Amritsar is the home city of the Sikhs and the site of their main temple, the Harmandir Sahib (better known as the Golden Temple). We stayed there both before and after our trip by car to Dharamsala.
1Amritsar A friendly fruit seller near our hotel in Amritsar. The small brownish fruit on top of the pile are chikkus, not kiwis. We discovered them on this trip. They are the fruit of the sapodilla tree and are sweet and malty flavored. Delicious!
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3Amritsar Street leading down to the Golden Temple, whose white towers are just visible at the end
4Amritsar Monument to the thousands of Indians slaughtered in the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre on 13 April 1919. The Indians were meeting peacefully in this enclosed walled space when British Gen. Dyer panicked and had his 50 soldiers fire on them -- for about 10 minutes. Official estimates are of 379 killed and 1,100 wounded. Other estimates count over 1,000 dead. Dyer had his men fire especially towards the dense parts of the crowds and towards the exit gates. On return to England, he was hailed by conservative elements as a hero, causing Rabindranath Tagore to renounce his knighthood.
5Amritsar The rectangles indicated bullet holes still visible in this wall.
6Amritsar Two happy scarf sellers who have just sold Siv a happy scarf.
7Amritsar Inside the enclosure of the Harmandir Sahib (the "Temple of God"), the Golden Temple of the Sikhs. The present Golden Temple dates from 1764
8Amritsar The temple sits in the middle of the "Amritsar", the "Pool of the Nectar of Immortality"
9Amritsar Swedish tourist with happy scarf
10Amritsar American tourist with orange hankie on head
11Amritsar Street of once-nice houses and spreading electric wires, near our hotel
12Amritsar Near the Attari-Waggah border crossing between India and Pakistan, these ladies have been frisked (behind the corrugated-iron screen) and admitted.
13Amritsar Gentlemen are frisked in public, on a rickety stool, for all to see.
14Amritsar Indian gate to the border area, with crowds of fans filling the bleachers
16Amritsar Typical tall, headdressed Indian border soldier
17Amritsar Holding out a long note for the microphones..
18Amritsar ...before strutting off to the border. Yes, these are ladies.
19Amritsar Roost..., uh, soldiers strutting to the border
20Amritsar On the other side of the gates, the black-clad Pakistani border guards sport headwear similar to that of their Indian counterparts.
21Amritsar As the sun slowly sets in the southwest...
22Amritsar ... laborers carry materials on their heads as they have been doing for centuries
23Amritsar Descending flags about to cross over each other
24Amritsar Kilometers-long queue of Indian trucks waiting to send produce across the border
25Amritsar Entrance to the Mata (Hindu) Temple in Amritsar
26Amritsar This is undoubtedly the silliest temple we have ever visited. It's as much carnaval labyrinth as temple. You go upstairs and downstairs...
27Amritsar Siv coming out of a low tunnel which has to be crawled or stooped through (Look out, your preposition is dangling...)
28Amritsar Swedish tourist admiring colorful, na�ve mosaics
29Amritsar Mosaic linga with head of Shiva on top. The smaller lingas surrounding it may represent the zodiac.
30Amritsar These mosaic hills reminded us of some paintings of Andrej Pagnkov.
31Amritsar Kitschy cockeyed Kali
32Amritsar Pillared hall of mosaiced columns and lingas
33Amritsar There's a passage you must wade through.
34Amritsar The Mata Temple commemorates this 20th-century female saint with spectacles, Lal Devi.
35Amritsar Wonderful noise machine. When activated, it bangs a drum, clangs symbols together and rings a bell. Quel vacarme! What a racket! It appears this is pleasing to the god(s).
36Amritsar The shrine to Lal Devi
37Amritsar Not to be outdone -- much... -- the Hindus have their temple in a tank too, the Sri Durgiana Temple.
38Amritsar In opposition to the Sikh Golden Temple, the Sri Durgiana Temple is referred to as the Silver Temple, because of the silver reliefs on the doors, like this one of Ganesh.
39Amritsar The Silver Temple has its share of gold too.
40Amritsar Hanuman in Amritsar - more kitsch
41Amritsar The Sri Durgiana Temple in its tank
42Amritsar More cars and motorcycles
43Amritsar Almost hidden behind some stores, we found a small mosque where some gentlemen chatted with us and nicely offered us a cup of tea.
44Amritsar We had met a local at the Golden Temple the day before and again today in town. He was an off-duty guide who showed us around the artisans' districts in town. Very interesting.
45Amritsar In the woodcarvers' quarter, this man is clearly pleased with his work.
46Amritsar Carving while listening to his mp3 player
47Amritsar More wood-carving artists
48Amritsar Horse-drawn carts are not that common in India.
49Amritsar View of the Golden Temple from the roof of our hotel
50Amritsar Meanwhile, back at the Harmandir Sahib, two young ladies wanted John to "take picture".
51Amritsar Evening coming on over the Harmandir Sahib
52Amritsar A lovely, happy and very friendly family