Sadly, we could only stay in Amritsar for just over a day. We boarded the overnight sleeper train from Delhi on Friday, checked into our hotel in Amritsar Saturday morning, and left for Delhi on Sunday afternoon, so I’d get back in time for my flight back to the States. That’s right, my adventures in India were winding down.
What Amritsar is best known for, and what I found most memorable, is the Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple, perhaps the most important Sikh gurdwara (place of worship in the world. What I was told by Sikhs is that the Golden Temple in Amritsar to them is comparable to the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca for Muslims. Sikh pilgrims travel from all over India and I bet farther to stay at the Golden Temple. So do non-Sikh tourists, like Peggy and me, who are also welcome to eat and sleep for free. At the gurdwara, visitors should cover their heads, take off their shoes, and wash their feet. It would be very disrespectful not to. Once inside, we are free to join an ongoing feast in the Langar, or free kitchen. The Langar was started by the first Sikh Guru, Nanak Dev Ji. It symbolizes the Sikh tenet of unconditional equality among peoples, as well as their ethical priorities: sharing, community, inclusion, and oneness of humankind. The Langar feeds an average of about 50,000 people every day. On special occasions, this number sometimes doubles. And let me tell you, the food was inexpensive and delicious. We had daal (chickpeas), sweet milky porridge, and chapatti (unleavened bread). They cook the food in gigantic vats that a you could swim in (or drown in). If not for the heat, I'd take a dip in one of those vats with my mouth wide open.
After eating, we respectfully volunteered our effort in helping wash the thousands of dirty plates, bowls, spoons, and forks that come into the dishwashing room at a steady and heavy flow. I took a quick video, let me show you:
As you might see in the video, the dirty dishes enter the dishwashing room and are systematically taken through a series of cleaning stations before coming out immaculate. I worked at the last station with other men, doing the final rinse. Peggy worked at the second soap station with other women where they give the dishes a second soapy bath. It resembled a factory assembly line.
After returning to Delhi, I took Peggy out to Bukhara for dinner, a meal fit for a U.S. President (President Clinton supposedly ate there on four consecutive nights) or a Bollywood star (a funny aside: In Hindi, the word for a Bollywood star is pronounced the same way as my name. So, a lot of Indians found my name quite amusing, as would Americans if you introduced yourself with, "Hello, I am famous actor".). This restaurant has won numerous awards including the superlative “Best Indian Restaurant in the World”. It really is super good. We ate a fantastic tandoori chicken and pomfret with the best daal soup I’ve ever had.
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