The golden temple and Ludhiana

Before departing from Amritsar to continue my work in the city of Ludhiana I had to go and visit the golden temple. The pratham contact, Pearl, and here uncle met me outside my hotel at 8 at night. We drove through the natrrow streets of old Amritsar, many times during this drive I felt sure we would be in an accident. India to the outsider appears to have no traffic laws. If there is a road you can drive however you please on it, especially against traffic as I have done a number of times during autorickshaw rides. It appears to be some sort of controlled chaos. There seems to be some intricate unwritten language of honking and hand signals that only the native Indian driver understands. 

But I digress. We parked the car near the golden temple and turned in our shoes at a depository, (one must be barefoot within the temple grounds). I was told that these people handle over one million pairs of shoes a year, I don't doubt it. After washing my feet and walking through an archway I caught my first glimpse of the temple. The entire top half of the building is made of pure gold and it sits on a small island in the middle of a lake with a narrow bridge packed with pilgrims connecting it to the shore. Seeing it at night lit up with lights is an amazing sight. Words do not do it justice, it must be seen to be believed. Inside the temple is the holy book of the Sikh's and some of the most incredible inlay work within the gold itself. Hymns are constantly sung 24 hours a day by the monks and their hauntingly beautiful melodies are broadcasted throughout the temple complex, (and as I noticed later back in my hotel room, 24h hours a day on a devoted tv  channel). Anyone who comes to northern India must visit the temple in Amritsar. I compare it to St. Peters cathedral in rome but without all the tacky christian symbology. 

The next day I left Amritsar and boarded a bus to take me on a 4 hour journey to Ludhiana. Whereas Amritsar is located close to the Pakistan border, Ludhiana is smack in the middle of the state of Punjab. The first thing that struck me about Ludhiana is that it appears far more modern than Amritsar. Western style malls and food outlets (KFC!!) dot this charming city. Here I met Bharat who would be my new contact and got settled in a hotel. In my next post I shall tell you about my experiences interviewing volunteers in and around the city. I shall also tell you about the greatest autorickshaw driver of all time, or atleast that I have met. Cheers!

______________________________________________________
www.readindia.org
www.pratham.org.uk
www.prathamusa.org
www.pratham.org