Shri Harmandir Sahib - The Golden Temple

The Golden Temple or shri Harmandir Sahib or Shri Darbar Sahib is one of the most holiest and sacred pilgrimage center for Sikhs community is located at Amritsar in Indian state of Punjab .This Gurudwara (common name for Sikh’s religious centers) is open for people from all religions, from all backgrounds and from all faith as Sikhism philosophy believes in the ideal of equality among all.

A Sikh man worshiping the Golden Temple 

It is said that the temple was founded by Sikh’s fifth Guru of Arjan dev on the land allocated by Mughal emperor Akbar and it was later destroyed by another Mughal king Ahmed shah in year 1761. It was then under the reign of Great king Ranjit Singh whole temple was renovated and temple dome was gilded in 750 kg of Gold and hence it got the name The Golden Temple.

Again it witnesses a major reconstruction in year 1984 in which a large area of the surrounding complex was destroyed due to the operation Blue Star launched by Indian Army inside the temple premises in order to kill Bhindrawala, leader of revolutionary group Khalistaan. This operation also led to revenge killing of then prime minister Indira Gandhi which followed by communal riots against Sikhs community residing in whole India.

Ariel view of The Golden Temple  (source)

I along with my two friends Jaswinder & Praveen reached near the Golden temple complex at evening. The temple complex is surrounded by a large market with numerous shops selling souvenirs   mostly related to the Sikh religion. You can also find many average to luxurious hotels to stay near the temple complex itself. You could also stay at free dormitories provided by the Gurudwara trust but they are mostly fully packed and overpopulated. So it’s better option to find any cheap hotels outside the premises.

We checked into a nearby hotel and planned to visit the shrine at tomorrow early morning as we do not wanted to visit the sacred place with dirty clothes and tired body. But on Jaswinder’s insistence we went there at night itself just to view it at night (but didn’t went   inside the main religious sanctum) . Jaswinder who himself belongs to Sikh religion already came here earlier 2-3 times thus acted as our guide in Amritsar.

The Golden Temple at night

At night the aura and glory of the temple is no less enchanting than the morning itself. It is beautifully lit up at night. It’s seems like whole darkness is fades away by the golden light rays illuminates from the golden building and reflects everywhere on the dark waters of the sacred pool surrounding it.

The Golden Temple at morning

The main Golden Temple complex is situated at the middle of the huge sacred pool of water also known as Amrit Sarovar (Pool of Nectar) which in turn surrounded by the magnificent architected white  building complexes along with marbled walkways adjoining them where  the devotees just sits or strolls around and taking pilgrimage revolutions around the main sanctum.

way to main sanctum

Surrounding buildings

There is a causeway connects the golden temple from one side of the marbled walkway. A lot of devotees also take holy bath in sacred pool which believed to be very auspicious. The whole atmosphere is transfused with the peace and tranquility. In the main sanctum on a jewel-studded platform, lies the Adi-Grantha, the sacred scripture of the Sikhs.

The hums chanted by the priests over speakers, the reflection of the golden dome in the pool, the relaxing walkways and the sanctum where you humbly bends down on your knees to pray for the blessings of the Holy Guru or Supreme Teacher. These whole simultaneous set of events truly connects you directly to the supreme God. No matter from which religion you belongs, you will definitely finds your God here or even may be for few moments you will find yourself. Approximately 30-40% of the pilgrims that came here were belongs to different religions.

I’m always intrigued by the Sikhism, their philosophies and a heartily respect for their principals of equality. Their devotion & serving the humanity with free food without discriminating and everybody whether rich or poor, Hindu or Muslim , white or black all have to sit down together on a lined carpet to eat their meals at Sikh’s community mega kitchens commonly known as Langar. It is estimated that here approximately one lakh meals has been prepared for devotees everyday and that’s all for absolutely free. In addition to the delicious taste of the food you could also ask for more and that’s too without spending any penny.

Langar Hall

There were two Langar halls situated where thousands of devotes can have their meal at one time. And food has been served here round the clock in Langars. Isn’t it amazing! While entering in one of the hall I saw that a number of volunteers were already stood there to serve us food from the steel buckets they are holding. Even I had seen few small kids also serving water to the devotees, it was indeed an overwhelming sight. After having some wonderful veg food we handed the used steel plated to the volunteers. When I came outside the hall I was astonished by the view. I saw multiple huge towers of steel plates stacked up one on another, uncountable spoons and steel cups. I could reckon it was probably be in tens of thousands in numbers. Also I saw a large number of volunteers preparing food, peeling vegetables, washing plates, washing floors. And the most surprising fact is that most of them were no regular volunteers  as many of them includes devotees who came here and volunteer their services out of a sense of religious and social obligation. This filled me up again with immense respect for everyone these volunteers.

