Week 12 – Golden Temple – Taj Mahal – Varanasi

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Christmas eve was spent on a train bound for Amritsar. We awoke Christmas day to some young children singing gingel bells. Tracy and I both had Father Christmas hats which we worn more for their warmth than festive cheer. Amritsar at Christmas time is cold.

After getting a hotel room, we went off to have our Christmas dinner. Turkey was not an option so I went for chicken tikka masala.

With full bellies we took an auto-rickshaw down to the Golden Temple and after washing our hands, feet and covering our heads, we spent the rest of the day enjoying the spiritual home to Sikhism. Of all the temples we have visited in India this one was the most welcoming and the most atmospheric (continual prayers are relayed over loudspeakers with a beautiful backing track of live music). Everyone we meet was happy to see us, many wished us merry Christmas and we were never once asked for money or “donations”.

After sunset we joined the queue to enter the inner temple, via a causeway, where the prayers were being read and the original copy of the Sikh holy book is kept. I felt a little uncomfortable about enter such a holy place as a non-Sikh, but my trepidation was unfounded. At no point did I feel I was intruding as we walked around the insides of the temple. We watched priests chant and enjoyed the music along with everyone else.

Our final day in Amritsar was spent visiting a couple of Hindu temples and enjoying the closing ceremony of the India/Pakistan border. On one side was Pakistan, the other India and they both tried to outdo each other. From the cheering of the crowds to the marching of the border guards, everything was a competition. It was like being at a football match. I have never seen so many children red faced from shouting!

A long, cold train journey from Amritsar to Agra meant we were about to see the icon of India, the Taj Mahal. We got up early and joined the queue just before sunrise. After a lengthy search we entered the site and were greeted by... fog! The Taj Mahal backs onto a river and the early morning fog covered everything. Thankfully after walking around the site the sun burnt through the fog to reval it's splendour.

The Taj Mahal lived up to all expectations. It truly is a beautiful monument. We were also lucky to get some photos without huge hordes of people in the background, thanks to the early start.

Next!!!

Varanasi. One of the holiest places in India. We spent a wonderful day wondering down the Ganges, watching people bath, do their laundry and send off the dead, via cremation. An evening boat ride down the holy river allowed us to experience the nightly ganga aarrti ceremony, light a lotus flower candle and set if a drift down thee river.

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