Amritsar: City with a Golden Soul

One of my friends has gone for an adventure trip to a place called Mukteshwar and I had no clue about where it was located. It is at that very moment, that my eyes went to a book lying on the centre table of my living room which said “India-Tourists & Travel Guide”. Instinctively, I picked up the book and started flipping the pages to find about Mukteshwar. Just as I turned the first few pages of the book, I suddenly stopped at the page on Amritsar. I had just returned from a 3-day trip to Amritsar and the page brought back the entire trip in front of my eyes.
We hired a Tavera for the trip and we left the capital at 5.30 in the morning. We were 8 people in all including our driver, Happy Singh. The days of November are mildly cold and it was dark when we left. As we were passing the familiar roads of Delhi, the image of the Golden Temple kept floating in front of my eyes. But only then, I heard somebody in the backseat saying, “Amritsar is very congested and dirty”. The castle of my dreams came down crashing. After that, I resolved to not think about Amritsar any more and catch on some sleep.
Our first stop on the journey was at a dhaba(rustic form of restaurant) called Zhilmil. One cannot resist the stuffed paranthas (Indian bread) while in a dhaba. So we ordered a variety of stuffed paranthas with the accompaniments of desi ghee (clarified butter), yoghurt, pickle and tea. The sun shone brightly and I took my tea and adjusted my chair to sit in the sun and soak in the warmth. After this lavish breakfast, we headed for our journey ahead. It was because of the beauty nap, that I could not observe the path carefully. As we started with the next part of our journey, I realized that the roads were extremely well-kept and scenic. Stretches of green accompanied us from the very beginnings of our journey.
I was constantly watching the kilometers on the milestones to keep a track of how much we had reached. Our car was on one of the main highways that went to Amritsar and it is then that Happy Singh informed us that we had a flat tyre. But this could not dampen our spirits because I was all ready with my camera to have a round of photographs clicked. The environs suggested that we were very close to our destination. Sikhs with turbans could be seen all around, stretches of farms planted with mustard, sugarcane, etc, were visible as far as eyes could reach and Gurudwaras could be seen at regular intervals. We had entered Punjab. Just when we were admiring our surroundings, Happy informed us that the tyre was corrected and that we could continue with our journey.
One of my acquaintances who had already been to Amritsar, suggested a visit to a monument on the way, in a town called Nakodar.
This was a huge fortress with high walls on all four sides and to my surprise was absolutely spick and span. The gardeners meticulously performed their chores and it seemed as if everyone was carrying a rota with them. The expanse of green within the premises, the budding flowers and the vastness of the monument stood in melancholic anonymity; silently demanding attention. Parallel to the boundary wall of the fort ran farms growing rice which seemed to have befriended the lonely fort. The locals told us that this fort served as a jail during the time of Jehangir, one of the mughal emperors. After visiting it, as we went on, there was a strong whiff of something very sweet and before we could realize what it was, we saw fresh jaggery boiling. The journey until now was already so enriching that I was now all geared up to take on Amritsar.
In the evening we entered Amritsar and what I heard was absolutely correct. The place is very congested and chaotic. There is absolute anarchy when it comes to traffic. After a lot of enquiry, we reached our guest house. Going by the conventions, I had assumed our accommodation to be some hotel but to my surprise, this was an old haveli (palace with a courtyard) which once served as a gateway to Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s summer palace. This has now been converted into a guest house in the wake of growing modernism. The haveli still hasn’t lost its royal charm. The haveli is decorated on the top with cupolas and light filters in through the jharokhas built on the two sides. As one opens the gate, the palace traditionally known as Deorhi (entrance gateway) Rambagh welcomes visitors with its majestic cusped entry point. The haveli is flanked on both sides by green gardens which grow some of the very beautiful fern plants. After admiring our accommodation and scrutinizing our rooms, we set off for the next most awaited destination- The Golden Temple. The temple is at a minutes’ distance from the parking lot. From this distance one can hear the Gurubani (scared verses from the holy book, Guru Granth Sahib). This sets the tone for what to expect ahead.
There is a huge marble gate which is the doorstep to the temple. In the compound just outside the temple, there are counters where one has to keep shoes and opposite the shoe-counters are the many souvenir shops. As one reaches the main entrance, there is a watercourse where one has to wash their feet before entering the holy temple. Just as I put my feet in that water, I could feel the discharge of mysticism within me. There is a feeling of awe which the atmosphere generates immediately as one steps inside the premises. As I was coming down the stairs, I held my breath for the sight that awaited me and when I looked at the temple for the first time, I wished inside that this moment shall never pass. The Golden temple in the moonlit night was standing like a timeless jewel which decorates our incredible India. The temple is surrounded on three sides by pond of water called the Amrit Sarovar or the pool of nectar. The reflection from the water further beautifies the temple, with a sparkle. We then stood in a queue which took us inside the temple which was the abode to the Guru Granth Sahib. This sight was as breathtaking as the previous one, if not less. I could feel God all around us, blessing every one of us. The interior of the temple was highly charged with a peculiar form of holiness. It was as if God himself was orchestrating the scene.