                                 " Bole So Nihaal, Sat Sri Akaal"

Another place to visit at Amritsar is Jallianwala Bagh which is just a five minutes walk from the Golden temple. This site is infamous for the unwarranted killings and massacre of around 1560 people in year 1919, who gathered there for peaceful assembly, by the British army who opened fired on them without any warning. It is said that that around 1650 shots were fired in a span of mere 10 minutes. The bullet marks can still be seen on the walls of the buildings at the site.

Jallianwala Bagh

Bullet marks at Jallianwala Bagh

                                          Martyr's well, Jallianwala Bagh

One more attraction at Amritsar is famous Wagah Border/Attari Border - the border crossing between India & Pakistan. There is a daily ceremony in which Indian’s Border Security Force & Pakistan’s Pakistan Rangers have a Beating Retreat march with crowds cheering on both the side. This is a must visit ceremony to attend for everyone who came to Amritsar.

Wagah Border - Indian side

Ceremony at wagah Border

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Did you know there is Temple situated on a huge rock at Jim Corbett National Park

There is a temple in India which is situated on the top of a huge rock in the midst of gushing Himalayan river. The name of this sacred and noted temple is Garjiya (or girija) Mata Temple which is located in the garjiya village near Ramnagar, Uttarakhand, India. It is situated on a mould amidst Himalayan River Kosi and is visited by hundreds of devotees everyday.  During Kartik poornima , a Hindu holy day celebrated on the fifteenth lunar day of kartik month (NOV-DEC) , these numbers went up to even tens of thousands. Kartik poornima is also known as festival of lights. So during this month whole temple is decorated with colorful lights and earthen diyas(lamp) lit by the devotees. This whole decoration along with the gurgling sound of the river filled up the whole environment with some kind of heavenly peace. A large fair is also been held during this time.

View of temple in monsoons

view of temple in summers

To reach this sacred shrine of the goddess of shakti(power) one have to maneuver around 70-80 steps of the steep staircases of the temple. The deity is highly revered in this region. Mainly devotees offer coconut, vermilion, incense sticks, red clothes, sweets etc to please the goddess.You can easily buy these religious offerings from any of the many shops situated at the starting of the temple premises.

According to the folklore Girija is another name of Goddess Parvati, called because of being the daughter of Giriraaj ,king of mountains, The Himalayas. The Shakti(Goddess ) residing in the temple is calm and peaceful incarnation of Goddess Mother Parvati.

It is believed that when the temple was first discovered, the forest officials and some local villagers claimed to saw lions roaming around near the bottom of this rock temple. According to Hindu mythology lion is considered to be the vehicle of goddess Paarvati.

In addition to the glory of this temple and sheer faith of devotees, its geographical location also helps in attracting a number of visitors and pilgrims to its premises as this religious place is located on the outskirts of world renowned Jim Corbett National Park. This temple offers a wonderful panorama of nearby lush green hills and vast spread of forests of Jim Corbett national park.

another view

You can also have a bath or take a dip in the holy water’s of kosi  river which is believed to  cleanses one’s soul from all the  sins.

People from every culture ,from every part of the India and even foreigners came here to visit this  sacred place either to have blessings of the goddess  or just to adore the scenic beauty of this place. So whenever you plans to visit the Jim Corbett national park , this temple should must be in your itinerary.

view from the bridge adjoining the temple

The nearest railway station and bus station to this place is Ramnagar which is situated at a distance of 12 km away from it. You can easily get vehicles from there to reach temple. Ramnagar is well connected to New Delhi and is Known as the Gateway city to Jim Corbett National Park.

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Kotadhariya - A pristine beauty in the lap of himalaya

       

Amazing cascade (discovered it in the forests situated on the top of Kotadhariya)

The temple of Goddess

Seti village, Kothadhariya situated at the top of ridge

Kotadhariya

Kotadhariya (another view )

Kotadhariya (another view )

        Travelogue will be updated soon till then let's photographs speaks for themselves :p

Kosi River

Kotadhariya (Top right view )

Rising against Babbling brook :)

Make shift Huts in near by forest

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TajMahal - An epitome of Love , A Marvellous architecture

“Bro you are overspeeding .” I shouted at Jassi, while sitting on the backseat, who was driving the car at more than 120km/h speed. Suddenly in a middle of nowhere a car overtakes us and vanished in few seconds as we didn’t able to verify which car it was. And then again a  Xuv came in front of us and disappeared in a similar fashion.

