A glimpse of northern India in March 2023 - Part 2

 A glimpse of northern India in March 2023

A 12-day tour account to Himachal and Punjab 

(Travel Story Series @ Hon Too Fang 2023)

Part 2 

Adventure time

From Manali we went to 2 small towns via the Manali-Leh Highway. Near to snow country. On the way saw a small air balloon. Made a stop for members to rent skydiver jumpsuits for paragliding. Shown such jumpsuits being dried by the roadside. Passed through the Atal Tunnel, 9 km long, which reduces the travelling time from Manali to Leh by 4 hours.

Zip-line sliding in Sissu

Sissu is a town at 3,120 m elevation and 40 km from Manali. This is a place for snow adventure. Shown scenes of snow-covered landscape. One activity members participated is zip-line sliding where one hangs from a steel cable and slides through a narrow ravine under the force of gravity.

Paragliding in Salong

Salong, 13 km north of Manali town, is another town at 2,650 m in height. Activities include horse riding, yak riding, truck riding and the most exciting: paragliding. A few of our members did try this at about RM 230 a jump. Shown Khor, 5th photo, in his red skydiving jumpsuit getting ready for the 2nd biggest jump in his life, his biggest was jumping into marriage. Eddie, in gray skydiving jumpsuit, was deeply in prayer before the jump.

There are many makeshift food stalls and permanent shops here. We had lunch at this dirty-looking shop. The plate of mutton curry rice with a piece of roti cost RM 11. An extra plate of mutton cost RM 8. A small cup of hotly brewed masala milk tea cost another RM 1.10. Tasty food indeed. 

Both Salong and Sissu are packed with local tourists and adventure seekers, on a working day even, with the connecting roads in heavy traffic. Look at the human traffic jam in the 2nd photo, taken from our moving car. People in skiing suits queuing to go up the slope. Not sure what kind of adventure sports they are going after. The slope is too low, too small and with too many trees for skiing.

Manali to Dharamsala

Next we went to Dharamsala, a city 240 km west of Manali. During the journey visited the old Hindu Temple at Baijnath. The stone temple was built in 1202, according to on-site inscription.  A single tower with everything else on the same platform, a typical north Indian temple style known as “nagara”. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva. A holy cow stands at the front court. Many images of Hindu deities and floral patterns are carved on the walls. The 4th photo shows a serpent on a yoni, both represent fertility in Hinduism. It was drizzling lightly during our visit.

Dharamsala

Dharamsala is the administrative center of the Kangra district and the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh since 2017. The population is about 65,000. It is surrounded by dense coniferous forest consisting mainly of stately Deodar cedar trees. Dharamsala, in particular the suburb of McLeod Ganj, has a large Tibetan settlement. The 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising and established a Tibetan exile government here.

Norbulingka Institute

The Norbulingka Institute was founded by the 14th Dalai Lama to preserve Tibetan culture in its literary and artistic forms. It has several buildings, including a guest house for pilgrims, nestled in a serene park-like garden. Shown the main entrance in the 1st photo and the guesthouse in the 4th.

At the center of the courtyard is a big mount for mani prayer stones and murals of Buddhas, with prayer flags and prayer wheels, forms of worship unique to Tibetan Buddhism.

The main building is called “Seat of Happiness Temple” with a 4 m high gilded statue of Sakyamuni in the main hall. There are over a thousand pieces of murals. The 4th photo is one of the several pieces of giant thangkas hung in the main hall.

The institute is a training ground for Tibetan craftsmen. Shown a craftsman demonstrating his skill at the foyer. And an elephant-shaped gargoyle, a very western roof structure.

The toy museum has a big collection of miniature figurines in traditional costumes.

Namgyal Monastery in McLeod Ganj

Most of the Tibetans are settled in McLeod Ganj, a suburb of Dharamsala, and known as the home of Dalai Lama. Located here is the Namgyal Monastery, the personal monastery of the Dalai Lama. The multi-level building is rather simple. It houses the residence of the 14th Dalai Lama. Shown some features of the main hall: statues of Sakyamuni Buddha and  Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin in Chinese Buddhism), a decorative lamp, a giant thangka and the blurred image of a giant prayer wheel in spinning mode.

Colours of Mcleod Ganj

Mcleod Ganj has narrow streets and lanes. We had lunch seated on benches by the side of the main street. This place is touristic, dominated with souvenir and clothing shops. Shown colours of the merchandise sold.

