Day 01
Golden Temple Heritage Walk and Spiritual Experience
- Meet your Amritsar tour guide at the entrance of the Saragarhi Sarai. From here, take a walk along the heritage street to the Golden Temple.
- Reach the clock tower beside the Golden Temple to deposit your shoes.
- After entering from the northern side of the Golden Temple, get your first glimpse of the temple as you descend the stairs.
- Walk through the entrance gate that leads you to the bridge connecting you to the main temple.
- Go down the bridge towards the sanctum, absorb the calmness, and appreciate the serene beauty of the holy shrine. Here, do not disturb other pilgrims who are offering their prayers. Inspect the gold-plated walls and the beautiful limestone paintings that enhance the architectural value of the Golden Temple.
- After exploring the Golden Temple, take the bridge towards the main square to receive the Holy Pudding as a token of blessing.
- From there, head to the Akal Takht, the Throne of God. This is the place where the holy book rests during the night. Here, sit at a convenient place to observe the holy ceremony.
- After the ceremony ends, walk towards the memorial of one of the greatest warriors and martyrs. On the way, visit the Dukh Bhanjani Ber (sorrow healer tree) to understand the history and significance of the holy pond.
- Head into the community kitchen, one of the world's largest community kitchens, where food is served free to nearly 1,00,000 pilgrims from around the world. While moving through the kitchen, observe the chefs and volunteers preparing dishes such as lentils, puddings, roti, vegetables, and tea. Go to the second floor of the kitchen and witness the roti-making machine making as many as 6000 rotis in one hour.
- Sit and take some time to relax and reflect on this experience with other members of the tour.
