18th and 19th of February, 2023.
The entrance to which I arrived, it seems to be the main entrance. There is a big square, The Golden Temple Plaza, in white marble, right in front, and it is here where is located the majority of the shoe places. Right, you cannot cross any of the main entrances (there are quite a few) with shoes on. There are many shoe storages outside. I was very skeptical at first, about leaving my boots there and never seeing them again. Laugh. So, I tried to enter the temple with them in a plastic bag. The guards checked my plastic bag and asked me to go back and keep the shoes in the storage place. Laugh. How silly of me. Reluctantly, I do that, but no way I will drop off The Hulk there, even though I see many people leaving their luggage at the luggage storage. When I try to enter again, the guards tell me I cannot do it with my backpack. And they ask me to also get rid of my socks, which were hanging from my backpack. Well, I guess that if you are visiting a temple, you should give a vote of faith, right? I drop off The Hulk and hope that it is not the last time I will see her. I get a metal tokens, one for boots and one for backpack.
When I try to enter the temple for the third time, the guards laugh with me and ask to quickly look inside my small backpack. They kindly ask me to storage that one too, but when I tell them that my laptop and camera are here, they let me in without any issues.
The Golden Temple is the most visited place in the world! When I cross the walls though, I am surprised how it doesn’t look like that much people in here. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of people, but it is not as crowded as I though it would be. You can walk freely around, take a sit and rest, take your photos, with plenty of space and freedom.
It surprises me how few foreigners I see. I would say perhaps 2 or 3% of the visitors…? The majority are Sikhs, of course.
Everybody must cover their hair, men and women, but women can cover mostly their head, no need to worry much about the whole length of the hair.
The whole complex is very beautiful! Of course, the main attraction, the Golden Temple, is gorgeous! And the fact that it is surrounded by the sacred pool, and the contrast of the golden colour with the white buildings which surround the temple is amazing. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting, though. Perhaps the fact that it is the most visited place in the world, gave me an impression that there was… something else to see. The thing is, I loved this place with all my heart, and it is probably the place I visited in India of which I am most proud of myself for it. It was quite spontaneous my decision of coming here, really last minute, but I am so happy that I came.
There is a massive queue to enter the Golden Temple, so I decide to come tomorrow morning, when it will be less warm, because I am staying today and tomorrow night also here, leaving to Chandigarh only on Monday. That’s also a very wise decision I made. It doesn’t happen very often, you know, me making wise decisions. But this time, I absolutely loved to stay here for a longer time. It felt juts right. It was like I could really immerse into the Sikhs beliefs and culture, to feel what they feel, to be part of this so important and sacred place for them. I have read about their religion before coming here, and I admire a lot of their principles. In the end, I felt very much at peace in here.
I walk around and take some shots. The most important time for photographs is during the sunset. Don’t miss that if you can!
I check for a free room in the buildings right in front of the temple. For you to try to understand: there is one entrance / exit facing the Golden Temple; one to your right, when you are facing the front of the Golden Temple, which leads to the middle of it; and one from behind the Golden Temple, which leads you right to the “bridge” where the queue you have to take to enter the Golden Temple is formed. The Guesthouses are located at the end of the first entrance /exit I mentioned. You will pass by the kitchen before getting to the Guesthouses. Because there are more than one, you have to check which one is available. Although I believe that the room for foreigners is located only in one building, the one which you will ended up at it, at the end of the street, when you follow the exit straight away, after passing the kitchen. If you take a look on Google Maps this is what it is called: Shri Guru Ram Das Ji Niwas.
When you enter the building, to your left there is a small glass window to a room. That’s where I asked for a room and was very well received and welcomed to a room just around the corner. I told the men around there that I would go for dinner and come back after that.
The kitchen is something magnificent. They serve food 24/7, to anyone who comes. You don’t need to show anything or do anything apart of walking in. And still no shoes, please. They give you a metal tray, spoon, and ball for water. Then everybody sits in the floor, hundreds of people, and volunteers come and drop food on your plate. When I was there I had lentil soup, rice pudding and chapati. But they were also offering rice and pickle, I just didn’t want to. You kind of have to eat quite fast, because they are waiting for everybody to leave so they can clean the floor. There are a few big rooms for eating, and after every big group finish, they clean the whole room for the next group. When you are leaving, you take your plate with you, drop of the spoon to a bowl first, and then give the plate and water bowl to the volunteers to your left. You will see!
