Rains all throughout the route delayed the train beyond 4 hours of which it took effect on the events of the next morning when we had to catch our connecting train to Amritsar from the New Delhi railway station, I reached Gurgaon at 7:00 am instead of the proposed 4:30 am where my friend stays and he was to pick me up from there and go to the New Delhi station to catch our train which was the Swaran Shatabdi Express to Amritsar. But there was no way in hell or heaven that we reach New Delhi station in 20 mins from Gurgaon to make it to the train’s departure, I got down at the station all bummed out about not being able to go to Amritsar met my friend who was it is ok that we cannot make it we will spend a good weekend here in Gurgaon itself to which I was still not agreeing, the force was so huge to get to Amritsar that nothing was going to deter me from going there, I hatched a idea that we could go there by taxi as out hotel and the return train tickets were already booked. My friend agreed to the plan and we took a taxi at a good rate and headed out of Gurgaon immediately, the usual problem of heading out of the NCR (new capital region which consists of Gurgaon, Noida and Gaziabad) is the traffic 1 has to face, once u hit the highway the road is amazing all the way enroute we stop at this very famous dhabha right before Karnal and gorge on aloo parathas and mix parathas with desi butter which is artery clogging but the parathas do not taste good without them and fill up on chips, water and cold drinks for the journey ahead which was going to be a long 1 estimated to be 10 hours for 500 klms from Gurgaon to Amritsar, the roads were superb and the journey till Jalandhar was effortless and was spend listening to regional music that the driver had in the car and sleeping and talking to my friend as we had not caught up form a long time. We stopped for stretching our legs at this 24 X 7 Mc Donald’s drive through just before Jalandhar it need not be said what we had for snacks there. After a refreshing 30 mins spent there we turn towardsAmritsar and the road goes from a 2 lane divided to nonexistent 1 lane with oncoming traffic of maddening truck drivers this leg is 60 klms and is the worst drivable road in the world I guess. Our driver Rajpal was very good with his driving so he handled the drive perfectly.
On the clock strike of 6 pm we were in Amritsar and asked for directions from a policeman, he was kind enough to show the route to our hotel and we gave him a lift in the car as he was heading in the same direction. We checked into the hotel at about 6:30 pm and paid the driver off as we did not need him any more as we had return train journey tickets to Delhi already. Freshened up and took a well deserved hot shower and my friend said he would sleep for some time and I decided to hit the town with another local friend of mine. We wanted to visit the golden temple early in the morning by early I do not mean 7, by early I mean at 3 in the morning. This is because every evening after the Sukhasan (a religious ceremony of taking the Guru Granth Sahib ji from the golden temple to its nights resting place in the Akal takth) and every morning around 4:45 am the Guru Granth Sahib ji is brought back to the golden temple where it remains all day long till the evening prayers and goes back to the Akal Takth, the ceremony of bring the Guru Granth Sahib ji to the golden temple is a thing to see, the fan fare and the amount of people there this early in the morning we had to experience it for ourselves.
My friend called it a night and I headed out on town to meet a local friend and we went for a cup of coffee at café coffee day at Ranjit Avenue, this is like the place to hang out and be seen in Amritsar. Right besides the CCD I happen to spot a Subway Sandwich Joint which was like a blessing, I ordered 2 foot longs and got them packed for dinner for my friend and me at the hotel once I get there. After coffee my friend drops me at the hotel and I head to the room and have dinner with my friend and we sleep early as we had placed a wakeup call at the front desk for 2 am and we wanted to be out before the ceremony begins. On dot 2 am we get a wakeup call and get ready and carry the essentials. We catch this manual powered rickshaw to the temple which set us back by 20 rupees. We enter the temple from the Jallianwala Bagh side. We place our shoes at the shoe centre before the temple this is a volunteer service provided by volunteers free of cost and your shoes and sandals remain safe here.
We wash our hands before entering the complex, I have been here so many times but this time was magical I have never seen the golden temple this early in the morning and in its full prestige and glow of the flood lights from all 4 sides of the temple, 1 can hear the kirtan (religious chanting) the sound of these kirtan is so crisp and clear 1 imagines the sound system they use here and I discovered that they were all BOSE speakers and ambiance speakers, everything was BOSE which is high end and they r the pioneers in sound technology for public places. The halo around the temple is just mystical; I could have just sat there and watched it for hours at an end. After capturing this moment in my eyes and heart and the camera, we take the left path to make a circle around the temple and then enter once we have our Prasad in our hand from the Prasad stand. The walk on the cold marble floor is so soothing and enchanting and 1 never lifts his eyes off the temple right inside the sarovar (Lake) which is glimmering in the flood lights. With Prasad in our hands we head to the golden temple which is a pathway right in front of the Akal Takth. We get there in minutes and inquire about the time of the ceremony to which we r told around 4:45 am which gave us plenty of time to explore the golden temple, we tako (Bow Down) our matha (head) inside the golden temple and went to the back and drink the holy water from the sarovar which is a must do, another thing people do at this spot is to do mopping and it is considered as a act of Seva (selfless act of helping) I also mopped after people who dropped water while taking it out from the sarovar and drinking. Then we went to the top of the golden temple and looked around and spent about 10 mins there it is a site to see from the top of the golden temple. We then came down and sat down in the golden temple and listened to the kirtan that was being chanted. It was about time that the ceremony was to begin of bring the Guru Granth Sahib ji from the Akal Takth and we strategically place ourselves on the way that leads out of the Golden Temple, usually people are following the procession inside but the line going outside is empty and we could see the procession perfectly without any pushing and shoving. The procession passed and stopped where we were standing and we got perfect darshan of the Guru Granth Sahib ji which was a spiritual moment in itself I could also capture this moment in my camera. We could not believe ourselves that we got the opportunity to see Guru Granth Sahib ji from so up close and get to do our darshan from this close up. I was so enchanted that tears rolled out of my eyes. The procession proceeded to the Golden Temple and we headed out giving high fives and cheering and in high spirits that this was a magical experience.
We decided to go say our prayers once again when the Guru Granth Sahib ji had been placed in the golden temple so we headed back in and had to sit in a queue for some time as the ceremonies were going on for placing the Guru Granth Sahib ji at its place. With the ceremonies finished we get to go into the Golden temple once again and we tako out matha once more and say our prayers by this time the rush has increased and the time is around 5:30 am. We step out of the golden temple complex and there is tea and snacks seva going on outside of the temple but we r too tired to have tea and we decide to go back to the hotel and call it a morning as we did not get adequate sleep the other night, we again catch a manual rickshaw to the hotel at the same rate as before and crash the moment we hit the bed. We get up around mid day and get dressed and freshen up and head out on the town for some light shopping and lunch at this famous restaurant called Prawan Da Dhabha which is an institution in itself and u cannot leave Amritsar if u have not had the fare at this restaurant, the food is fabulous and very tasty but 1 word of advice if u r not a big eater share what food u order as individual thalis are very hard to finish on your own. We ordered a thali which had a daal and choole and raita and 2 butter rotis in it which was enough for the both of us. After food in our stomachs we headed back to the hotel to pack and head to the station to catch our train back to Delhi.
This trip was so magical and spiritual. The golden temple calls every time and I like going there, but every time I am there the temple offers itself in a different form and a different way each and every time I am here. It is 1 of the most magical places I have ever visited and I want to go there every time.
No comments:
Post a Comment