When planning our trip to India in November 2007, there was one attraction that was set in stone - the non-negotiable, 'come hell or high water', must-see destination for us was the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Ever since I read a review in a guidebook…Read More

When planning our trip to India in November 2007, there was one attraction that was set in stone - the non-negotiable, 'come hell or high water', must-see destination for us was the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Ever since I read a review in a guidebook to India saying that Golden Temple made the Taj Mahal look a tad on the tacky side, I was hooked.

My cultural references for the GT were relatively few. It appears in the background of one of the song and dance sequences in 'Bride and Prejudice'; it has a key role in the life (and death) of Indira Gandhi, a woman I'm fascinated (and sometimes horrified) by; and you'll find a picture (or several) on the wall of any Sikh business you ever visit. I'm fascinated by world religions and there could be no better place to learn about Sikhism than at its heart.

I was so fixated on the temple that it had blinded me to the task of finding out what else there was to do in Amritsar. I had in my mind an image of a leafy garden city abounding in beauty and basking in the golden glow of its most famous attraction. I convinced myself that there must be LOADS of things to do in the most holy Sikh city. I really should have done more homework and should have reminded myself how much I didn't like Agra on the two occasions I'd been there. Just because your number one attraction is AMAZING, there's not guarantee that there's much else to do.

I booked a hotel for 3 nights for my husband and myself and our friends booked just the one night because they needed to head back to their father's village due to some family 'troubles'. We were due to leave Amritsar on a night train so we had three and a half days to see a city that can easily be 'knocked off' in 24 hours if you are pushed for time.

A word of advice to anyone planning their own travel – get some brochures for organised tours, check how long they plan to be in a city and add a day because you won't have the benefit of the local knowledge of a tour leader.

We arrived in Amritsar in the early afternoon after being driven from our friend's father's village near to Jalandhar in the Punjab and the city was a shock. We'd been spoiled by our previous destinations - the beautiful vertiginous Himalayan city of Shimla, the clean and geometric city of Chandigarh, even the primitive solitude of our friend's dad's village in the Punjab. Amritsar by contrast was right back to the full-on traffic, blaring horns, polluted air and bedlam. I don't know why I thought it would be different. We had no map, not much of an address and no clue where we were going. Our driver asked other drivers and a policeman or two who pointed us in the right direction. The grubby streets were crowded with cars, cycles, pedestrians, stray dogs and busy people. It took ages to find the hotel despite it being only a block away from the temple on a side street.

On our first afternoon we polished off a big lunch in a café that became our daily brunch spot and then headed off to Wagah on the border with Pakistan for the daily flag lowering ceremony. Back to the city afterwards our Sikh friends tidied themselves up and took us to the temple. We were there just a few days after Diwali and the temple and surrounding buildings were draped in strings of white lights which twinkled in the reflections of the water.

On our second day our friends had deserted us with nothing more than the photocopied pages of their Lonely Planet guide. Amritsar gets only a few pages and they had to be broad minded to manage even that amount. Hubby and I went back to have a proper look at the temple, to check out the museum and to spend – quite literally – about 6 hours just sitting around watching the world go by at the Temple. We became an attraction in our own right if the number of people coming up to say hello, take our photos and ask us to touch their children were anything to go by. You cannot be inconspicuous in Amritsar.

Had we done the sensible thing and gone for just a day or a day and a half like most tourists, I don't think we'd ever have been as moved by the temple and the friendliness of the visitors as we were. Our only other activity on day two was our first visit to the Jallianwala Bagh gardens – site of the 1919 massacre.

On day 3 the Lonely Planet pages came into their own. We tracked down a lad who'd driven us to the border a few days earlier and, with the help of his 'uncle' we negotiated for him to drive us around for half a day so we could see the places we'd found in the guidebook. Despite him having the most unpleasant smelling vehicle of all time, he was a nice guy, a safe driver (don't underestimate how rare that is) and completely flexible to taking us anywhere we asked. We kicked off our self-designed tour with a trip to the Sri Durgiana temple.

