The Golden Temple

The Golden Temple, Amritsar

My first stop in India is the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

I was put into a room in Sri Guru Ram Das Niwas in the Golden Temple Complex where foreigners congregate. There are dormitory and rooms and by the time we arrived, those had been fully occupied and almost every corner and even the floor was occupied. But we were fortunate enough to have knocked in the first room where everybody thought is an administration room. Rodion, Andreas and I were sharing 2 beds while another bed was occupied by a Korean girl I saw while watching the border closing ceremony in Attari this evening.

Given the fact that the city of Amritsar was founded by Sikhism’s 4^th Guru – Guru Ram Das and the city is evolving and expanding taking the Golden Temple as the center of development, it’s thereby not difficult to understand why the Golden Temple is regarded as Sikhism’s holiest shrine in the world whereas the city of Amritsar which contents the temple is reverberated as the homeland of the Sikh.

A devout Sikh is obsessed with praying

Welcome to the land of Sikhs.

Regrettably, the only thing I can find while trying to dig my memory to bridge with Sikhs or Sikhism is something disgraceful where together with other Kampung Kia(Village boy in Malay) in my home village, we used to laugh on the turban clad by the minority Sikh in Malaysia, especially those young Sikh. And ironically, I still remember there was one moral story illustrated in pictorial form in my primary school book which taught us not to discriminate people not the same kind with you. Oh, that was the age of innocence and ignorance.

The Golden Temple is always a place for a Sikh family to spend time together

My favorite pastime while staying in the Golden Temple was to have a leisure walk along the Parkama(white marble walkway surrounding the sacred pool)circling the Marble Temple and watched the inverted image of gold-plated gurdwara(rumor has it that it was gilded with 750 kg of pure gold!) reflected in the sacred pool of Amrit Sarovar(Pool of Nectar). Sikhism is something that I’m aware of but meanwhile have too little knowledge about it. Therefore, under the witness of Hari Mandir Sahib(Marble Temple), I sat down cross-legged on the Parkama near the Akal Takhat(Sikh Parliament), gazing the Amrit Sarovar into eternity in an attempt to show my penitence. Until my mind was in peace and my soul was in place, I flipped through the Guru Granth Sahib(The holy book of Sikhism) page by page very cautiously, in an attempt to uncover the history and secret of Sikhism.

A worship on bended knees and a kiss on the holy marble floor is the first thing pilgrims do before stepping in the temple

Sikhism was founded in the Punjab region(before the Partition) by Guru Nanak Dev in the 15^th century as a reaction against the caste system and Brahmin domination of soul in the subcontinent. Baptized Sikhs are bound to wear the 5 kakkars(emblem): 1. Kesh – the unshaven beard and uncut hair which symbolizes saintliness. 2. Kangha – comb to maintain the ritually uncut hair. 3. Karra – steel bangle which symbolizes fearlessness. 4. Kirpan – sabre or sword which symbolizes power and dignity. 5. Kaccha – loose underwear which symbolizes modesty. Sikhs believe in the equality of all beings. Therefore, all are welcome at any of the Sikh’s shrine regardless of creed, religion, race, background, gender, nationality, etc.

A Sikh is praying while taking a holy bath at one of the bathing ghats

A religion originated from peace teachings always tends to evolve to an ambition which would eventually bring war and hostility. So is this young religion where in 1984, the Golden Temple was occupied by armed Sikh labeled as separatists who demanded an independent Sikh state called Khalistan. Military eviction was launched and the incident ended with the assassination of India then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi(who ordered the military action) by her Sikh bodyguards followed by brutal Hindu-Sikh clashes in Punjab which left more than 3000 people(predominantly Sikhs) dead. Now I begin to learn the sensitivity of a religion faith which has to be compromised to a certain extent.    

Pilgrims congregate and line up to make offerings in Hari Mandir Sahib

Continuous chants from Guru Granth Sahib are kept up by Sikh priests inside the Hari Mandir Sahib

I settled my 3 daily meals everyday in Guru-Ka-Langar, a free communal dining hall where everybody from all walks of life regardless of status, gender, race, religion, background, nationality, etc sits next to each other on the floor, cross-legged, to share a complimentary meal prepared by volunteers in the communal kitchen. The meals were always chapatti, simple curry and dhal. The kitchen and dining hall are running almost 24 hours and there is no specific time of dining. You go whenever you like and the food will be ready for you. This is called Langar, one of the practices of Sikhism in which the gurdwara is open to anyone of any faith for a free meal. I like the concept of equality in Sikhism.

Langar

Waiting to be served by volunteers

The huge communal kitchen is said to be able to prepare meals for up to 40,000 pilgrims and visitors in a day

Everything is carried out in a community base.

It was a peaceful and enlightening stay in the Golden Temple where it provided me an opportunity to get up close with a religion that I used to know but not having a chance to learn about it in person.

The bed bug bites in the dormitory room is another story.