Hey team! So the Golden Temple – I have to confess that my knowledge of Seikism is quite limited – while it seems like a wonderful religion, they (thankfully) do not prosthelatize (sp?), which I always found to be a good sign. The Golden Temple is the main pilgrimage sight for Seiks, and in accordance with the welcoming nature of Seiks, we are all pilgrims while we visited. This meant that we have access to the massive volunteer apparatus that provides everything from rooms to meals to clean bathrooms. They do not turn anyone away, and everything is ‘donations appreciated.’ They feel up to 150,000 meals per day on a busy day, and house I don’t know how many people. There are people sleeping outside on mats, given blankets by the Temple volunteers. And nearly to a person, people smile, greet me, and invite me to a museum, a meal, a cup of chai, or a tour of this or that aspect of the Golden Temple complex. Imagine the Vatican putting up and feeding every.single.visitor, regardless of professed faith or ability to pay. Almost entirely run by volunteers! It’s crazy!
What I’ve been able to pick up regarding Seikism is that there are some 35 principle folks, a dozen or so who are gurus (without the aid of Wikipedia I am somewhat crippled).
I’ll try to describe a trip through the dining area, as that requires less of my spiritual esotericism. Whenever in the Golden Temple area, everyone must be barefooted and coveredheaded. I wore my fishing hat which made me considerably more of a spectacle than I am already (white, tall), but I lacked the alternative turban or scarf and didn’t pony up for a little orange bandana (smelled funny). ANYWAY – entering the Golden Temple area, we walk on a marble walkway facing the enclosure around the ‘nectar pond’ and the Golden Temple itself, which seems to float in the middle of it. The dormatories are across a street from the temple area, so we walk barefoot across the street and about halfway down the walk to the enclosure. There is a garden on the left and the dining area on the right. After passing the dishwashing station, we hang a left into the food building. There are spigots along the walkway for people to wash up a bit. There are giant chai dispensers (similar to the industrial milk dispensers) serving all you can drink chai 24 hours a day. Passing those, we are handed metal plates, metal bowls, and a metal spoon by smiling volunteers (four for each item, each regularly employed by the steady stream of folks walking in. We are then guided into the eating area, a large cafeteria with long canvas runners laid out for sitting. We take a seat (again, it is a steady stream of people sitting, maybe 20-30 per minute). After anywhere from 5 seconds to a minute, someone comes around with a metal bucket and ladle and spoons us up some daal (lentil soup-ish, Indian staple), mixed vegetables, rice, rice with vegetables, rice sweetened with coconut, and once even some spiced pumpkin. Somewhere in there someone comes by with a basket of chapattis (like wheat tortillas). He tosses two into our communion hands – the Seiks would hold the bread to their heads before tearing off a piece with which to eat. Through the next 15 minutes or so, we work at our food, the servers coming around slopping more onto plates if we want it. Suddenly (in my case as a slow eater with an upset stomach most of the time), I am one of the only people left in my row – a point made by the water splasher who pours a steady stream down the line in front of the canvases. He is followed by the squeegee man who wipes the floor (marble of course). Then the process begins again.
When we finish, we walk out another door, down a set of stair to near the dishwashing area. Our spoons are collected by one of two folks with large bowls and we hand our plates to one of two men who pass them back to be cleared and washed. Everyone is smiling. This is notable about being in the Golden Temple – people are smiling most of the time. There are greeters at almost every door, folks running the bathrooms, facilitating temple walks, and giving out certain information to uninitiated tourists. Every post is well staffed by volunteers, sometimes with triple redundancy. They do not turn anyone away for food or blankets. Ever. Again, imagine that at the Vatican.
The Indians I have encountered (and at this point there have been quite a few) have been welcoming and curious, if lacking in the social niceties that keep our western streets humming along smoothly. An Indian will think nothing of asking after marriage status, employment, salary, or of asking to listen to the music you are listening to, to tapping you on the shoulder while you are listening to said music, almost rhythmically, every few minutes when something occurs to them. Of course this also means that they are not at all shy about introducing themselves, asking for your photo, or offering to guide you around wherever you might want to go. In the rest of India that I saw (mostly Rajasthan, which is quite touristy), there was often a slightly sinister element to these invitations – they without fail led to a shop; taxi drivers led on detours to shops, people on the street wanting to say hello or to practice English would bring you to a shop. Whenever I am approached by someone I am suspicious – en guard! But not in the Golden Temple – people would invite me to see the museum, or to see their favorite guru shrine, or a particularly nice view of the Golden Temple for that time of day. Much more often however they just wanted to welcome me, to say hello. Yes, I said – hello!
The Golden Temple itself is through a gate, across a foot-washing pool of sorts. The area opens like a magic courtyard; the enclosure is about 70 yards to a side, with wide marble walkways going around the pond. The walkways are fairly simple, everything is white marble, generally decorated with plaques commemorating so and sos contribution to the construction costs. Men would, holding metal chairs there for the purpose, lower themselves down the stairs of the pond to immerse themselves in the holy water. The area is quiet, though not overly solemn – there are kids running around, music playing, and several times a day prayers are called. The Golden Temple itself is accessed via a footbridge of sorts leading from the walkway to the temple – I’m sure there are some great aerial shots of this online. The temple is gilded with a great deal of gold, 500 kg or so I think, and has a dull glow in the white marble and generally cloudy skies. Pilgrims walk around the pond clockwise, according to a solar calendar that I did not hear enough about to make sense of (Wikipedia!).
These were not what struck me so solidly about the temple area. One episode stands out to me in particular. It was mid-afternoon, I wasn’t feeling great and was having a sit under the covered area of the walkway. These kids walked up to me, teenagers, and told me to stand up. A bit put off, I looked at the for a moment before standing up. I then asked them essentially what the hell the deal was. One boy said something in Punjab a few times, then finally another one said, ‘the prayers are being called, it is better to stand.’ The others, rather than snickering at my ignorance (as I expected and somewhat deserved, everyone else was suddenly standing), shook his hand and clapped him on the back for his command of English and the situation, and they walked away. Perhaps the difference isn’t stark enough to show, but to me it was a world apart from curiosity and derision I’d experienced in similar situations.
The dorms were similar – everyone friendly, mobs of people sleeping outside in the courtyard of the dorm building, on the walkway to the temple, all over. Dorms full – and everyone possible given a blanket, a mat, and as much food as they can eat. Pretty fabulous.
The final shot here is of a guy taking a break. The general attitude of the Temple area was very relaxed but still reverent - it was a cool combination.
Here are a few photos of the general Temple area. I was less forthright in the dining area, but Grant (who is an amateur photographer) did take a number of fantastic photos. You can see them here (seriously worth checking out, whenever he gets around to posting them ...). Thanks for reading!
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