The weekend of October 5th the program traveled to the bustling city of Amritsar, best known for the great Harmandir Sahib, commonly know as the Golden Temple, and the tragic Jallianwallah Bagh Massacre. After spending so many weeks in the beautiful, peaceful, and isolated environment at Sarah college it was nice to be back in a busy Indian city- once again navigating through crowds of people, cars, cows, and tuk-tuks.
Shortly after we arrived at the hotel and enjoyed a group lunch of Indian Thalli, we walked to the magnificent Harmandir Sahib. Beautiful white walls and marble floors surround the grounds of the temple. The temple itself, a beautiful golden structure reflecting off of the clear blue water that surrounds it, cannot be adequately described with words. It took a significant amount of time waiting in a claustrophobic and eager line of people before we were admitted into the temple, but the intricately designed walls, live music, and ability to explore all three stories of the temple made the wait well worth it.
Almost as surreal as the beautiful temple itself was the environment surrounding it. Men undressed to bathe in the blue water surrounding the temple while women bathed in an enclosed "Women only area." Employees at the temple were busy sloshing water on the white marble, or offering visitors a paste like substance that looked to be wrapped in a leaf. Excited families with energetic children as well as many Sikhs identifiable by the long knives tied around their waste flood the complex. In short, the temple was amazing.
The next day we visited Jallianwallah Bagh, a square where the British openly fired on hundreds of unarmed and trapped Indian civilians.The square has been turned into a park memorialising the victims. The ascetic beauty of the park paired with the bullet holes visible on the stone walls and somber well many trapped citizens jumped down to get away from the bullets was an interesting and thought provoking contrast.
However, the groups experience navigating through Jallianwallagh Bagh was interrupted by the many people requesting to have their photographs taken with us. At one point as a group of us was sitting down we were surrounded by people, some even attempting to hand babies to us for photographs. This was a very interesting and for many of us a somewhat annoying experience, especially when people were not respectful and continued to pester or follow us even after we refused to take pictures with them.
After having another delicious group lunch we traveled to the train station to begin our return trip back to Sarah College. Unfortunately however, our train never showed up,or if it did arrived at a different station. After waiting on the floor of the platform for nearly 4 hours, we finally gave up and searched for taxis that could take us home. However, further adding to our misfortune one of the taxis crashed into a construction barricade requiring the driver to pull over and fix the engine. By the time we finally had dinner, met up with our previously reserved Taxis in Pathankot and traveled the rest of the way to Sarah College it was 1:30 AM and we were all exhausted. Reflecting back on this experience, I cannot begin to describe how much I appreciate everyone in the group. Having traveled in the past with people who have not reacted well to unanticipated obstacles, it meant a lot to me that everyone was flexible and kept a good attitude through the entire memorable experience. Despite the struggles getting back home, this was an amazing weekend and I am very grateful we had the opportunity to see Amritsar together.
Shortly after we arrived at the hotel and enjoyed a group lunch of Indian Thalli, we walked to the magnificent Harmandir Sahib. Beautiful white walls and marble floors surround the grounds of the temple. The temple itself, a beautiful golden structure reflecting off of the clear blue water that surrounds it, cannot be adequately described with words. It took a significant amount of time waiting in a claustrophobic and eager line of people before we were admitted into the temple, but the intricately designed walls, live music, and ability to explore all three stories of the temple made the wait well worth it.
Almost as surreal as the beautiful temple itself was the environment surrounding it. Men undressed to bathe in the blue water surrounding the temple while women bathed in an enclosed "Women only area." Employees at the temple were busy sloshing water on the white marble, or offering visitors a paste like substance that looked to be wrapped in a leaf. Excited families with energetic children as well as many Sikhs identifiable by the long knives tied around their waste flood the complex. In short, the temple was amazing.
The next day we visited Jallianwallah Bagh, a square where the British openly fired on hundreds of unarmed and trapped Indian civilians.The square has been turned into a park memorialising the victims. The ascetic beauty of the park paired with the bullet holes visible on the stone walls and somber well many trapped citizens jumped down to get away from the bullets was an interesting and thought provoking contrast.
However, the groups experience navigating through Jallianwallagh Bagh was interrupted by the many people requesting to have their photographs taken with us. At one point as a group of us was sitting down we were surrounded by people, some even attempting to hand babies to us for photographs. This was a very interesting and for many of us a somewhat annoying experience, especially when people were not respectful and continued to pester or follow us even after we refused to take pictures with them.
After having another delicious group lunch we traveled to the train station to begin our return trip back to Sarah College. Unfortunately however, our train never showed up,or if it did arrived at a different station. After waiting on the floor of the platform for nearly 4 hours, we finally gave up and searched for taxis that could take us home. However, further adding to our misfortune one of the taxis crashed into a construction barricade requiring the driver to pull over and fix the engine. By the time we finally had dinner, met up with our previously reserved Taxis in Pathankot and traveled the rest of the way to Sarah College it was 1:30 AM and we were all exhausted. Reflecting back on this experience, I cannot begin to describe how much I appreciate everyone in the group. Having traveled in the past with people who have not reacted well to unanticipated obstacles, it meant a lot to me that everyone was flexible and kept a good attitude through the entire memorable experience. Despite the struggles getting back home, this was an amazing weekend and I am very grateful we had the opportunity to see Amritsar together.
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