        “Abe bhai thodi aur tej chala es dabbe ko ( Bro speed up this car a little more).“ I along with Nitesh yelled at Jassi in an aggressive manner as in few seconds two cars overtakes us and disappeared in speed which slightly hurt our pride. :p

pic credit :- Trey ratcliff

We were driving on Yamuna express way, one of the India’s finest highway project  with world class infrastructure and engineering. This express way has a unique capability to transform any common driver into a formula 1 race driver. Actually it has been built to provide a direct nonstop  drive  of hardly 3 hours connecting Delhi to the city of Tajmahal i.e. Agra.

Yamuna express-way Toll barrier

We reached Agra at around 8 pm. It was totally a sudden and unplanned trip as couple of hours ago we were assembled at a mall in delhi to celebrate our reunion with one our long time childhood friend Nitesh ,who just came for a visit in delhi, and now we were at some dirty petrol pump of Agra. Instead of renting a hotel we went to a nearby famous Gurudwara  Guru ka Taal  and rented a room there for night stay. Actually most of the big Gurudwara’s also provide rooms for devotees and travelers at a reasonable price . After seeking blessings from darbaar sahib ,where holy scripture Guru Granth sahib (Holy book of Sikhism) placed at Gurudwara , we went to devour some delicious vegetarian food  provided free of cost at Gurudwara  langar hall.

Guru ka taal Gurudwara

Next early morning we headed to see Tajmahal. We parked our car at the parking lot and then walked around half a kilometer to reach at the entrance of Tajmahal.  Infact no vehicles were allowed beyond parking lot and from here one has the options to either walk or take a e-riksha(tuk tuk) to  reach entrance gate. You must have to buy entry tickets and then after that you will have to run through a security check point to enter this aesthetic place.

Undoubtedly Tajmahal is India’s most famous tourist attraction . It is one of the world’s seven wonder, an epitome of love and a marvelous piece of ancient architecture. It is also located on the banks of sacred Yamuna river. It was built by the one of the great Mughal sultanate emperor Shahjahan in the loving memory of his beloved wife Mumtaaz Mahal after her death. He built this monument as a symbol of love to showcase the whole world his immense love for Mumtaz. She died while giving birth to their 14^th child. (I guess it was enough for the world to know his great love for her. I mean really…14^th child… )

The majestic work of white wonder incorporates the blend of both Persian and Mughal architecture using highly and semi-precious white marbles transported   from various parts of the India.

No matter how many times   you have seen the picture of Tajmahal in books or in internet but believe me you should must have to come here in person to witness its real beauty and grandeur. Trust me no photograph can truly depicts its gloriousness or even can do 10 % of justice to this ethereal building.

My Jaws dropped and eye-lids stood still as I was awe-struck by the first glimpse of Tajmahal. It was pure white and glitters even more by the sunlight. 

First glimpse of Tajmahal

waah TAJ !

Me & jassi posing for a pic

It also gave you an illusion to become larger and larger as you went near to it. The intricate patterns and Urdu scripts written on the marble work were truly astonishing. The domed marble tomb is part of an integrated complex consisting of gardens and two red-sandstone buildings surrounded by red stone walls on three sides. Also whole mausoleum is decorated around with wonderful Mughal garden and with avenues of trees and fountains laid along the walkways to the main building. Inside the Tajmahal there were tombs of both Shahjahan and Mumtaj mahal placed besides each other. Photography is not allowed in this part.

 

one of the redstone building around Tajmahal

According to me the best time to visit Tajmahal is at early mornings as it helps you to avoid the hustle-bustle of the people and also gets you capture some wonderfull camera shots as memories. Outside the Tajmahal there were many stores where you can buy souvenirs and replicas of Tajmahal in almost every sizes. After spending nearly 2 hours there we came  back to delhi with the hangover of tajmahal still in our mind for many days. 

River Yamuna is flowing on the back

Other places to visit in agra is The Agra Fort which  is also renowned   UNESCO World Heritage site  just 2 km away from Tajmahal and an another piece of Mughal architecture Fatehpur Sikri.

Red-Fort ( captured this shot from inside the car)

Note:- Tajmahal is closed on Fridays.

Request :- Please do not litter and throw water bottles here & there. Use dustbins available at the various spots at Taj premises. Be a good Samaritan.  

