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Our first night’s stop in India was at Amritsar – the holy city of the Sikhs and home to the famous Golden Temple.
We decided to make a change from our usual daily routine, and get up early!! :p So we rose at dawn and still bleary eyed made our way to watch the Golden Temple lit up by the first rays of sun. It was well worth the sacrifice of having a nice cosy lie-in!!
The Golden Temple is the holiest and most sacred shrine of the Sikh religion, which every Sikh aims to make a pilgrimage to in his/her lifetime. The Golden Temple appears to magically float above the man-made sacred pool in which the pilgrims bathe to wash their souls of sin. The whole site is actually a collection of many shrines and other religious buildings as well as an enormous kitchen (which dishes up 10,000 dinners per day to the visitors – all free of charge) and dormitories for the poorer pilgrims. Inside the three storey Golden Temple the original Sikh holy book is housed, which is recited by the gurus on a continuous basis. Mystical religious music accompanies the visitors everywhere as they go around the complex, and there are musical performances throughout the day.
The Golden Temple is open to all visitors, regardless of religion, race or sex, however all are accepted to be respectful and everyone (men and women) need to cover their heads (and no, Nic has not developed a penchant for bandanas, you will be relieved to hear!!). Though he has been eyeing the orange Sikh turbans in the stalls when Sedef is not looking – rather worrying. :p
