amritsar and the golden temple

sean and i are closing in on the end of our trip. now, after 30 hours of train travel from jodhpur, we are in amritsar. today we saw the magnificent golden temple. we both agreed that it is far more impressive than the taj mahal. the golden temple is a large complex that is a holy place for sikhs, and it was so amazing to see all of the people worshiping. pilgrims can stay in the dormitories there with no charge and eat for free. one of the cafeterias serves 10,000 people a day and can seat 3,000 people at a time. there were that many people wandering around the temple and gardens, it was so crowded. the complex is mostly white marble, and buildings surround a pool of water where people were bathing. in the center of the pool is the golden temple, amazingly golden. the bottom part of the temple is white marble with pietra dura, which is the italian for the type of inlay. beautiful, precious and semi-precious stones are set into the panels of marbel. the scenes are so delicate and beautiful and the detail is fascinating. the stones are all colors and they have the most brilliant blues and teals and the deepest reds. most of the panels are flowers, and they were at the taj mahal, but here there we also scenes with delicate birds and peacocks, holy men, tigers, and all sorts of amazing stuff.

inside the main temle there were three holy mean singing prayers and playing instruments that are amplified by speaker throughout the complex. the halls and stairs were crowded with people relaxing, reflecting, and praying. many were reading small books. the ceilings were elaborate, raised gold backed by blue, green and red paint. there were amazing garden scenes painted along the walls. the ceilings had mirrors with dazzling effects.

in a few hours sean and i head on to batala. we don't know what awaits us there, if someone will meet us, or if we will even be able to find the school, but we are armed with all the information we have, and we are are ready for adventure. we will spend indian independence day there, and since i was foolish and scheduled our visit on a national holiday when the school is most likely closed, we may spend a half day on the 16th before heading back to delhi and then home. wish us luck, we are out of cities that start with 'j' because those places and sean and i don't mix.