I wanted to take my boots and backpack back and bring it to my room with me. I got back inside the temple complex, took some photos after dark (when it also looks gorgeous!), listened to the pray at 7 p.m., and then collected my things. Both were still there! Actually, the people who gave them back to me were super friendly and kind. I believe that is something common among Sikhs. They all seem very correct, polite and good-hearted people. There is something about them that makes me trust on them immediately.
In order to go to your room with your shoes and luggage, you have to go around the temple, passing through the toilets for women, to the end of the street, then right and right again to a small stone gate, and hopefully by then you will find yourself again.
After signing the register book, I choose one of the many beds available in the room. I was all alone. There are three private rooms, with two single beds each, and a bigger room with about 8 single beds. There are lockers and a shower place with a geyser! No toilets though! And they kindly ask you to not pee in the shower. The bed linen is very clean and looking quite new. It is up to you if you will use or not. I did! But I covered myself with my sleeping bag and not with the blankets which are available.
In the rest of the building there are plenty of Indian people staying! And they stay up until late. I could hear them but it was not very loud inside the room.
Next morning, I decided to skip breakfast and lunch in the kitchen, surviving of some nuts, apples and chocolates for the day, only having my dinner there. I came to the queue for the Golden Temple sometime before 9 a.m. and it was already much longer than yesterday’s one.
If you can, I advise you not to bring a backpack with you. People are not rude per se, but they are very eager to enter, so they walk really fast when they have to move, and there is a lot of pushing. Volunteers who organize the queue try to due their best to keep everybody calm and in order. But human beings are human beings. They also serve water for people staying in the queue.
When I was already in the queue for almost 2 hours, one of the volunteers notice my backpack and asked me if I was alone. When I said yes, he asked me to come with him. There is a secondary queue for single women and ladies with their children. I didn’t really want to take. I didn’t want any kind of privileged either for being a woman or a foreigner, but I couldn’t be rude also, so I accepted.
After almost 3 hours in the queue I finally get in. No photographs are allowed inside the temple or in the bridge. My experience? I like to say that: you spend 3 hours in the queue to spend less than 3 minutes inside the temple itself. I guess it is ironic but what else you can expect when the most visited place in the world it is only 12 per 12 square metres. There is a small number of musicians playing and singing the scriptures inside. People pass by really quick, just making their prays, giving their offers and trying to touch something. And then you leave and there is no queue anymore for you.
I spend the rest of the day reading inside the complex and admiring the Golden Temple. I also visited the Sikh Museum, which of course is for free. I wanted to take a photograph with an elderly Sikh man, in traditional clothes, turban and with white beard. It took me ages until I find someone. They were all in a rush and always alone. The one I asked for the photograph with, was also alone, but luckily somebody overheard me and offer to take the photo.
The person who helped me was the brother of Rav, an Indian man who is now living in England. He and his brother’s family were visiting the Golden Temple to ask blessings to his sister-in-law health. We talked for a while and they were all very lovely.
Another thing is the sacred pool. Lots of people are bathing on it, asking for blessings. The men can do it openly, from anywhere, but women have a special building from where they can do it. I took a quick look inside and they seem all very happy, some even naked.
What actually surprised me the most was that, before leaving the Golden Temple, some people were sipping from the Sacred Pool. It is not only about the thousands of people bathing themselves on it, but also about the fishes which are also there. When I mentioned that to Rav, he told me that some people even sip from the water which is running on the floor of the entrances, where people clean their feet before entering or leaving the temple. It is not a surprise that Indians have a strong stomach.
During my second night another foreigner came. But I was already almost sleeping when he came so I didn’t bother getting up again to say hi. Next morning, I would figure out by the register book that he was from Czech Republic. But he was not the only visitor that night. I woke up with the sound of a mouse chewing on something, and after I moved a little bit, it slowly decided to leave my room, showing itself to me without much shyness.
I left the building a bit before 8 o’ clock, to a very pleasant and fresh morning weather. But I must hurry up because I am expecting some really hot weather soon, and I still have some walk to do until my hitchhiking spot.
10 Years Around the World 