Post #23 The Sikhs and Amritsar

We have been really touched by the inclusive nature of the Sikh community in India. All are welcome in their temples, and people seem deeply engaged, spiritually and collectively. A Sikh Temple can be a real scene!

The Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi is an important temple for Sikhs. It was built on a site where a guru known for his healing powers stayed in the mid 1600's. There is a large reservoir  believed to be full of curative waters.  Every 12 years a call goes out to all Sikhs to help manually clean out this tank and make whatever repairs are needed.

By pure accident, we visited the temple on this important time.  What a response they got and what a scene!!

Some were there to work and others to pray but no one minded getting splattered with mud from the reservoir dredging.

As usual many, many people heeded the call to assist in the restoration and clean up effort.

AMRITSAR

The equivalent of Mecca to the Moslems, Amritsar, which is located a few miles from the Pakistan border,  is the center of the Sikh faith. The Golden Temple might be the single most memorable stop during our entire sojourn to India. It is a remarkable place in this world.

In front of the Golden Temple

Sharing food among people of all faiths as a sign of unity is central to Sikhs.  We had a meal here with the masses. The dining halls serve simple meals to 60,000 - 80,000 people each and every day and rely on volunteers to help with cooking, serving and cleanup.  That's the equivalent of the Annapolis Lighthouse Shelter Kitchen times 1,000!!  It is a herculean task, done with efficiency, humor and compassion.  

Families and friends sharing time together, laughter, prayer, reach out, community sharing -- all in the packed mad-house that is the Golden Temple.  

People come to the temple but may not wait in line to go into the temple itself. The wait can be very long and even under the white canopy it can get hot so volunteers offer water to those in line.

     Amritsar and the Golden Temple both have a long history of violence. A group of Sikhs took over the Golden Temple, demanding a separate nation for Sikhs. After a lengthy stand-off, Indira Gandhi sent in the troops and a massacre ensued. Soon after,  Gandhi's Sikh bodyguard assassinated her. in the weeks that followed, many Sikhs died in retribution. A complicated country.

Amritsar is also a site of disgrace for the British.  During the independence struggle, a British colonel opened fire on thousands of unarmed civilians to teach the Indians a moral lesson and to send a warning to India not to protest British rule. Thousands died.  This immoral action helped to galvanize Indian opposition to British rule. The site of the massacre is now a sacred place in India, and includes this small section of a mural above. A very moving place.

The Pakistani-Indian Border

About 45 minutes outside of Amritsar by taxi is the India-Pakistan border, and shortly beyond is Lahore. Ever night for the last half century or so, an hour or so before dark, a remarkable event takes place attended by thousands on each side of the border. The event is the formal closing of the border  for the day and the lowering of each national flag.

Music, cheering, pomp and circumstance abound, with audiences of 15,000+ on each side trying to outdo the other in singing patriotric songs, dancing and chanting. And this on a border of two countries always at war or in some form of conflict with the other.  A remarkable scene!

Gandhi at the border, of course!

Indian women dancing and singing at the border. 

Indian soldiers wearing wild uniforms and marching  with outrageously high kicks.  Each side tries to outdo the other. A patriotic sporting event!

A sign right at the border. The same cannot be said about Pakistan!

The day to day reality is very different. Many still feel the pain of the separation of India and Pakistan. Charu, the woman assigned to help us get oriented to Delhi, identifies as a Sikh and a Punjabi despite being raised in Delhi.  Her family was forced to move after independence and the separation of countries. She talks wistfully about the Punjab area. Members of the family go to Amritsar whenever they can but have never crossed the border.  Their sense of loss and alienation remain fresh and painful. She gave us so much of her time and attention and insights and feelings about India and the Sikhs. We will certainly miss Charu (below):

Caroline and Charu