Today, we went on a tour of Amritsar, visiting many places, having dinner, and ending at the Attari–Wagah border for the lowering of the Flags ceremony.
Our first trip of the day was back into the centre of Amritsar, and after a short coach trip. We were met by our tour guide from the previous night, who would take us on a tour of different places in Amritsar. We then walked the short distance to our first stop, the Jallianwala Bagh.
Jallianwala Bagh.
I had never heard of Jallianwala Bagh or the events that took place there before our visit. I left wanting to learn more about the event, the people involved and how the massacre happened, in this disgraceful event in British history.
I thought the gardens were lovely and could imagine people gathering there out of the heat of the sun. The memorials there were quite plain, but the bullet holes in the buildings surrounding the garden leave a poignant reminder of the atrocity that happened there.
Photos: Jallianwala Bagh.
These photos were all taken on my short visit to the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. Click on any image to see a larger version of the image with a description.
When we left the Jallianwala Bagh, our guide pointed out the Martyrs Memorial to us and informed us that it would be our meeting point when we departed from the Golden Temple later. We moved on to our next stop of the day, the Durgiana Temple.
Durgiana Temple.
We had a short visit to the 🔗Durgiana Temple in Amritsar. After having previously visited numerous prominent temples and monuments around the world, including the Taj Mahal in Delhi and the Golden Temple the previous night, I wasn't overly impressed with the interior of the temple. Still, the Golden facade on the top half of the building outside was impressive. Our brief visit only lasted around 20 minutes, but we didn't need to stay any longer.
Photos: Durgiana Temple.
These photos are from my short visit to the Durgiana Temple. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, so these are all from the exterior. Click on any image to see a larger version of the image with a description.
When we left the Durgiana Temple, our guide walked us to the square outside the Golden Temple. We handed our shoes in, and I was again given an orange bandana to wear inside the complex before we went inside.
Golden Temple.
This was our second visit to the Golden Temple, and it was fascinating as we explored the Langar within the complex. We were told that people of any religion or background could go for a free meal at any time. We were told we could have a meal, but that if we wanted one, we would have to join the large queue of people already there. Nobody was willing to forgo our tour around the kitchen and dining area, and we were all shown around the food preparation areas, where volunteers prepared the vegetables. We then went to see the kitchens where food was cooked and the bakery, where bread was made in large ovens. Our tour guide even took us up another level to a kitchen area to show us a view of the Golden Temple, which most people never see, from the Langar kitchen.
The view was brilliant and gave us a view over the entire complex. After leaving the kitchen area, we left the Golden Temple, went back to collect our shoes, and were then given time to shop in the nearby stores. I asked our guide where I could purchase one of the orange bandanas that we had been given to wear during our visit to the Golden Temple. He told me to keep the one I had been given to wear as a souvenir, as it would mean more to me, and that I didn't have to pay for it.
Photos: Golden Temple Daytime Photos.
These photos were all taken on my second visit to the Golden Temple, when we visited during the daytime. Click on any image to see a larger version of the image with a description.
After I left the Golden Temple area, I walked around a little but didn't buy anything in the nearby stores before sitting opposite the large monument, where we were all to meet before going for dinner. The others slowly joined me, and I was amazed at how people could buy so much on a holiday. I didn't like to think about how much the excess baggage was going to cost some of them on our flight back to Delhi, let alone on the flight back to the UK. We all walked back to our coach and boarded it to go for dinner.
The coach dropped us off outside a restaurant that our local guide recommended. We all sat together at adjoining tables, but since we would be paying separately, we had our orders taken separately. The staff were fantastic, quick, and in the case of the girls serving us, beautiful. The meal was the best I had in India and the best Indian food I have ever eaten. I wish all the food on our trip had been as good.
When we left, our guide hurried us back onto the coach, which was outside, explaining that we had about an hour's drive to the India-Pakistan border and that we needed to arrive on time to secure a good seat for the show.
Attari–Wagah Border, the ceremonial banging of the gates.
I had seen small clips of the 🔗Attari-Wagah border ceremony on TV but knew nothing about it apart from the John Cleese-like funny march that apparently was part of the ceremony. In retrospect, I wondered if this was the inspiration for John Cleese's funny walk.
When our coach arrived at the border, we parked in a large car park. We had been told numerous times today and were reminded again before we left the coach to take our passports with us, as we couldn't enter to see the ceremony without them. We walked the short distance to a security area, where women and men were screened separately. As we began queuing up to enter the area where the ceremony was taking place at the India-Pakistan border, one of the women told us that she didn't have her passport and had left it on the coach. It was at this point that my admiration for tour guides everywhere increased. One of the guides walked back to the coach with the lady so that she could get back on board to collect her passport and get in to see the ceremony. As a group, the rest of us waited for the lady to return and come through the security screening. I wasn't the only one wishing we could move on to guarantee our seat in the stadium that we could now see in front of us. When the lady finally returned, we moved on to the stadium. We showed our passports again at different gates; then we were shown to some seats. We were informed by our guide that the ceremony would conclude with the lowering of both countries' flags and that when they reached halfway down, we should exit to avoid the crowds of people leaving the stadium. He wanted to leave the car park and resume our journey to Amritsar without getting held up for hours.
The stadiums on each side of the border crossing, we were told, held around 20,000 people each. The U-shaped stadium we were sitting in had its open side facing the border gates, and a large road ran through the stadium to the gates themselves. An area of the road was sectioned off before the ceremony started, and thousands of women gathered there to sing and dance. It looked like an open-air, women-only disco, and the ladies, all ably led by a very camp compere, were led through different songs which challenged the audience on the Pakistan side of the border. The sound system was fantastic; it was like being at an open-air concert. The noise and the music blaring out through the sound system were too loud for me to hear if the Pakistan side of the border had anything similar. My position in the stadium didn't allow me a clear view of the Pakistan side of the border, so I couldn't see if people were dancing and singing in the same way on that side. Still, I had a clear view of the gates, the dancing, and the ceremony that unfolded later. From what I could see, it appeared that the Pakistani side was in the midst of building its stadium. Still, I could see thousands of people seated in it, waving Pakistani flags at the Indian flag-waving audience on the Indian side of the border.
Before the ceremony started, the dancers were ushered back to their seats in the stadium. The ceremony started, and it was fantastic. I had never seen anything like it in my life, and it became one of the highlights of my trip to India. I'm not sure if it was intentionally designed that way or if it just seemed that way, but it acted out like a gay pride parade, with the campest sergeant major I have ever seen leading it. It was typical of a Butlins Holiday Camp, an entertainment evening. I was both impressed, amused and entertained all at the same time and didn't want it to end. All too soon, it was over, and we hurriedly left the stadium as the flags of India and Pakistan were lowered.
Photos: Attari–Wagah Border.
These photos are from my trip to see the incredible Attari Wagah border ceremony. Click on any image to see a larger version of the image with a description.
Video of the Attari–Wagah Border Ceremony.
I recoded much of the ceremony, but even this does not do justice to the ceremony and the event that I witnessed; it was terrific.
The video will appear here soon.
We stopped on the walk back to the coach to allow us all to use the toilets, but then got back on our coach. Despite the crowds all leaving from the same car park, we weren't held up for too long and were soon on our way back to Amritsar.
I don't know if it was the long day or the painkillers that I took for the ache in my leg, but I don't remember much of the drive home, apart from the night sky and the passing countryside that I saw as I drifted in and out of sleep. When we got back to the hotel, I went back to my room and went to sleep.