Constipation and Gold

Poor Eva is so constipated. That’s the horrific side effect of taking buses and being at the mercy of there only being fried foods around. I love Indian food, but I miss fresh salads and steamed vegetables. It’s been several days now and she hasn’t been able to bm. Even my initial bm after the bus ride was more like goat poo – in hard round little balls. It’s hell. Our bowel systems are constantly going between the two extremes.

Amritsar is the center of the Sikh religion and home of the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple is simple amazing. Eva has seen the Taj Mahal and says this place far nicer. Although everywhere we go, we get hassled to buy tourist gifts and postcards, the atmosphere in the temple is relaxed and chill. Outside the temple is a crazy, bustling chaotic Indian city. All this time I had been in Tibetan communities and felt more like I was in Tibet than in India. And not so surprisingly Indian cities are almost identical to Vietnamese cities. We checked out of the hotel and went to the Golden Temple dorms, where they allow foreigners to stay by donation up to three nights. Sikhs are known for their genuine sense of community and generosity. And so far, I’ve experienced just that. The dorm is simple and basic. The beds are wooden with mats on them. I’m not sure when the last time the sheets were washed, but that’s okay. There are around 25 beds in this dorm, some in private rooms. Eva and I came early that day so we got a private room with three beds in it. A Sikh man stands guard right outside the dorm entrance holding a spear. The toilets are in an adjacent building. It’s a public toilet for the entire dorm complex so hundreds of people share it, but it’s relatively clean. Sikhs are very communal so there are volunteers who keep it clean for everyone. The rest of the dorm complex is for Indians pilgrims and locals. There is a public shower in the center courtyard of the dorm complex where people bathe and wash their cloths. At night, Indian people who aren’t staying inside a dorm, lie their sheets on the ground around the courtyard and sleep there.

The entire Golden Temple complex is huge. It takes about 30 – 45 minutes to walk around the entire thing. The temple is made entirely of white marble. The walkways and walls are inlaid with colored marble and stone designs reminiscent of a Mughal aesthetic. The actual temple itself is the center building within the entire complex and is gilded in real solid gold. Around the temple is a large pool of water borderd by tropical plants and other green flora. It shines during the day and sparkles at night. Sikhs come to bathe in the ‘pool of nectar’ as part of their practice and religious pilgrimage at the temple. Before entering, people have to remove their shoes and wash their feet. Many Sikhs prostrate themselves at the temple entrance. Groups Sikh musicians take turns singing and playing instruments so that all day, from 4am to 9 or 10pm, music can always be heard. On one side of the temple, there’s a dining hall where anyone, even non-Sikhs like myself, can eat for free. The food is simple, but it’s generously given. All day people come to eat together. It’s a whole organized system of Sikh volunteers that hand out plates and spoons as you walk in, seat you on the ground in rows, distribute rice, dal (lentils), chapatti and water from large tin serving buckets. Then once you’re done eating leave the dining hall to the wash area, throw your dirty spoon into bucket and hand your dirty plate to the man at the beginning of an assembly line of men, where its passed down and eventually ends up in another assembly line of dishwashers. It’s amazing!

I don’t know a lot about the Sikh religion, but just that it’s relatively new religion that started in the 16th century. The men don’t cut their hair which they wear in turbans, and keep beards as a sign of saintliness. They believe in karma and reincarnation, but don’t believe there’s a way to escape cyclic rebirth. They don’t worship a god, but revere 10 gurus. They don’t use any tobacco, alcohol, drugs or narcotics. And they are vegetarian, hence all of the yummy vegetarian Punjabi/North Indian style food we have in the States.

At night the temple is busiest because the humidity and heat are somewhat more bearable then. Many people come to circumambulate the temple, or sit poolside and listen to the singing. The other night Eva and I sat alongside the walkway just enjoying the atmosphere of the evening. All of these local Indian people joined us, curious about why we were in Amritsar and what we thought of their city. It was so nice to chat with them. There was 13-year-old girl who didn’t want to leave us despite her parents urging her to come with them. She just sat by us staring at our faces and called us her sisters. She was a sweetheart.