Sri Durgiana is a Hindu temple that's 'heavily influenced' by the Golden Temple. When I say 'heavily influenced' it's a bit like saying those knock-off fake handbags sold by dodgy people on street corners are 'heavily influenced' by the designer originals. It was bizarre to find another temple, also set in the middle of a water 'tank' in a design so similar but for a completely different religion. Since we'd spent most of the day before going clockwise round the Golden Temple, we decided to go 'anti-clockwise' round the Sri Durgiana a few times just for a bit of variety. Like sheep that always go the same way round a hill, we didn't want to develop one leg shorter than the other.

After the temple, we hopped back in the van to go to the Rambagh Gardens, a large public park in the north of the city. After a very pleasant stroll through the gardens we came to one of the most unusual museums we've ever seen – the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama. The museum is dedicated to the popular Sikh leader Maharaja Ranjit Singh – and presents scenes from his life and times, some of them reproducing famous paintings, in which dolls and stuffed animals are set out in a strange array to give a sense of enhanced three-dimensionality. It's odd to say the least.

With an hour to go before we were due to meet the driver, we found ourselves stopping off at the Indian Academy of Arts where they were celebrating National Children's Day which occurs each year on the anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday. The surreal experience of being temporary VIPs, trapped at a prize giving ceremony and garlanded with flowers was one worthy of a review of its own. Only the ability to swear blind that our driver was waiting for us and we had to go prevented us having to stay all evening.

Day 4 was a lazy 'revisit the highlights' day – back to the Jallianwala gardens again and another long visit to the temple before heading off to the station which was one of the nicer ones we've seen in India and a lot less intimidating than the big city stations.

Throughout our stay we'd spent a lot of time 'killing time' but actually surprised ourselves with how much we enjoyed being 'busy doing not a lot'. We had our late breakfast/lunch at the same place every day and soon became recognised as 'regulars' and rotated our evening meals between three other restaurants on the road between the temple and the gardens. Within the area around the temple all restaurants are strictly vegetarian and completely teetotal and we had some outstanding food though a beer wouldn't have gone a miss after a couple of days. Lunch was typically costing us less than $3 for the two of us, dinner less than double that.

Going back and forth to the Temple was always easy and the people at the temple always exceptionally welcoming. We didn't feel just 'tolerated' – we actually felt that people were really pleased to see us there and wanted us to share in their joy at visiting the centre of Sikhism.

My advice on Amritsar? Definitely go and don't just make it a brief visit. It deserves some time to soak up the atmosphere but realistically, you don't need three and a half days – one and a half to two should comfortably give you time to see the temple, go to the border, stop into the Jallianwala and maybe take in the Sri Durgiana.
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I can take a 2 hour flight from Delhi to Amritsar (ATQ) or a 6 hour train on Indian Rail. I chose the flight on Kingfisher Airways (iflykingfisher.com) for about $75. It was just too much to take a train after 2 transatlantic flights.…Read More

