor. Inside the complex, several Sikh men surrounded the resting place of the holy book, standing like guardians of the faith. Even in repose, one can sense the warrior within, a quality for which Sikhs are most stereotyped. Stereotypes often arise out of a kernel of truth, and it is telling that one of the central tenets of the faith is that men carry swords known as kirpans. Daggers and swords were everywhere evident in the temple complex, as were long flowing beards.

Guardians of the Faith

Guru Granth Sabib being "awoken" at 5am

Guru Granth Sahib being carried to Golden Temple

A little daily grooming

Before entering the complex, you have to cover your head and remove your shoes. One has to dip one’s feet in a shallow pool of water before entering, and then step onto wet rubber or jute mats to avoid slipping on the marble. On crowded mornings, the damp mats can be smelt as you approach the entrance, and dipping your feet in water that several hundred people have just used is not for the faint of heart. These damp, sticky jute mats line the main paths throughout the complex, but fortunately, there’s ample marble to walk on. Until you approach the langar area, where food is prepared and served. Outside the dining hall, dozens of volunteers (men and women) sit on the floor peeling vast quantities of garlic, and sticky jute mats and red rubber mats cover the marble. Stepping on garlic peels and unknown substances was unavoidable. (Fortunately, I never had to use the bathroom while at the temple; I shudder to think what it must be like to walk barefoot into a public bathroom in India.)

You can find the langar area by following the noise. Not voices, but a wall of continuous deafening sound in stark contrast to the serenity of the temple. Dirty thalis (steel food plates) are handed to a male volunteer, the first in a chain of men that starts outside the dining hall and ends up near the washing area. They toss the thalis along the line, and when the plates arrive at their final destination and bang and clang together to be cleaned and stacked for re-use, the loud noise of metal on metal can sometimes be heard on the other side of the temple complex.

The Sikh place of worship is known as a gurudwara, and every gurudwara the world over serves a simple but tasty vegetarian meal known as langar, consisting of rice, roti, dal, curried vegetable and yogurt, offered to pilgrims for free. The food is donated and prepared by volunteers, and the Golden Temple langar of rice, dhal and sabji was tastier than the sumptuous buffets at the hotel. And yet, even amidst this cacophony, the volunteers appear to work with devotion. Click here to see a beautifully shot (short) video by someone else of the langar at the Golden Temple, from cooking to serving to washing.

Religious ritual is an arbitrary thing, In Sikhism, the head must be covered. In Christianity, hats must be removed. In Judaism, a specific type of headgear is worn. But there is nothing arbitrary about the true feeling of faith. Observing rituals does not lead to faith; it is a feeling that must be actively cultivated, and that takes time and trust. I reconnect with my own faith whenever I find myself in a place where other people of faith are gathered to worship. Many people are there simply for the relief of ritual, but most who have taken the time to travel to a place of pilgrimage do so out of reverence. This reverence permeates the air, and if you are open to it, re-awakens your own faith. I feel privileged to have visited the Golden Temple, and I recommend it to anyone with an interest in religion or spirituality.