Travels: Amritsar

Amritsar is famous for the Golden Temple, which is the most important of all Sikh temples in the world. Many Sikhs make a pilgrimage there but the religion is also accepting of visitors of all faiths and nationalities.

The temple has a kitchen that feeds some 50,000 people a day (this figure needs verification, but I'd believe it), and free dormitory accommodation for anybody that wants it.

I ate at the free dinning hall 3 times, each time the company varied and I really enjoyed it.
The first time I sat beside a German backpacker; she showed me the actual kitchens where we wondered through taking photos and as she was staying in the temple dormitory she showed me that too (I stayed in a hotel as it hadn't occurred to me to stay at the temple, and then I had a cold anyway so it was probably better that I didn't stay in the dorm as it was rather cramped.)
The second time I sat beside a young Amritsar local, a Hindu, who ate there with his friends every day.
And the third time I sat with a young Sikh from Delhi who had come to Amritsar on completion of his English exam and was enjoying a break. He kindly showed me some other Sikh temples of Amritsar. He hopes to apply to move to Australia to study.

I really don't believe in a free lunch, so I donated to the temple for this privilege of eating for free.

The temple itself is beautiful, but, moreover, the complex has a special spiritual feeling. It put an immense smile on my face each and every time I went there.

The other 'entertainment' to do while staying in Amritsar is to go to the Indian-Pakistani border crossing and witness the daily ceremony of closing the gate at sundown. For foreigners seeing the spectacle of high leg kicks and theatrics it is amusing and kind of laughable. But for the Indians it is a patriotic experience (so we were told).

Looking across to the Pakistani side they have a similar display with less audience. What most grabbed my attention was that on the Pakistani side the women were fully segregated from the men. I was glad not to be traveling there alone.

I loved my stay in Amritsar, and the north of India is proving much nicer and easier than the south.