Wordless Wednesday

The kirpan

Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru, commanded that all Sikhs must carry their kirpan or dagger at all times... even when bathing.

Le Corbusier and Chandigarh

Le Corbusier died in 1965 yet it would appear much of his work in Chandigarh is unfinished. A lot of the buildings he designed in the city are government buildings with restricted access but we managed to blag our way into the back of the Secretariat where I took this photo of a wonderfully preserved mural.

Le Corbusier mural, Chandigarh

Is it Karma?

Most of the Indian religions have a belief in karma. This rickshaw driver probably earns less than a couple of dollars a day but there's a wisdom and serenity in his face that belies his hard life. There's something for all of us to learn here I think.

Rickshaw driver, Chandigarh

Nek Shand

Nek Shand is an Indian artist whos lifes work is a rock garden in Chandigarh. He used scrap and waste material such as broken pots and bangles to make hundreds of figures which he placed in a landscaped garden that he worked on secretly for 18 years.

Nek Shand Rock Garden

Wordless Wednesday

The beginning of a journey

Boswell and I always try and visit train stations when we are travelling, even if we aren't catching a train. There's always a lot of activity and photo opportunities especially in India. This little one is at the start of her journey.

Amritsar station

No trip to India is complete...

... without seeing a ridiculously over-loaded vehicle. Here's one we saw in Harike.

The feeding of the 150,000

A basic tenant of the sikh religion is the provision of free food and lodgings to believers and non-believers alike. Some 80,000 people are fed at the Golden Temple every day (although this can double at weekends). Massive cauldrons of steaming, soupy dahl (meat is banned in and around the temple) are stirred all hours of the day and dished out in huge eating halls. The clatter of the metal dishes as they are returned for washing is deafening.

All the helpers here are volunteers who put in a few hours work as part of their visit to the shrine.

The kitchen in the Golden Temple

The Golden Temple

The Golden Temple in Amritsar is the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion. It was built in 1574 and contains the Sikh holy book, the Adi Granth. As it's a working religious centre (holy men read aloud from the book all day and night) it has a truly spiritual feel and is bustling with people day and night.

Everyone is genuinely friendly and only too happy to talk... we must have had our photos taken about a hundred times.


Sikh devotees bathing at the Golden Temple