India Part XI
As we arrived back in Amritsar my friend’s eyes were returning to almost normal from his Bhang border journey that had still left him speechless. We all were still in awe from the entire border scene but we would have time to reflect on it later. Now we had to walk about two kilometers from our hotel to the Golden Palace and experience having dinner there. It wasn’t quite like anything we expected.
As we entered the grounds of the Golden Temple we had to check our shoes at the gate and place a hat on our heads to adhere to the Temple’s dress code. The temple and surrounding buildings were so lit up (not as lit up as my friend at the Pakistani Border, but lit up nonetheless). We walked around the inner walls of this magnificent building and eventually made our way to what seemed to be a huge dining hall. We learned this temple provides free food to 100,000 people every day! It is the single largest free kitchen in the world.
Once in the dining hall we were given a metal tray, some utensils, and a cup. We simply followed the people in front of us into an even larger room where there were just rows and rows of people sitting down on the floor, eating and drinking. After we sat down it was only a few moments before a server came by with a giant ladle and plopped some food onto our tray. There were a few servers dishing out rice, water, bread, and a sauce. For the amount of people there this setup was extremely efficient, to the point that once we were finished with our first portion, seconds were just a few moments away. The food was very satisfying and by the time we each had consumed two or three servings, we were set to get up and drop our trays and utensils off at the dishwasher counter.
After dinner we spent about an hour or so just admiring the beauty of this massive architectural structure. It was quite a sight and it was one of those places that really had its own pulse. The temple had a presence you could feel.
It was quite an eventful day in Amritsar. We retired to our rooms to get some sleep and prepare for the next day’s adventure.
Join our Facebook ExNotes page!
Never miss an ExNotes blog:
By Joe Berk It's good to have friends, and it's even better to have friends…
By Mike Huber India Part X Shaking off the continual feeling of being around rats,…
By Joe Berk We recently published a blog on my de-Bubba'd .45 70 Ruger No.…
By Mike Huber India Part IX After ensuring we didn’t have any tails on us…
By Mike Huber India Part VIII Awakening the following morning (still with some uneasiness from…
View Comments
You actually ate that stuff off the floor with a guys foot inches (centimeters) from the plate?
Lol.
The men eating there look to be Sikhs.
Which is cool.
But free food!!! Lol. Yes it's a Sikh Temple as well. 😀