Volunteer In India: Amritsar, The Golden Temple

I have to admit, the Golden Temple in Amritsar has left me shaken, but not in a good way. I came here with several other people…some Sikh, some not. Some men, some women. Some Indian, some American, some Italian.

Several people told me that it’s such a holy place, and to pay close attention to how it made me feel if I were to make it all the way here.

There’s two distinct parts to how it made me feel.

One is awe at how many people they cook for, feed, and clean up after. The logistics simply astound me. 60,000 to 80,000 people come thru there on a normal day, on their pilgrimages to the Golden Temple, and you have to admire the sheer tenacity and chain of supply and demand that this requires. And on top of that, everyone working in the Golden Temple is a volunteer. There’s hordes of people volunteering their time, cooking, cleaning, feeding.

Two is that I felt out of place…like a fraud, an intruder. I felt no magical bond, no awe, and no reverence. I felt like an idiot carrying my camera around (even though everyone else had one, too). And then there’s the claustrophobic feeling I am left with…with so many people visiting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it’s crowded! My instinct is to back away, find a quiet corner, and not get jostled. And it’s simply not possible.

I suppose I could go on, to write a lot about religion, spirituality, and more detailed information about my own history with them. But I think I’ll pass. It’s too much to write about, especially now.

Everyone else is going back tomorrow at 5am for another visit. I am not. I am going to stay here in my room and collect myself. Hopefully by the time they get back I will be ok.