I can take a 2 hour flight from Delhi to Amritsar (ATQ) or a 6 hour train on Indian Rail. I chose the flight on Kingfisher Airways (iflykingfisher.com) for about $75. It was just too much to take a train after 2 transatlantic flights. It will cost you about $10 or 500R to get to Amritsar on a prepaid taxi from the Amritsar airport. Definitely worthwhile. They taxi driver actually walks your luggage out to his car, loads it, and drives you to your hotel in town, which is about 20 kn away. Depending on traffic, it might take you close to 25 minutes. Hang on for the ride as they roads are littered with bicyclists, rickshaws, horse drawn carriages, scooters with families on them, trucks, and sometimes even people walking. Swerving is normal and don't worry about the honking, it's to let the other drivers know that you are coming. I had to remind myself to breath deeply and this taxi driver is a pro.
Once I arrived at my hotel, Le Golden, the bellman escorted me and my luggage to the deluxe $30 room, turned on the A/C (which is a God send!), I took a shower and took a long nap. By the way, I love the fact that there are bidets! The rooftop restaurant was the only thing open when I awoke. The food was simply divine and for $5 for a full meal, I felt like royalty dining on the rooftop with the majestic Golden Temple in view.
A tip for those who are new to sleeping with the A/C on, never sleep with it on after a shower with wet hair. For some reason, one is prone to getting sick that way. I turned off the A/C and slept with the ceiling fan on. It would have been unbearable otherwise.
I slept like a baby in the firm king-sized bed and awoke in time to visit the Golden Temple during the Amrit Vela (nectar of the veil), the darkest time of night which is between 4-6am. I checked my shoes in at the gate then I walked into this pool of running water before climbing the steps to enter the Golden Temple.
I meditated on the marble platform directly across from the Siri Harimander where the 4th Guru, Guru Ram Das sat. I meditated on the sounds of the temple, the splashing of the big fishes in the water, the constant chanting and music from the ragis, the people who seem to walk clockwise around the pool of water surrounding the magnificent Golden Temple nonstop. I heard the birds sing, the clamoring of feet on the marble, the sounds of people splashing in the holy water, and the buckets of water pouring water onto the white marble.
From my spot, I witnessed the sun rise from behind me and noticed the colors change around me. The morning was precious, so precious, the waking moments of the soul. This is how its done. You take a dip in the holy water (there is protocol), you drink it even, and you visit the Guru in the Golden Temple, which is floating in the middle of this beautiful lake. You make your offerings and sometimes, they even give you this bright orange material with crackers inside to take home. You can climb the steps and visit the 2nd and 3rd floor where you can see people reading from the Nitnem or sacred book of sikh hymns. The walls are covered with handpainted, intricate designs. Gold and chanting everywhere. I felt transported into a different time and space. Remember to cover your head and bow like they do. Touch your forehead to the marble or touch the marble with you hand as signs of respect.
Upon exiting, take the Guru's blessings in the form of prasad, a sweet combination of honey, ghee, and flour (reminds me of sweet oatmeal) that they scoop out from a huge metal bowl into your hands. I felt blessed in so mnay ways just by being in the sacred space.Close

As I had not eaten anything since the previous day (I was too busy crossing the border at Wagah the same morning - see my review of the border crossing), I decided to take advantage of the famous Sikh hospitality and generosity by offering me…Read More

As I had not eaten anything since the previous day (I was too busy crossing the border at Wagah the same morning - see my review of the border crossing), I decided to take advantage of the famous Sikh hospitality and generosity by offering me a treat: a free meal in the Golden Temple Complex.

It was really easy for me to find the huge canteen. There are several entrances to the Golden Temple but just in front of the gurdwara I was staying in (Sri Guru Ram Das Niwas), there was one of the main entrances to the Golden Temple. On the marble causeway, on my right was the canteen.

However, even though I had left my shoes in the Niwas (lodge), I was quickly reminded to put a scarf on my head (there are several boxes throughout the Golden Temple Complex where you can pick a orange scarf, the size of a big handkerchief and use it to cover your head). I hurriedly put one scarf on my head and then I was ready for my free meal!

That day, there were few people queuing. No ticket booth, nothing whatsoever that would stop you from misusing the Sikh generosity (but I look foreign and I would easily be recognised if I ever tried to eat there several times).

Before being able to eat, I was given a steel plate, a steel spoon and a steel bowl. I just had to follow the pilgrims because I did not know what way to go. I just observed how they behaved and tried to copy them. The procession of pilgrims then entered a huge room, probably the biggest canteen I had ever seen with dozens of columns and high ceilings. It could have easily welcomed more than 1,000 people at once. People were eating in perfect rows. No seats, no tables, just bare floors on which pilgrims sat. I was told to go into a row and sit down close to the pilgrims.

As I was sitting down, a man arrived with a huge casserole and started pouring a generous portion of dhal (lentils) curry into our plates, accompanied with two chapati breads. I could choose to eat either with my right hand or my spoon, but I chose the spoon instead because I was not used to India yet.

The taste was not bad even though it was extremely spicy. Also, I was served filtered tap water (in the Temple surroundings, filtered water is available everywhere)

I finished eating my meal in about fifteen minutes and then I was invited to get up and return the plate, the spoon and the bowl to be cleaned. Once a full row of happily fed pilgrims was cleared (every 20-25 minutes), it welcomed another row of hungry pilgrims.

It is said that the Golden Temple can feed up to 35.000 people per day thanks to generous donations from Sikhs.

Meals are free and a donation is not compulsory and you will not be forced to donate anything in the canteen. However, I put a small donation in a box at the canteen exit to thank the Sikhs for the food they had generously offered me without taking my nationality, my wages, my religion, or whatever into consideration. Close

From Lahore, the last Pakistani city before the border, I had taken a minibus to go to the border at Wagah. There were no big buses going to the Indian border, only minibuses travelling on a dusty and muddy road. The largest part of the…Read More

From Lahore, the last Pakistani city before the border, I had taken a minibus to go to the border at Wagah. There were no big buses going to the Indian border, only minibuses travelling on a dusty and muddy road. The largest part of the road was in very bad condition and that reminded me a little bit of Taftan, the first village I saw in Pakistan after having crossed the Irano-Pakistant border.

The minibus dropped me off just in front of the Indo-Pakistani border. I had some trouble finding the customs among large concrete buildings but once I was given the right direction, everything went smoothly. The Pakistani customs officers were very nice towards me and joked with me while my passport was being verified and stamped. I was proposed to change my last Pakistani rupees into Indian rupees at a slightly unfavourable rate. I only had a couple of hundred rupees left and I was happy to change them. At least I would have enough change to last until the next day. The customs officers said that I was welcome anytime in their country and warned me about Indian officials who might be less friendly towards me than them. My luggage was barely checked and a luggage wallah picked my bags and engaged me to follow him towards the line that separates Pakistan from India. We both crossed a short no-man’s-land by foot, consisting of a two-track road in excellent state, in the middle of which was a huge painted gate separating Pakistan from India. In Iran, there was just a frontier complex on the Iranian side, and once I had left the Iranian Customs Office, I was already in Pakistan.

There was nobody and in the departure registers, I had seen that only nine foreign tourists had crossed the border that day. However, there were many customs officers; they must get bored waiting all day for people to cross the border. Just as I was about to leave Pakistan, I encountered two Australians. One of them knew some Sign Language (I am deaf, by the way) and asked me where she could stay in Lahore. I recommended her the Regale Internet Inn, where she would be able to meet other backpackers.

Crossing a border is indescribable. I always feel strange when crossing a border, especially by foot. I have a palpable emotion, as if I was leaving something that I am familiar with for the unknown. I have liked Pakistan, even if some people could sometimes be annoying. Generally, Pakistanis are very nice people and always helpful towards foreigners. It is not like when you are travelling by plane, the emotion is not the same one; a border should be crossed by foot, as one sees best the differences and the resemblances on each side of the border.

Once arrived at the line which separates India from Pakistan, my wallah gave my luggage to his Indian colleague, without crossing the visible line on the road. They looked at each other coldly and did not say a word even though they did not look different and were speaking the same language, Punjabi! I did not realise straight away that I had just entered India. There were still 300 more metres before I reached the Indian customs. The Indian wallah guided me to the modern immigration office where my passport was quickly stamped and my luggage searched for a short while.

Some argue that Indian officials are unsympathetic towards foreigners. It was not the case that day; they were even nice towards me. Just as I left the customs office, I noticed that it had started to rain. The wallah guided me towards the exit of the border complex and I was left there. As soon as I was officially on Indian ground, touts started assaulting me. I had been mentally prepared for this and I remained stoic. Some wanted to drive me to Amritsar, 32km from there for 500 rupees (10 euros). However, I knew it was possible to reach Amritsar for less than one-tenth of that price. I thus ignored the touts and asked auto-rickshaw drivers to drive me to Attari, 4km from the border where I could take a bus to AmritsarClose

It was my first trip to Amritsar. Oh,…Read More

It was my first trip to Amritsar. Oh, man, I was so so so much glad and curious about to see that how this city is going to be look like, and the very famous one of the Seven Wonders of India the Golden Temple, a great pilgrimage of Hindu & Sikh devotees. The distance of Amritsar from Jalandhar is 82 kms.. We consulted from a renowned travel company in India, who took the responsibility of our travel to this unknown land, so it hired a Tata Safari for the six people(four adult and two kids).

