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Spice of Life | A night to remember: Diwali at Golden Temple
After celebrating Diwali with my family, I made my way to the Golden Temple to spend the rest of the festive night doing seva (volunteer service). As expected, there was a huge rush of devotees who had come to pay obeisance. It wasn’t easy to make my way through the rush, but I had already set the intention to volunteer at the community kitchen, writes Rameshinder Singh Sandhu
Last year, when I was in the suburbs of Chicago during Diwali, I was hit by a bout of homesickness. Though I was staying with my uncle and aunt, who had prepared a sumptuous Indian meal to mark the festivities, I kept longing for my hometown Amritsar. I was especially yearning to be at the Golden Temple, which becomes all the more mesmerising during Diwali.
As luck would have it, this year, I was home – in the holy city – for Diwali. After celebrating with my family, I made my way to the Golden Temple to spend the rest of the festive night doing seva (volunteer service).
As expected, there was a huge rush of devotees who had come to pay obeisance. It wasn’t easy to make my way through the rush, but I had already set the intention to volunteer at the community kitchen.
The langar complex, which has two large halls, was already jampacked. Every few minutes, a fresh set of devotees would enter and savour the steaming hot langar. Most of them loved the dal and kheer. That night, jalebis were also being served. I spent several hours doing seva, but not once did I feel tired, rather I felt more energised with every passing hour. What a joy it was to savour the same meal later!
Around 1am, I came out to take a stroll around the sarovar (sacred pond) and pay respects. There were still a large number of devotees around, many of them sleeping in the corridors near the sarovar. Many were also seen taking the holy dip.
I paused for a few minutes and looked around. Every nook was beautifully lit up with candles and earthen lamps.
An hour later, cleaning work commenced, mostly by young volunteers. They also began clearing away the candles and lamps.
Soon, I found myself reading the many boards rolling out historic facts, something that I had never had a chance to do during my previous visits. I ended up making an array of new discoveries. One of them was Thara Sahib, a raised platform facing the sanctum sanctorum along the historic beri tree, on which Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Ram Das had sat while supervising the construction of the pool and the Golden Temple. While returning to the langar hall, someone suggested I catch the bird’s eye view of the Golden Temple from the terrace. There, my eyes caught the perfect postcard view. As I walked on the terrace, I also came across a small room, where Sri Guru Granth Sahib is kept.
Still not exhausted, I decided to volunteer again -- this time, where chapatis were being prepared. Two hours later, the sun had started to rise. With it came the flavoured tea. An elderly volunteer invited us to the balcony for it. Sipping the tea under the open sky was pure joy. And then came the salty paranthas, which made for a beautiful combination with the piping hot tea.
I went to the terrace again, for one last view of the sunrise over the Golden Temple before I headed home. Once home, I remained a passionate storyteller for hours.
The writer is an Amritsar-based freelance contributor and can be reached at rameshinder.sandhu@gmail.com
