Amritsar

Empty Countryside and Busy Roads

It isn’t all congestion and pollution. Between the cities is countryside like this, photographed through the train window somewhere between Jaipur and Delhi.

The reason we travelled back to Delhi by train is that it’s the easiest way to get to Amritsar. From Delhi, it’s a short flight away; the detour saves a lot of time and costs only a little more.

Amritsar

The roads around Amritsar were a lot less crowded than in Delhi, and so were the streets. The scene below is just outside our hotel, the Ramada by Windham Amritsar. Unlike the other hotels we stayed at, this one punched way below its 4-star rating. And to make matters worse, I believe because of its proximity to the Golden Temple, it doesn’t sell alcohol – so we couldn’t even numb the misery of staying there.

Amritsar itself, however, was a fascinating place; it is very different from Delhi and definitely not as loud. The traffic isn’t as heavy – there’s space between the cars – and it’s possible to breathe easier.

Our tour guide, Ravish, picked us up at the hotel and drove us to the city, where we started our tour outside the Statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, an impressively ornate marble statue.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh, “The Lion of Punjab”, was born in 1780 and founded and ruled the Sikh Empire from 1801 until 1839. During his reign, he unified the Punjab, booted out the Afghans, expanded territory, and promoted religious coexistence – including eliminating unfair taxation on non-muslims. He also oversaw the restoration of the Harmandir Sahib (The Golden Temple).

The statue above forms part of the Jallianwala Bagh, a place where we Brits feel particularly uncomfortable visiting. More on that later.

Golden Temple

It is necessary to wear a head covering to enter the Golden Temple. Maria has hers at the ready. Ravish bought me an orange number just like the one he is sporting in the photo above.

It is also necessary to remove footwear before setting foot on the grounds of the Temple. Fortunately, just like a large left-luggage facility, there is a row of counters available where you can hand your shoes over to a member of staff (actually a volunteer) who will put them inside on a numbered shelf.

Guru Ram Das started building the Golden Temple in 1577 by constructing the Amrit Sarovar (the sacred pool). The foundation stone for the Temple was laid in 1604, and a copy of the Adi Granth (hymns and teachings from all 10 sikh gurus) was placed inside. Major reconstruction took place between 1801 and 1839, and the application of gold to the Temple continues.

At sunrise, the light shines onto the Adi Granth through the eastern part of the Temple.

Despite mechanisation –  that machine cranks out up to 25,000 rotis per hour  – the practice of making rotis by hand continues. The roti makers invited us to have a go. Maria came up with a creatively shaped version, but I – and allow me to blow my own roti-making trumpet here – created a perfectly circular number, much to the appreciation of my fellow rollers, both men and women.

People and businesses donate much, if not all, of the food here. The ghee cans, waiting to be collected for reuse or recycling, give some indication of the number of people fed at the langar. According to the Golden Temple Amritsar website, the langar serves around 100,000 people per day – double that on special occasions. And it is good. Maria and I tried the food here and would rate it highly on TripAdvisor.

Jallianwala Bagh

After our visit to the Golden Temple, we collected our shoes and walked over to the Jallianwala Bagh.

I didn’t take many photographs inside the Jallianwala Bagh as it felt too uncomfortable. The potted history is this – courtesy of Wikipedia:

The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Amritsar Massacre, occurred on April 13, 1919. A large crowd gathered to protest the Rowlatt Act and the arrest of pro-Indian independence activists Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal. Brigadier General R. E. H. Dyer surrounded the people with his troops and ordered them to shoot at the crowd, killing hundreds and wounding many more. Estimates of those killed vary from 379 to 1,500 or more.

What isn’t mentioned in that summary is that the crowd was unarmed.

Dyer was in temporary command of the British Indian Army when he ordered his soldiers to open fire. Afterwards, he was quickly removed from his position and subject to widespread condemnation. Winston Churchill described the day as “monstrous”. However, the Hunter Committee investigating the massacre did not impose any punishment on him, although he had to resign his position.

The story is told very well in the Jallianwala Bagh, and it is worth spending time there to understand the perspectives. This was certainly one of the key triggers that precipitated the decline of British rule in India.

For more see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre

Waga Border Crossing

After the emotional flattening from our visit to the Jallianwala Bagh, it was time for some light entertainment. Ravish drove us the 40 km or so towards the India – Pakistan border crossing known as the Waga Border. The ceremony here has been broadcast many times on a number of media channels, but what they don’t seem to show is the fun part of it.

Although often depicted as a serious display of military discipline and precision, it is also an interactive piece of theatre with singing, dancing, a lot of flag waving and exaggerated movement. Hopefully, the photos and videos below tell the story.

The Singing

The Big Guns

Cheerleader and members of the ministry

Synchronicity

And again

Crowd rousing

Flag stuff

More flag antics

Gate Closing

After the ceremony ended, we weaved our way through the crowd to meet up with Ravish again, who drove us back to our 2-star, 4-star hotel. Then, the next day, we headed off in an Uber to the airport to catch our flight back to Delhi.

At the airport, we stumbled across this fantastic model of the Golden Temple. It isn’t bad at all.

We changed our plans slightly for our trip to Delhi. Rather than face the madness of the city, we booked ourselves into the Radisson Blu near the airport to risk some of that 5-star food – and to deflate from the racket of the city.