J&K Visit: Amritsar

20.09.09

The distance between Jammu and Amritsar is about 300 kilometers and takes about 5hrs. The highway passes via Madhavpur and Gurudaspur.

We first visited Jalian Wala Bagh which is quite near the Golden Temple.

The Narrow alley leading to the grounds, the bullet holes on the walls and the Martyr’s well are all reminders of the massacre that ultimately lead to the emergence of India as a sovereign democratic Republic. After absorbing the historic significance of the place, we made our way to the Golden Temple.

The Temple, which is the holiest shrine of the Sikh community is situated amidst a huge tank and is enclosed within marble walls. Entrances from all directions lead into the shrine. It is important to note that the access to the temple is by steps that lead down from the entrances to the tank. My friend Kamaljit, a Chennai based Sikh, informs me that the devotees are forced to go down the steps to the tank to show that the greatest of men has to lower himself in the presence of God. The tank, filled with clear water and containing trout and other fish, (some of them longer than the span of a man’s outstretched hands!) signifies purity and purification before entering the presence of the Almighty.

There, right in the middle of the tank is the Golden Temple glittering in the sun. There is a single causeway that leads right up to the shrine of the Guru Grant Sahib. The verses of the Grant Sahib are continuously chanted in the temple enclosure.