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Gulistan bana rahega "Akhnoor"

I was just came back from the school and mom told me that my father got new posting in Akhnoor. As my dad belongs to army so we have to travel to every other Indian city after every 3-4 years. I gave a weird expression upon hearing the name akhnoor but a  sense of fear ran into my body when I came to know that akhnoor is a small town situated in the one of the disputed and war-conflicted state of India i.e. Jammu & Kashmir. I had all these presumptions about  J&K  just because of the news of militancy and infiltration which was a everyday affair to be telecasted in news channels at that time. But at that moment I had no idea that all my beliefs were soon going to be fallacious. It’s been years since I left akhnoor but the memories and time spend there is still fresh in my mind. Based upon my encounters with akhnoor  am writing this article which is purely inspired by the rustic and picturesque beauty of akhnoor. Akhnoor alias " Aakhon ka Noor " well  it lies on Jammu-Poonch national highway about 28km away from jammu city.

Soon the day came when we finally arrived at Jammu railway station. Jammu station is like any other railway stations of india except you can find a good number of army persons roaming and patrolling here and there. We reached akhnoor in a army stallion truck which was sent to escort us from jammu station. This picturesque town is located on the banks of river Chenab river which also separates it from other parts of jammu. Vehicles have to cross a steel bridge built upon Chenab River guarded by elite army men to reach akhnoor. The bridge is also considered to be the lifeline of the akhnoor. There is also an another bridge recently being constructed on Chenab river.

Chenab river bank with akhnoor bridge in the backdrop

It was around 9 pm when we reached our new home in akhnoor inside an army establishment named G.S. Vihar. It was pitch dark but suddenly I saw something which amazed me . It was the world renowned Hindu pilgrimage of vaishnov devi trikuta hill infront of my eyes and whole mountain was illuminating  due to the series of  light bulbs fixed there on the trail going to mata vaisnov devi  cave shrine. It was a magnificent view. It was like goddess herself welcomes our arrival in her holy land. I humbly folded both my hands to the direction of the shrine hill and whispered slowly – “ JAI MATA DI“! Such glimpses of trikuta hill can be seen from all most every part of the akhnoor.

Trikuta Hill glows at night

There were many Himalayan peaks can be easily seen from akhnoor and in winters you can also locate snow patches on these peaks. Whole akhnoor is like a one giant hardcore army cantonment as there were many army establishments and battalions operating and guarding the region from any possible infiltration or war like situation as  akhnoor also shares border from Pakistan from one side. This revelation itself was enough to gave me Goosebumps. A few months earlier I was surrounded by huge sky-scrappers and traffic jams of metropolitan Mumbai and now I was at some town of jammu surrounded by forest , Army and Himalayan peaks which majority of Indian's doesn’t even knows.

Army convoy

Akhnoor Market

Akhnoor has both mythological and historical importance. It is believed to be the ancient virat nagar of epic Mahabharata. This is the town where paandavas had to hide themselves from kauravas for one year. For this a cave temple better known as Paandav Gufa also situated on the banks of river Chenab. The footprints of lord Krishna also found in the cave temple. Although the main cave is prohibited for the people but this temple is a must visit for every mythology patron.

Jiya Pota ghat (left) and Akhnoor Fort 

 Just near the cave temple you can locate the ruins of akhnoor fort. This fort was buit in 18^th century by king Tej singh. For all those who have interest in historic places this is the perfect site as excavations done by archaeological survey of India have found that akhnoor was one of the last bastions of Harappan civilization. 

Ruins of Akhnoor Fort

Other places to visit in akhnoor is jiya pota ghaat and a beautiful Gurudwara . Also both are situated on the Chenab banks itself. All these places were basically situated in a que  runs in parallel along the river bank. At Jiya pota ghaat there were many temples has been built and whole surroundings gives a inner sense of peace specially at evenings. The gushing sound of high speed chenab currents along with the cool breeze flowing with it and chiming sound of temple bells along with the smell of burned incense sticks offered in temples makes the whole atmosphere pious and spiritual. Here you can also have the pleasure to take a dip in icy-cold water of Chenab. I lived here in akhnoor  for 3 beautiful years of my life until I moved to Delhi.

Akhnoor Gurudwara on the banks of chenab

Hotels at akhnoor are very few but you could get a lot of hotels easily in jammu city. So this beautiful town akhnoor is a must visit attraction  situated at just  an hour journey from jammu city. Road connecting jammu & akhnoor is itself very enchanting. Visit Akhnoor for its beauty, visit akhnoor for its culture, visit akhnoor for its people, visit akhnnor for Chenab.

History and more about Akhnoor . click :-  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akhnoor

Note:-  This description of akhnoor  is presented on the basis of my experiences few years ago. Today akhnoor is developed so much. Now there is a tiled pavement had been built recently along the banks of river Chenab which becomes a evening celebration for the people.

JAI MATA DI !!!

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 Note 2 :- Almost all images are sourced from internet (http://akhnoor.nic.in/) as i am writing this article after many years of akhnoor experiences.So i didn't have much photos of the place.

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