Amritsari Part 2 ;)

…Continued

Our first visit, was to the Golden Temple, but I’ll come back to that later.

Not many people know, that the Durgiana Temple in Amritsar was infact built first, much in the style of the Harmandir Sahib, and much before it. This beautiful temple, is also surrounded by water on all four sides, and we enter the main gates, having first immersed our feet in a pool of water right at the entrance. The entrance gives way to a small bridge which paves the way to the main shrine. It is a Lord Vishnu Temple, housing idols of various deities, include Shree Radha-Krishna, Lord Rama, Goddess Durga and many others. This temple has also been coated with gold, whether real or not, I wasn’t able to figure out, and it was perhaps done much after the actual construction, to give it an even keener resemblance with the Golden Temple itself.

The Harmandir Saahib Gurudwara was in many ways a dream. Not every other day do you come across a Gurudwara made of pure gold, blending the finest arts of the Mughal Period with the chastity and serenity of a new born and devoutly followed religion. It was a vision much before it actually came into full view.

I am a non practising Hindu(I think!) and I have no clue how visiting a temple is supposed to make you feel or connect with God. But only one thing came to my mind when I saw the Golden Temple, it’s beauty was breathtaking, and the atmosphere was so profound, that probably one could worship it for the sake of the staggering vision it afforded.

It happened to be Sankrant, the day we visited the temple, it marks the beginning of the rains, and is a time when newly wed brides come home to their parents. This happened to add exponentially to the already crowded aisles and meandering queues. So we stood in line for nearly an hour(not joking!).

Amritsari Guideline #2: There is never a day when you can visit the Golden Temple without the fear of being part of a huge crowd, auspicious days add to the number of pilgrims visiting by manifold, but the queues will be awfully long even on normal days.

Even the entrance gates, where the queues commence are made of pure silver and flanked by carved minarets. The dome shaped ceiling is engraved with beautifully inlaid golden carving. One is not allowed to go about anywhere in the premises of the temple(including the surroundings of the main shrine), with their head uncovered. There are also certain restrictions, on bathing in the holy waters, especially for women, and it is inadvisable to bathe fully clothed.

The karha parshad was delicious ofcourse, a sumptuous halwa, and i managed to eat to my heart’s fill even though we had started after a very heavy breakfast. 😐

When you first enter the temple you are unsure of what’s the first thing to do, whether you touch the entrance floor or you take in as much of the view of the ceilings, the grand chandeliers, the floors above, the Guru Granth Saahib kept in the center, or just the number of people having gathered to pay homage to one of the most marvellous pieces of Indian Architectural History.

It’s carved from head to toe in splendid floral designs, with the entrance floor also beautifully gilded in patterns of enchanting buds and creepers. Enthralling music sung by the Gurudwara’s classical singers, speaking of the wondrous “Saawan” and the Lord, diffuses into the air and every corner of the beautiful building exhumes a warmth and tranquility which doesn’t leave you even after you’ve left it. There are two upper floors where you reach by climbing the stairs, and all along the walls of the staircase-now fading but still much intact-murals have been painted, another masterpiece. We climbed each level and it was a whole different view from the corridors, occupied by the many tourists, looking down below into the main shrine. The uppermost level opened up into the sky, and gave a bedazzling view of the lake which surrounded the temple on all four sides. Simply amazing!

The topmost stair bore a carving, in Urdu, that somehow felt very special…

The Gurudwara is cleaned everyday, and the Paalki of the Guru Granth Saahib is taken out every morning at 3:30 AM. It is said, at this time, with the least number of people, and the calmest of atmospheres, the Golden Temple, is even more magnificent a sight to behold. Even at this hour, many devotees, from nearby villages, come on foot, every morning, without fail, to pay their respects, to one of the four-and probably the most beautiful-important Gurudwaras in our country.

to be continued…