After a visit to Buddha’s birthplace in Sarnath, another plane ride, a night in Delhi and a five-hour car ride(don’t worry I told off the tour guide and now we have fully upgraded to an suv with ac, room for luggage and shock absorbers), we arrived at our destination…The City of Agra and the sight of the Taj Mahal. We entered from the Northern Gate into a walled garden, which was an impressive sight in its own right. As we moved about the garden, we crossed a gate and entered a world similar to Dorothy being dropped into Oz in the Wizard of Oz. The Taj stood like a mirage in a desert with an ever so slight haze surrounding its marble surface and to my surprise one of the most magnificent monuments I’ve ever seen.
There are 30,000 people from all over the world who visit the Taj each day. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj in memory of his third wife Mumtz Mahal, a Muslim Persian princess, who died giving birth to their 14th child. Indians consider it one of the greatest love stories in their history. Shah Jahan was so saddened by his wife’s death that he called upon architects and artisans to create a lasting memorial in her honor. Next to the Taj is also a Mosque still in use by Muslims today. There is an exact replica of the Mosque on the other side of the Taj but since it is not facing Mecca it is simply another beautiful copy.
The Taj is considered an architectural jewel in the Muslim world and a 7th wonder of the world. It was built in 1631 and completed in 1653 and cost approximately $68,000 USD (think 360 years ago). A total of 20,000 people worked on the construction of the Taj. During the Indian rebellion in 1857, British soldiers defaced the Taj and looted many of the precious gems from its walls. The British later restored it in 1908.
The Arabs came to India in the 9th Century looking for spices and silk and riches but the Sultan did not invade until the 11th Century. There were 500 separate kingdoms in India (India and Pakistan were one at this time), which made India an easy target for invasion. There were six great Mughals (Mongolian Muslims) who ruled India from the years 1526 – 1857 with the golden period peaking during the Shah Jahan’s rule and waning in 1707. The Mughals are said to be direct descendants of Genghis Khan. The Shah Jahan was the fifth in line of such great rulers.
I have lots more funny stories to share about Hindu gods and Buddhism but I wanted to give my perspective on seeing the Taj up close. It’s not simply the size of the monument that took me by surprise but rather the architecture and the detail of each stone. Similar to the awe of the pyramids, setting eyes on the Taj left me feeling thankful. Hoards of people were pushing for the perfect picture and I was trying hard to memorize the pictures in my head of the Islamic hymns carved on the archways, the red colored stoned monuments decorating the surrounding entrances, the reflecting pool giving way to a masterpiece and more importantly a functioning piece of art that symbolizes history, power, religion, destruction and love.
This time we embarked on a six-hour journey from the Himalayas to Amritsar, which is located in the northwest part of India close to Pakistan. It was a rough drive and I found myself very irritated by the horns, the bumps, the cows, the dust and the people. Take information overload and multiple by 100. We drove through villages, cities and even farms (detours) to get to Amritsar. Some streets resembled the Wild West, while others were constructed with asphalt and perfectly paved. Every time we saw the sign, “Take Diversion, Work in Progress,” I giggled. A road with 20 feet piles of sand every few feet is definitely a work in progress.
When we finally arrived in Amritsar, I freaked over the quality of our hotel. The long journey mixed with the hunger in my stomach did not help matters. I demanded to see the room and then called the tour company and asked to be moved. The commotion in the lobby brought a lovely woman and keys and after checking out three rooms, we settled on a penthouse style room. Let’s not get too excited. It does have cable, it is clean but the Ritz Carlton it is not. Coincidentally, it’s the Ritz Plaza and the staff is so eager to please, they jump at our every request.
Amritsar is the spiritual study of the Sikh religion and the capital of the state of Punjab. There are about 1.2 million people living in Amritsar so it’s a medium sized city. The region is best known for Punjab suits, pashminas and carpets and the Golden Temple (see below). We learned Buddhism in Dharamshala and now Sikhism in Amritsar.
Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world with approximately 30 million Sikhs most of whom live in Punjab, India, however, they only make up for two percent of the entire Indian population. Guru Nanak Dev founded the Sikh religion during the 15th Century. Sikhs follow the teaching of the first 10 gurus and then a type of scripture, which is essentially the writings of six of the 10 Sikh Gurus. They also meditate and seek justice for all humans.
Sikhs are prohibited from the following:
Cutting hair – men and women (men wear turbans and women mostly braids or buns)
Alcohol – no drugs, alcohol or tobacco (hence the fruit juice on every corner)
Adultery
Blind Spirituality – no superstitions or pilgrimages, no idols
Material possession – no material wealth
Sacrifice of creatures – forbidden
Non-family oriented living – a Sikh is not to live alone or celibate
Worthless Talk – backstabbing, bragging, lying is not allowed
Priestly class – No priests. The 10th Guru abolished them
Eating meat killed in a ritualistic matter
Having premarital or extramarital sex
After the hotel room drama, our driver escorted us to the changing of the guard at the Pakistani/Indian border. I got a little nervous but abnormally excited when I saw a directional sign that read, Islamabad 365 Kilometers but remembering my mother’s words, Jill and I remained on the Indian side. As we walked closer, we started hearing roars and shouts of OOH and AAH and clapping. We found stadium seating and a ceremonial gate with soldiers on the Indian side dressed with red Mohawk hats and tan uniforms and the Pakistani soldiers dressed in similar fashion but in black. The Indian soldiers were fun and light hearted, whereas the Pakistani soldiers appeared stoic. It was fascinating to see a mere 20 feet away women covered according to the Islam religion and a large gate with the Pakistani President’s mug shot and the words PAKISTAN. Jill coined the ceremony a dance off with Indian and Pakistani soldiers marching to the roar of the crowds, spinning and sometimes jumping in long split like steps. It lasted about 25 minutes and when it was all over the gates were closed and the people disbursed.
We celebrated our Thanksgiving Day at the Golden Temple. It is the central religious place of the Sikhs. To say it is magnificent is one thing; to say it’s awe inspiring is quite another. It’s an enormous stark white fortress with four outer walls and four entrances with a small ornate Golden Temple situated in the center and surrounded by water. The Temple was built in 1588 by the sixth Guru, who wanted a temple for people of all backgrounds and socioeconomic levels to worship.
Even more impressive than the Temple itself is the fully operational kitchen, which works to feed more than 100,000 people EACH day. Whether you are poor or not, you are welcome to eat here. We watched volunteers stirring soup, baking chapattis (tortillas) and cleaning dishes all to serve the community. (Pictures below). You would have thought the Temple was trying to feed the entire Northwest by the number of plates, bags of flour and size of the heating pots. The Golden Temple is not to be missed on any visit to India.
On a side note, Jill and I are very popular in India. We will likely be appearing on billboards soon. We probably had about 30 pictures taken with local tourists until it was taking too much time and becoming so embarrassing that we had to start saying no. Jill started referring to me as Madonna and herself as Katy Perry. We posed with young girls, young men, mothers and fathers and even grandparents. In this very conservative culture where men and women are very separate it seemed ridiculous for us to be posing especially with nearly naked men dunking themselves in the holy water behind us and women fully covered restricted to dipping in the holy water in an enclosed and separate quarters.
Finally, I want to conclude giving you a full picture of what I have learned thus far about India. It’s L-O-U-D and noise is only part of it. Picture women dressed in head to toe hot pink, turquoise, yellow, red and covered in jewels on their forehead, wrists and ankles. The men are more demure yet modern dressed in suits and sweaters and jeans unless they are Sikh in which case they wear bright purple, yellow, red and orange turbans. There are horns and they make all sorts of sounds and come from anything with a wheel. Women who are married have red dots between their eyes called Bindi’s. A dot on a man simply means he worshipped at Temple that day although many say they wear a smudge/dot just so others know they are religious. Women with a red line or jewel from the hairline down the forehead are wearing this to announce their recent marriage (honeymoon phase). Cows are sacred. You will find chicken and mutton (cheap lamb) to eat on the menus and in most cases lentils, chickpeas and lots of naan (Indian bread). I prefer garlic and cheese naan and boy do I love this dessert called Rava Kesari that looks like applesauce and tastes like a grainy heavenly sensation of honey and gooey goodness.
The power has just gone out in our Ritz Plaza hotel. I am busy writing, while Jill has already called the Front Desk. My response, “this is why I told you I wanted to get new batteries for my flashlight.” The answer from the front desk, “five or 10 minutes.” Jill upon hanging up, “Everything is 5-10 minute here.”
