Golden Temple in the Red Hot Sun

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The golden tops of the golden temple.

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This is just another of those stories that is "only in India." Sandra, Petra, and I met at the gate of the University last night and here is our timeline from then to arriving here this morning:

7:00pm -Meet at JNU main gate (South end of Delhi) 7:15pm -Finally get an auto-rickshaw that will take us to the North end of Delhi 8:15pm- Arrive at Interstate Bus Transportation in North end 8:30pm- Buy tickets at "travel agency" for a "deluxe bus"             - They lead us to their "waiting area" with three plastic stools by the highway

9:30pm- Van arrives to drive us to bus parking area 9:35pm- Van gets flat tire 9:45pm- Cycle-rickshaws hired to take us to parking lot 9:50pm- Cycles drop us off at other "travel agency" location 10:00pm-Lead us by foot down the street, through a temple, and market to the bus parking lot, where there is only one bus, ours.

This gives you an idea of the detail and quality of the work on the temple building. This is one of the exterior hallways around the ground floor.

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10:30pm- Board the bus and wait, wait, sweat, wait. Then they turn on and  on board TV playing loud, 1980's India version of McGiver.

6:30am- Wake up in Amritsar.

So, after all that we decided to sleep at the hotel for a few more hours. The moment we stepped off the bus we were flocked with eager rickshaw drivers. We paid too much, but finally agreed because there were only two drivers there and we didn't know where we were going. They agreed to take us to our hotel, which they didn't. We adamantly refused to pay them and told them to take us to OUR hotel. Which they finally did. It's a decent place, but no unnecessary luxuries.

We slept till about 10:00am then  went down for coffee in the breakfast room. It was the first time I had proper brewed coffee in India. It's almost always instant coffee brewed in milk. So, we had our coffee and talked to a guy riding his motorbike from China to Israel. (God told him when he was climbing Everest that he should be a disciple to the Jewish people, so he's headed that direction.) Then we set out for the Golden Temple.

You can see Petra and Sandra entering the interior of the temple complex on the right side. The white building they are standing in surrounds this massive complex and houses museums, prayer rooms, kitchens, stores, and much more.

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The word "hot" is really completely insufficient to describe the weather here. To top it all off, the Golden Temple is the Sikh's most holy shrine so shoes are not allowed inside. The temple is mostly white marble, but it's still hot. Despite the incredible heat, it is one of the most beautiful things I have seen in India. The temple sits in the middle of a large pool called the "pool of nectar," which is supposed to have healing properties and where most Sikh baptisms are held.

Sikhs can be easily identified by their turbans and beards. They believe in never cutting their hair, including facial hair. Their religion is largely based on purifying your life. So, personal cleanliness, and your occupation can largely define your cast within this religion. They also believe in service to the community. The temple provides, entrance, lodging (for one night), and a free meal to all who enter. (We decided not to take them up on the offer, but appreciated the gesture.)

It's a horrible photo, but mama said to have more pictures with me in it. So there you have it - me and the temple. The men behind me are bathing in the holy water. I don't think women were allowed in the water. Either that, or they just won't get naked in public.

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     After resting in the room for a few hours, we decided to participate in the other major tourist attraction in Amritsar...the closing of the border. Each night at the Pakistan and Indian border they have and elaborate ceremony similar to what they do in England with the changing of the guard. The crowd was incredibly large, loud, and pushy. I would tell you all about the event, but after an hour or so in the sun, in a pushy crowd that we couldn't see over, we decided to just head back to the hotel. I did buy the DVD before the show though, so we can watch it together for the first time when I get home! :)