Golden Temple- First we reached to Golden temple it was the starting of September so the weather was quite humid and there was little suffocation outside,, but as soon as we reached to Amritsar it had started raining.
Wow.. the grey clouds on this white wonder full monument. Some can think why I called it white monument whereas it is made of Gold and seems yellow.. I called it white as its all buildings are white so. Well, the Golden temple appears like a Beautiful Crown on the head of a white prince. The outer walls and dome of the temples are covered with the gold plates. and it is really really nice to touch it and seeing a one of this five richest temples in India. Others five richest temples are first Shri Padamnabhaswamy temple in Kerala, second Shri Thirumula Tirupati Balaji in Andhra, third Shirdi Sai Baba Mandir (Maharashtra), fifth Siddhivinayak Temple (Mumbai). Golden temples is counted as fourth.
"Fantabulous", it was the only word we all just uttered from our mouth. Light showers with wind, which shortly started, all was giving an impression like we are somewhere on the heaven on this Earth, a fantastic place, we had never been before. First we visited the beautiful temple inside, then took a round the temple, seen beautiful multi-colored fishes in the pond in the the Temple Compound.

As a nice ritual- No matter it is a girl or boy, man or woman, they all need to cover their head to show their respect to the Guru Sahab, i.e. the dear, Lord of the Temple. So, before entering into the temple there's two buckets containing cloths to cover your head, it is used by only those who are not carrying anything like scarf or kerchief to cover.

Prasada- Whatever you get as a Prasad from temple we call it Prasada in the GuruDwara. So..We received prasada after paying our homage in the temple. It was yummy and delicious Halwa.
Then at the lunch time we moved to the next building behind the temple where we entered into a big hall where more than 500 people can sit and have food at a time.
The thing which is really nice to see there is that whatever is served in the temple to the devotees it is served with utmost humbleness and with the same politeness the devotee has to accept it.

As a Seva(Self-service or volunteer)- The best thing about to see in the temple is that it is not demanding anything from anyone.. but if you really wants to give it something and you don't have to give any materialistic thing, then you can humbly present yourself at the service of the other devotees who are visiting the temple. Like you can help in preparing food, and washing utensils and cleaning, and serving as a great servant of humanity.

After leaving this marvelous Golden Temple we moved toward the Jalianwala Bagh.

Jalianwala Bagh- It is the same park where General R.E.H. Dyer ordered a big massacre of the innocent people. it is a beautiful place but you can't help to shiver the moment you step on the land of this park, Now it is a great historical place. It is such a wonderful place where you can see the walls where the bullet marks are preserved, the Martyr Well where lots of Ladies with their little kids and infants, old man and youths jumped to escaped from the terror created by General Dyer. A Large Memorial in the honor of those all martyrs.
It is a must visit place in Amritsar.

Wagah Border- After seeing this historical land we headed for Wagah Border or Atari Border. It is a border between India & Pakistan. The distance of Wagah border from Amritsar is 45 kms from car... Here you can see every evening a parade in the little stadium(it is a road actually having a Huge Gate between the India and Pakistan) performed by the soldiers of Border Security Force. These more than 6.5 feet tall soldiers performs so magnetically and their electric performance fills so much enthusiasm that even the visitors can't stop themselves to dance and performs with them.
Well, in the stadium when we watched this live show we just felt filled with the great spirit of patriotism. It was such an unforgettable trip there to Wagah Border. Everyone there was just too much lost in this show that even after it was raining down there and evening started getting cold, but they didn't care for it even for a while... Finally in the dusk we decided to return back to Jalandhar where we stayed.
Memorable dinner at Dhabha- Whenever you are in some trip to India, specially Punjab, don't forget to have taste the food in the totally rustic atmosphere, it is just so good and nice. It was already decided that we will have our dinner in some dhabha on our way back to Jalandhar from Amritsar.
The food in this dhabha where we enjoyed the Punjabi cuisine was still mesmerized by everyone in our group. Eventually, we all were tired and refreshed at the same time by this pleasant trip to the best places of Amritsar city.
You can book your tour & travel to this wonderful city Amritsir in Punjab, with (Holiday India) HI destination Management Pvt. Ltd.
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