North Tour Part Three; Amritsar

From Jaisalmer we traveled to Jodhpur, the blue city where we only spent one day sightseeing before getting on a train for Amritsar. Amritsar in in the state of Punjab, home of the sikh religion, and is where the Golden Temple is located. The Golden Temple is the most important temple in the Sikh religion.

The main entrance to the temple compound and the pool around it.

The compound and the temple itself were extremely crowded and we had to stand in line for about an hour packed in closely hundreds of hot and sweaty temple goers. I don't think I've ever been so closely packed with so many strangers. It was a very interesting experience and sort of bonding because you knew all the people are were surrounded by had to deal with the heat and close quarters too. I shared the last of my water with an elderly lady who I had exchanged a few words with. The inside of the temple was packed with people so that in someways I couldn't see how people who come to worship in their religion's most holy place find the peace and space to worship. At the same time, the temple is a very special place and you could feel it. Amanda and I are the only ones who live with a Sikh family and for us the visit was even more special because we have a connection to the temple.

The temple is out in the pond with only the one pathway to it. The whole pathway was jammed with people. 

After visiting the temple we went to the India-Pakistan border where there is a big ceremony every evening as the close the border to crossings. Thousands of people gather on the border to cheer for India and to watch the soldiers go through a drill sequence. The chanting and cheering is also aimed at the people in Pakistan who are within hearing distance. It's as much an intimidation ritual as anything else. There were so many people when we got there that we couldn't see over the crowd no matter where we went. From what I could see the border wasn't as built up or blocked as you would expect one of such tension to be. There was only a few barbed wire fences and maybe electric fences.

On the left in the background is the Hindi name for India, Bharat.