Golden Temple

On our way home from visiting Dennis’ business partner, we flew out of a different city, Amritsar. It is located northwest of Ludhiana. The night before our flight we were able to see some sights. We parked and walked into the shopping district.  There were food carts, shops, vendors, and these beautiful statues. 

It was raining all day so crowds were smaller. This is what we had hoped as we neared the Golden Temple. It’s a popular religious and tourist site. At this point, we had to purchase scarfs/bandanas to cover our heads. Head coverings are required as a sign of respect. 

You remove your shoes before entering the courtyard. Since the temperatures outside were in the 50s and it had been raining, the standing water froze our feet. 

It was worth it. The temple was all that we had heard about. The Golden Temple, Harmandir Sahib, meaning "abode of God”, is a place of worship and faith for Sikhs.

It is open both in the day and at night. We chose to visit at night to see its brilliance when illuminated by the lights. The temple is covered in plated Gold. 

 

It is the upmost spiritual site of Sikhism. It is open to men and women of all faiths. It is surrounded by a man made pool. Sikhs believe the pool can cleanse one’s Karma when bathed in. We saw people bathing and filling water bottles to take home with them. They also have a free community-run kitchen where they serve meals to anyone. Those who wish to eat are served in rows seated on the floor. People come and stay for up to three days for free at the temple, eating in the kitchen and sleeping in the covered walkways. The Sikh people are good to others. Dennis has a lot of respect for them and what they do to help others. 

We didn’t enter the actual temple, as there were lines of people waiting for entrance, but spent an hour walking around the square pool.