Naddi View Point

Went to the view point called Naddi. Found a temple which takes in all World religions, and the rhododendron tree. Had a small bowl of Maggie mee, stew style, for “alas perut” at the roadside stall. See the QR code displaced, e-wallet payment accepted.

Dharamsala to Amritsar

From Dharamsala in the state of Himachal we drove to Amritsar in the state of Punjab, 200 km to the south-west, mostly on tolled highways. Topographically from hilly highland of Himachal to the flat-land of Punjab, dotted with wheat fields.

Punjab and Amritsar

Punjab is an Indian state bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the north and northwest, and another Punjab, a province of Pakistan to the west. The state covers an area of 50,400 sq km with a population of 27 million. The main ethnic groups are the Punjabis, with Sikhs and Hindus as the dominant religious groups. Punjabi is the most widely spoken and official language of the state. Punjab is predominantly an agrarian society. In religion 49% are Sikhs and 48% Hindus. Amritsar (amrit means nectar, sar is pool) is the second largest city in Punjab, population 2.0 million.

A few words on Sikhism

Sikhism is a monotheistic (one god) religion founded in the Punjab region (India + Pakistan) in the 15th century as developed by Guru Nanak (1469-1539) and his successors. There are 10 recognized gurus. It is the newest among the major religions of the World, with about 25-30 million followers, known as the Sikhs.

It combines elements of Hinduism and Islam and teaches a cycle of reincarnation and a righteous life. It emphasizes the agreement between spiritual development and everyday moral conduct. The founder Guru Nanak said: "truth is the highest virtue, but higher still is truthful living”. There is one primary scripture: the Guru Granth Sahib. The first version was created by Guru Arjan in 1604 while the final expanded version was compiled by Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th and last Guru.

Attari-Wagah Border retreat ceremony

Late afternoon went to the Attari (India) – Wagah (Pakistan) border crossing to witness the lowering of flag ceremony. The Indian soldiers drilled in a rapid dance-like manoeuvre with legs raised as high as possible. The ceremony ended with the lowering of flags, a shake of hands and closing of the gates. The soldiers in black are from the Pakistani side. The dance-like moves are quite comical really, not that expected of a solemn ceremony involving sovereignty issues. And the simple ceremony dragged on for half an hour, real Bollywood style.

The daily show attracts large crowd on the Indian side. The government has built a stadium for the purpose, equipped with giant TV screens. Foreign tourists have seats in better viewing locations. No entrance charges. The last photo shows the pitiful small crowd on the Pakistani side.

The ceremony does offer a platform for the audience to show patriotism. People paint their cheeks and hands with the colours of the national flag, wave their physical flags and cheer wildly as instigated by the master of ceremony.

The Golden Temple
The Golden Temple, aka the Sri Harmandir Sahib (abode of God), is one of the holiest sites in Sikhism. The man-made pool (amritsar) was completed by the 4th Sikh Guru in 1577. Most of the buildings were completed by the 5th Sikh Guru. The gurdwara was rebuilt several times after it was destroyed by the Mughal and Afghan armies. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire, rebuilt it in marble in 1809, and overlaid the sanctum with gold leaf in 1830. This has led to the name of Golden Temple. The gurdwara complex has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its application pending. 

Visiting the Temple

Morning visited the Golden Temple. It has a square plan with 4 entrances. The gilded sanctum is in the middle of a nearly square pool, 154.5 m x 148.5 m and 5.1 metre deep. Everybody must cover up their hair, with turbans or scarves, at least symbolically. The one we used cost 10 Rupees or 55 sen.

A few devotees dip in the pool for ritual cleansing. It looks like the guards would automatically pose for photographs. The internet is flooded with photos similar to the 3rd photo. The 4th photo is unique though!

There is a single causeway in the pool to the sanctum. There is no idols to worship in the sanctum but a copy of their sacred scripture: Guru Granth Sahib. The queue to go in was 2 hours long. We didn't go in. We have never seen so many people in a religious place before. And the most amazing thing: it is an everyday affair. Up to 100,000 people could be here on weekends and public holidays. Shown people in queue at the causeway.

The Golden Temple is an open house of worship for all people, from all walks of life and faiths. There is a broad marble platform around the pool. On the other side of the path are more buildings, including a clock tower, offices of the temple committee, a museum and a community kitchen. Shown some of these buildings including a beautiful pattern of the marble floor. The 2nd photo shows some of the many commemorative plaques at the main (north) entrance to the gurdwara. The holy scripture Guru Granth Sahib is recited in several spots in the complex. The men in the 5th photo are probably listening to the recitation while the women are resting.

