And Now for Something Completely Different

Tomorrow, on Saturday morning, I’ll be taking a little trip for a few days. Atul is going to Delhi to pick up the new group at Indira Gandhi International Airport, and while he’s gone, I need something to do while I wait for the others. Why not go to Amritsar?

Located in western Punjab, Amritsar is one of the larger, modern-ish cities in India, with a population of about 1.5 million and boasting nearly 100,000 visitors on any given weekday. What’s so interesting about it that so many people go there? It’s the holy city of the Sikh religion, kind of like the Vatican for Catholics. The Golden Temple is the largest Sikh temple in the world, and all Sikhs see it on television and want to go there. It’s a huge, ornate structure that provides all kinds of religious services that I cannot even begin to understand, but there is one thing that I have heard about it that seems very interesting. It has a community kitchen, where anybody and everybody can go to eat for free. It’s staffed entirely by volunteers. Similar to the way that a Muslim is expected to go on hajj and visit Mecca once in their life, Sikhs are expected to volunteer in the Golden Temple for a week. If you can’t volunteer, or even if you can and want to give something more, they are always accepting food donations. That’s how there are able to feed so many people every single day.

Speaking of food, I’m really looking forward to experiencing a different kind of cuisine in Amritsar. It’s very deep in Punjab, which boasts some of the best food in India, and while there are definite similarities to what I’ve been eating for the past 4 months, it really is a completely different diet. Honestly, I don’t know much about the specific variations or courses to try. I just plan to do what I always do in situations like this: eat first, and ask questions later.

On Saturday morning, I will take a bust from Palampur to Pathankot, about a 4-hour drive, where I will then change buses and travel about 2 more hours to get to Amritsar. I will stay there until Monday morning, and come back along the same route to return to Palampur by Monday afternoon. Look forward to an upcoming blog post about delicious food.