barefoot in the temple

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I met some friends and decided to take a little trip to the Golden Temple, an important pilgrimage to Sikhs. It was such an amazing experience. I was with four others and we stayed within the temple complex for two nights. The lodging was free for all the pilgrims and foreigners as well. We were lucky enough to have a room but when we stepped outside to go to the bathroom it was over pilgrims sleeping on the hard marble, and they covered the ground. There was also a kitchen serving daal (lentils) and rice and paneer (like cottage cheese) to 80,000 pilgrims a day! Their system was incredible. You walk into the kitchen and get handed a tin plate, bowl and spoon then cram your way into a hall that holds about 600 people and sit on the floor to eat. People walk by swinging pails of food and you have to be very vocal or else you don't get any food. And when they come around with bread, you have to hold out both hands, they want everyone to beg for it in a way. But then entire kitchen and temple is maintained by volunteers, there is no money exchange. Then after eating there are six longs troph like sinks and all the dishes are scrubbed. We volunteered for a few hours washing dishes and it was non-stop action, they food is always going out and the dirty dishes always coming in. And the pots the cooked in were absolutely massive, They could fit ten bodies easily. No shoes are allowed and the hair must always be covered. That and the fact that everyone sits on the floor and eats the same food is really unique for India, the Hindu religion is all about strict, inpenetratable castes, but the Golden Temple serves all people.
The actual temple was breath taking. It consists of a central temple, plated in gold which houses the original teaching of the Sikh faith. In it are four students who chant and play music which is heard throughout the complex for 21 hours a day, it was really beautiful, a typical Indian sound. The central temple is surrounded by the 'pool of nectar' filled with koi fish. It is said to be healing, it cured a princesses' leper husband in the 160's, so people take dips and drink it. Around the water is a square marble path leading to a museum and the rooms where the students sit and read study the sacred texts. Walking around was quite a spectacle. There really were no Westerners so people were pretty excited about our appearance. Families came up to me and asked me to be in their pictures, and to hold their babies, and every came up smiling asking if I had a good time. It was quite the spectacle, we would stop to take our own pictures and end up in one spot for ten minutes because everyone comes up saying 'one photo, please!' It was amusing at first but I grew tired of it. The temple was an amazing experience though. It is the first experience I've ever had where a religion does what they say, like feeds everyone without discrimination.
The temple was in a city called Amritsar, maybe 50 km from the Pakistani border so we went to the changing of the guards ceremony, it was so peculiar. The Indian side was full, a couple thousand people waving flags and cheering. The Pakistani side had maybe 300. But the guards on each side wore identical outfits, with ridiculous peacock-looking hats. When the ceremony began the lead guard from 'Hindustan' (India) would shout and hold the note for a few moments, then the Pakistani guard would do the exact same thing 2 second behind. Then each side would shout 'long live Hindustan' or 'long live Pakistan' and once again the Pakistani said had a 2 second delay. Then the pandemonium happened, the India guard did a high kick so that his legs were nearly vertical and do an odd little skip then rush to the gate with his arms swinging precisely. There he would face the Pakistani guard who had just done the same choreographed movement and they would stomp and turn and be very aggressive looking towards one another. There were five guards and they all did this. Once they all reached the gates they flung them open only to close them again. Then they started to lower the flags and they had to both be down at the exact same instant. I didn't really understand what they ceremony does, the same thing is re-enacted every night. From what I can gather it was just how the two countries show frustration with one another. Nonetheless, it was quite an experience to see.
So, it was nice to leave for a few days, but just as nice to get back to McLeod Ganj, I realize that I have a life and a home here, and I missed it. The weather is quite miserable however, cold and damp. My health in finally restored, I was about every kind of sick that was possible the past few weeks. My trip is about half way over, that realization is bittersweet to me. All I can to though is fully be here in mind and body for the second half. Tashi Delek!
peace and love

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Photos

me and Paula
she was my Dutch partner in crime. This is at the gate to the temple