The best things in Amritsar are free

Dragging myself away from Rishikesh, I found myself on yet another train – with yet another screaming child. Apparently I am very scary – or at least my glasses are. Once I took them off it was all smiles, and I chatted to his parents who shared their homemade chapattis and aloo gobi with me. I then slept surprisingly well, completely missing their exit and waking up in an empty carriage wondering whether I had imagined them!

So, on to Amritsar. It’s another hectic Indian town, but it has a very different character from others I’ve visited. The mostly Sikh population are a little less pushy and ever so giving! This is the home of their most holy temple; the Golden Temple.

The temple itself is a strange combination of peaceful and nuts. There are people sitting quietly meditating in the mornings, families chatting loudly (and taking photos of westerners) in the day, and men stripping to their undies to dip in the holy water at all times. In the evening I watched their 11th guru (their holy book) ‘put to bed’ (it has pillows and everything!) surrounded by pushing and shoving, laughing and chatting, silently praying and quietly chanting Indian’s of all religions.

As well as free entry to the temple, they provide free dorm beds and free food here too. Apparently they feed up to 100,000 people every day...literally every day. Their kitchen works 24 hours, 365 days per year. It’s an immense feat!

I took a tour of the kitchen, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so clean or so organised. It’s staffed by volunteers who do everything from food prep to washing up. There are three types of chapattis on the go – machine made, gas made and old fashioned wood burner made. There’s fresh dahl and spicy potato, rice pudding (with coconut milk, it’s really good!) and chai.

And it’s all free to everyone, from every walk of life and every faith. It really was an incredible thing to experience. And I was made to feel very welcome by everyone I spoke to – many of whom had travelled from far away to come and volunteer their services. It’s a place I would love to go back to.