There are 3 sacred ber trees here. Ber frees are mid-size trees with apple-like fruits. Shown one which is over 400 years old and said to have provided shade to a Sikh Guru supervising the construction of the first edition of the temple. Anything sacred attract donations, with money thrown on the ground, something illogical. But then religion is illogical.

There is a community kitchen (or langar) here. The langar is a tradition started by the 1st Sikh Guru and continues today. Vegetarian food is served here 24 hours a day free of charge to any one who requests it. The photos show the sequence of serving a round of meal: people collect their plates, wait outside the dining hall (previous round being served), sit down in the dining hall in rows, food being served, after the meal, taking the plate to another level for cleaning, and workers quickly sweep the floor of the dining hall to get ready for the next round. A round takes about 20 minutes. Very efficiently done.

Most of our members took part, some sharing a plate. The joy is in the participation, and taking a good selfie. The only disappointment is that we could not visit the kitchen area. It seems they have exceptionally huge kitchen equipment there.

Outside the temple complex is a busy square with shops and several monuments. Shown the towering statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who founded the Sikh Empire in 1799.

Chaotic traffic in Amritsar
We had our lunch and later went to the train station. In between experienced the chaotic traffic on the streets of this city with 2 million people. One has to fight with trucks, buses, tut-tuts, cars, motor cycles, bicycles, horse-carts, people and occasionally holy cows for the right-of-way. Didn’t see any accident, all in an orderly yet chaotic situation.

Train to New Delhi
Late afternoon took the Shatabdi Express to New Delhi. 450 km, slightly over 6 hours, with 6 stops.  It never goes faster than 100 km/hour yet it is marketed as a super-fast train by the Indian Railway, rather puzzling to us. The Indians have a different perception of speed. The coaches are rather old. Dinner is included in the fare. A flask of hot water was provided to make our own coffee or tea, rather unusual. Shown the facade of the brightly coloured Amritsar train station.

New Delhi shopping
This is the last day of our tour. Went to a morning market for shopping of nuts. Shown a  colourful fruit basket and a vendor selling the juice of a fruit called wood apple. Later in the evening went to a shopping mall called Ambience Mall for dinner and some members did last minute shopping of warm clothing at big discounts.

Akshardham

Early afternoon visited Akshardham, a Hindu temple built in 2005.  Akshardham means the home of God. This is a huge complex, with 234 marble columns and 9 domes, all well decorated with carving. There are over 20,000 carved statues. Certified as the largest Hindu temple in the World by Guinness.

No hand phone or camera could be brought near the complex. They were kept inside the cars/buses in the parking lot or at security lockers. Very strict security checks. The 3 photos shown here are downloaded from the internet to show readers the size of the temple and the intricate interior decoration. Photo credit: jpowers65-Flickr and in.pinterest.com.

And that ends our 12-day tour to Himachal and Punjab.

Footnote

This tour is operated by yonGo TRAVEL (www.yongo.biz). The tour leader is Eddie shown at the New Delhi Airport. He shops, but only whiskeys! The local guide is Mahender Singh, shown with Kien at the Golden Temple, who explains that he is a Hindu. Singh is a common surname for many groups in India, not exclusively for Sikhs as we might think. Thank you gentlemen for leading us to a memorable glimpse of northern India.

There are 21 of us plus the tour leader and the local guide. Shown a group photo at the Viceregal Lodge in Shimla. We travel in 5 numbers of Toyota MPV 7-seaters. Each car takes only 5 or 6. Not only all 5 cars are white, most of the cars on the road in the 2 states are white, something very unusual.

Friends are asking how is the food. Well, we are travelling in a region with very few foreign tourists. Local food is the norm. Meaning roti, rice and curries, chicken or mutton or vegetable. Hindus don’t eat beef and pork is nowhere to be found. Many Hindus are vegetarians. The following is our first meal in India, quite typical for what to follow in later days. Breakfasts served in our hotels are a fusion of the Indian food and a few westerns. In Dharamsala we did take KFC for a change. By the way a 1.0 litre bottle of mineral (or drinking) water costs 20 Rupees or RM 1.10 everywhere in India. A price-controlled item.

End of the story- this story is essentially an expanded version of the daily reports made during the trip.