Joining the Sikhs for their pilgrimage to Amritsar’s Golden Temple
Summary
The golden temple itself, and the complex it forms part of, is impressive – gleaming marble paths, the exotic architecture of the surrounding buildings, and with the golden temple of 750kg gold sitting in the middle of a central lake. But it is the overall experience of being so openly welcomed and very much part of this most sacred pilgrimage for thousands of Sikhs as you wash, eat and move en masse through their holiest site that makes this such a unique and unmissable experience
It’s very simple to join in. Simply rock up any time, no entrance fee, just take off your shoes and socks, wash your feet and borrow a head scarf that they provide. Then follow the crowds – they even feed you!
Whilst there isn’t that much else to see in Amritsar, and the Golden Temple is very much the highlight in this part of India, the nearby border crossing with Pakistan offers a very unusual display of transborder pomp as the two sides send in their tallest, most curly moustached soldiers to goose step at each other as they slowly lower their flags before the border closes . . . yes, super random. Easy to get there – just get a taxi for the Attari-Wagah border and try to get their an hour before the start to get into the grandstand (yes, they have a grandstand). Ceremony starts 530pm except for 430pm in winter
highlights
#1 Being so warmly welcomed into the crowds of pilgrims making their way to Sikhism's holiest site
#2 Seeing the Golden Temple itself in its stunning setting
#3 The bizarre border closing ceremony at Attari-Wagah - huge plooms, twisted tashes and lots of shouting. Unmissable if in the area
#4 Observing the various washing ceremonies as pilgrims prepare for their visit to the Golden Temple
#5 Chilling out with some of the very friendly locals . . . with swords
#6 Being fed! Nothing better than a bunch of curries on a metal tray
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Religious Experiences around the World
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone