So, this February, as soon as I rejoined college for the second semester, on a weekend some five of us decided to plan a short trip. As usual, the place of the trip was the hot topic of little conflicts. We shortlisted the nearby places like Kasuali, Shimla(obviously because everybody prefers to go to hill stations), but due to freezing cold the plan was dropped. Finally we thought of Amritsar because although few of us had seen the golden Temple earlier, but had not experienced its magnificence when it was all lit up at night. It is roughly five hours from Patiala, so we fixed it for the trip. We did not plan much and left at four in the morning. By around nine, we were there at Amritsar. Although we had booked this hotel near the Temple, but we wanted to stay too close, so we had to go hotel hunting in the morning itself. Luckily we found this hotel adjacent to the Gurudwara and checked in. This whole Hotel hunting episode was an altogether a different story, but I am skipping that for now. We freshened up and left for the "Darshan". After standing for about two and a half hours straight, we finally got an entry inside. Ofcourse, the two hours of standing in the queue was worth it and each one of us offered our prayers to the "The Granth Sahib".
We thought we could make it to the Wagah border on the same day and leave by the next evening. But it was almost three, by the time we came out and as the Border was some 35 kms from the place and would have taken us around 1 hour so we decided to stay a night more(again the hotel hunting episode popped in). Since morning we had no time to eat, so we sat in the first restaurant we could spot and had a yummy meal "Amritsari Naans" and lassi.
The last time I went to Amritsar was seven years back on a school trip. It was so different back then with narrow roads, unruly traffic and one couldn't make out that just at the corner of the street lies our historic Jallianwallah Bagh. Presently, the whole area near the Golden Temple has been revamped completely.The area has been named "The heritage street" which doesn't look like a part of the country itself. It has been redesigned as a mall road where no vehicles are allowed. The street has been designed such that it gives a modern as well as that typical old city look. There are hundreds of little shops, very well constructed, which sell punjabi styled juttis, phulkari suits and duppattas, special amritsari food items.
We took a stroll in the street, took pictures, sat and chatted for a while and as it became dark, we decided to go back, freshen up and visit the "Golden Temple"(the moment that we all were desperately waiting for). As we were approaching the Temple, I was experiencing an anxiety and excitement inside.
The moment we entered standing in front of it, I was dumbstruck, how beautiful and serene it was. For a moment, I paused, and I had this gush of emotions inside. I had never thought or even imagined that I would experience something so beautiful in my life. The shadow of the Temple in the water surrounding is a memory I could not capture in the camera, but its still present in my eyes. All of us sat in front of the marvelous "The Golden Temple"(now I know why is it called so!) and gazed at it for hours together. There was a lot of hustle and bustle around but I was so peaceful and calm that I barely could listen to anything going on. There were no thoughts, nothing at all but tranquility. Everyday, at 10, I talk to my parents and my younger brother and I have alot to say about how my day was, what all happened every time. I was really excited to tell them, but I seriously had no words to explain, how I was feeling actually. I told them about the whole day, about almost everything, the food, the hotel, the market. I wanted to capture that beautiful picture of the Temple with my eyes and send it to them right away. All I could tell them was that you should definitely come to Amritsar, because I would not be able to explain it here.
I think I am nostalgic about it right now, so I am closing it here today and going in that state again for a while(its almost 2 o'clock at night).
But, there is much to the Amritsar trip, the Heritage Street, the amazing food joints. I would be coming up with it soon. For all those who like to shop from those little local shops(the bright and colorful stuff), I am going to post my next blog soon!
We thought we could make it to the Wagah border on the same day and leave by the next evening. But it was almost three, by the time we came out and as the Border was some 35 kms from the place and would have taken us around 1 hour so we decided to stay a night more(again the hotel hunting episode popped in). Since morning we had no time to eat, so we sat in the first restaurant we could spot and had a yummy meal "Amritsari Naans" and lassi.
The last time I went to Amritsar was seven years back on a school trip. It was so different back then with narrow roads, unruly traffic and one couldn't make out that just at the corner of the street lies our historic Jallianwallah Bagh. Presently, the whole area near the Golden Temple has been revamped completely.The area has been named "The heritage street" which doesn't look like a part of the country itself. It has been redesigned as a mall road where no vehicles are allowed. The street has been designed such that it gives a modern as well as that typical old city look. There are hundreds of little shops, very well constructed, which sell punjabi styled juttis, phulkari suits and duppattas, special amritsari food items.
We took a stroll in the street, took pictures, sat and chatted for a while and as it became dark, we decided to go back, freshen up and visit the "Golden Temple"(the moment that we all were desperately waiting for). As we were approaching the Temple, I was experiencing an anxiety and excitement inside.
The moment we entered standing in front of it, I was dumbstruck, how beautiful and serene it was. For a moment, I paused, and I had this gush of emotions inside. I had never thought or even imagined that I would experience something so beautiful in my life. The shadow of the Temple in the water surrounding is a memory I could not capture in the camera, but its still present in my eyes. All of us sat in front of the marvelous "The Golden Temple"(now I know why is it called so!) and gazed at it for hours together. There was a lot of hustle and bustle around but I was so peaceful and calm that I barely could listen to anything going on. There were no thoughts, nothing at all but tranquility. Everyday, at 10, I talk to my parents and my younger brother and I have alot to say about how my day was, what all happened every time. I was really excited to tell them, but I seriously had no words to explain, how I was feeling actually. I told them about the whole day, about almost everything, the food, the hotel, the market. I wanted to capture that beautiful picture of the Temple with my eyes and send it to them right away. All I could tell them was that you should definitely come to Amritsar, because I would not be able to explain it here.
I think I am nostalgic about it right now, so I am closing it here today and going in that state again for a while(its almost 2 o'clock at night).
But, there is much to the Amritsar trip, the Heritage Street, the amazing food joints. I would be coming up with it soon. For all those who like to shop from those little local shops(the bright and colorful stuff), I am going to post my next blog soon!
Photo credits: Simpi Sonowal...my budding photographer. Ofcourse she would have killed me, had I not mentioned that it was her who captured it!
