Golden glimpses down the corridor : A pocket of stillness surrounded by grace.

Unlike the busy daytime hours, Walking toward the Golden Temple in Amritsar at 4:00 AM feels quiet, deeply spiritual, and surreal. But at the same time it reflect a different aspect of life that exist outside the temple. Seeing small crowd, I doubted on my choice of time, but soon I was enjoying the atmosphere.

In my earlier post on Golden Temple the stunning beauty inside the comlex is quite admirable. The temple serves as the ultimate spiritual center of Sikhism and a profound global symbol of equality, hospitality, and stunning architecture. A number of visitor visit the holy shrine seeking blessing. The design welcomes people from every race, religion, caste, and background without any discrimination. The scene outside the complex is worth viewing too. The main entrance is framed by large, beautifully illuminated facades designed in traditional Punjabi and colonial fusion styles that match the aesthetic of the old city.

Getting past this gate will take you to a different spiritual world, where you will find disconnected from the outside world. Walking outside the Golden Temple in the heritage streets and local markets of Amritsar lets us to experience the vibrant local culture, traditional food, and historic landmarks that complement the spiritual inner sanctuary. As I was walking towards the entry gate, I saw a lot happening outside too.

I walked past through the market area and now heading towards the temple complex. It was my first time visit to the place, so I was unaware about the exact location and kept moving. In the early wee hours, I find mostly sikhs people who were not so conversant with hindi. they were well versed with Punjabi. But they were very respectfully with the stranger like me. they direct me towards the temple. And in a short while, the temple gate is in front of my eyes.

The area buzzes with thousands of pilgrims, travelers, and volunteers moving toward the shrine at all hours of the day and night. Being one of their holiest shrine, they travel from far off place to attend various rituals. Sometimes, if they unable to afford the cost of accomodation, they prefer to rest outside in the walkway. I saw many people quietly sleeping and there were no one to disturb them. It was not unusual , as i have seen the similar sight at other places.

Sikh tradition dictates that a Gurdwara, provides free shelter, food (langar), and water to anyone regardless of faith, background, or status. Looking at the sleeping people I am completely agree. It was a long corridor made up of white marbles. There were designated shoes counter. To remind, it is free services, taking shoes inside is not allowed in any of the indian temple or gurudwara or mosque.

There was this gentleman in the corridor, who was writing something on the black board. The old method of writing with chalk on blackboard is still exist in temples. The writing was in Punjabi, so I cannot confirm, what it dictates, but the way he was inscribing, i feel it was the "Thought for the day". Finding the handwriting so beautiful, i made a video of his entire scripts.

While the corridor is happening with many things, the area opposite to it was quite and empty. It was a grand open space all made up of marble and very spacious. The entire space was so quite in the early morning hours. I am sure, it wont get late when it will get filled with devotee and start buzzing with various visitor

Left to this was our entry gate, that was calling me for so long. taking out the footwears was important to me, so was looking for the space in the corridor. It was a few step wal that took us to the temple gate. As soon as I stepped in, i felt disconnected from the outside. It was heavenly feeling that cannot be described in words.

The sheer volume of people moving through shoe keeping counters, security checks, and washing stations creates constant motion. It was worth taking notes of all the activity. The morning hours is the best as there were not much crowd and you can easily get glimpse of a chaotic scene that may follow during the day.

In good faith - Peace!!