The Guru Granth Sahib was wrapped in a pink brocade cloth and commanded immense respect. After offering prayers in the temple, we were led to a hall within which the temple was located. As I was observing my surroundings, I was dumbstruck to see the carvings on the walls and the ceilings. What made the carvings unique was not only the minute and excellent architectural work but the bright and vibrant colours that were used such as red, golden and blue. The temple, now, conveyed to me, an altogether new meaning. It appeared like a holy palace where one could come to attain peace and be with the king (in this sense, God) and converse with him in their own ways. I reached the terrace and I could see the small gold cupolas decorating the divine palace. Having now visited the temple, we all headed for the langar (food offered to people in the Grudwara). This is the place of crucial importance. While I was having my langar, I could see many men and women serving people, after finishing the meal when I went outside to deposit the plate, I could see hundreds of people including men, women and children washing the used plates; people were serving tea to those who just had their meals; also people were cutting vegetables for the preparations next day. From this one could easily conclude that the main tenet of this religion is to serve the humanity, which was visible all around me. They believed that serving people was the best way to reach God. Also, not only do they themselves serve people but also encourage others to do the same and tread the path of humanity. So, inspired by the people working around me, I planned to lend my hand too. I first washed the used utensils following which I glossed the chapathis (thin circular bread made out of wheat) with clarified butter. It was only when I had done all this, that I could feel the goodness of the act. I could see my work actually reaching out to people. This was the most fulfilling experience one can ever have. Often we donate in good causes and can’t see it getting realized. In this place, one gets instant gratification for their acts.
The visit to the Golden Temple had been very enriching and I was now looking forward to my next stop at the Jallianwala Bagh, in the morning, the next day. This place, as well known, has a historical importance. Since my childhood when I first read about this place, I had this image about Jallianwala Bagh and I now got the opportunity to match it with the real one. It’s situated ten steps ahead of the Golden Temple, on the main road. The board over the gate said “The Jallianwala Bagh” and we entered a small gate. As I was walking through the passage, a stone on the wall said “this is the passage through which General Dyer conducted the soldiers to fire at innocent people”; the very writing gave me goose pimples. The narrow passage gave way to a big garden like area, and just next to me was a mini pyramid which said, “The crowd was fired at, from here”. I stood there and imagined how the scene would have been in 1919, when the gruesome incident actually happened but I would not pretend to know how it would have felt for the people who were victims to this homicide. There is a tall red-stone memorial built in the memory of the martyrs and also there are bullet marks which tell their story.
I could see the contrasting emotions arousing within me; on one side was this holy and sacred place which forbids you from doing anything against the humanity and on the other side is this site of the most gruesome and sad event in the history of our freedom struggle. To make sense of this confusion and heaviness became an onerous task, so the best way of distraction was food. Amritsar fascinates its tourists not only by its important destinations and locales but also by its food. So we went to a joint and ordered assorted parathas with yoghurt, the traditional combination.
After this wholesome brunch, we headed for the next most important stop, Wagah border. The border area is located in a small village named Attari. This is among some of the very popular tourist sites at Amritsar. It is not only the fact that one can see the line which commemorates the partition of India into India and Pakistan and which also eventuated into the largest human exodus in the history of mankind; it also has been made popular recently by the retreating ceremony that is held every evening. This ceremony is held on both sides of the line to get their national flags to be kept indoors after sunset. The actions are identical on both the sides and happen simultaneously. This ceremony is also accompanied by the slogans of Hindustan Zindabad and Vande Mataram on our side of the line. One actually comes to realize the feeling of belongingness to the country which otherwise has become very latent lately. This area also is flanked by a stretch of barbed wires with electricity flowing through them and anyone seen roaming around or crossing these, is to be shot at, immediately and this needs no permission. All this was always limited to the television screen of my living room, but to witness everything in person was unique. Sitting at this place as a spectator, observing people around, propels one to be contributory to our motherland.
Although not modern and urban, conventionally and literally, Amritsar is far more developed and ahead of us in the cities. Decisive is not always the manifest but also sometimes the latent, and Amritsar exemplifies this, the best.
Amritsar leaves one with a kaleidoscope of emotions, all equally ensnaring.