Amritsar: The Lake of nectar or a city of massacres

I was in Amritsar on the fateful Dussehra day when more than 60 people were massacred in a bizarre train accident. Tragedy struck Amritsar on Friday the 19^th of October 2018, when a speeding train ran over scores of Dussehra revelers standing on the railway track after having been induced away from a burning effigy of Ravana during the Dussehra celebrations at dusk near the Joda Phatak. Men, women and children had spilled over to the tracks, and no one saw or heard the speeding train in the glow of Ravana’s flames and the din of celebratory fireworks.

I was there on a family vacation over the long weekend of Dussehra, and coincidentally, it was the very same day when we visited the Jallianwala Bagh, a landmark of a tragic massacre of civilians in the history of colonial India. Entrenched in history as the infamous Amritsar massacre, the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, took place on the 13^th of April 1919, when a handful of British troops under General Dyer fired several rounds of bullets into a crowd of Indian civilians who had assembled in the garden (Bagh) for a peaceful protest, resulting in the death of a thousand odd civilians and even more injured. The bullet-dented walls of the garden and the remains of the well into which hundreds of panicking civilians had jumped into to escape Dyer’s bullets, scream of a black day in the history of Amritsar.

There is an uncanny resemblance between the two massacres separated by ninety-nine and a half years. In both the cases, it was a festive day: Baisakhi then, and Dussehra now. In both the instances, unsuspecting civilians found themselves trapped in adversity, nowhere to escape.

We had just returned from the Wagah border that evening after witnessing a thumping parade of the Border Security Force at the Indo-Pak border. Little did we know as we devoured the splendor of the customary lowering of the flag as the sun set in the backdrop of the Pakistani horizon, that the ensuing dusk was carrying a tragedy in its womb for the historic border town. Gloom overshadowed the bustling town as the news of the tragedy spread. We were in the local market buying souvenirs while it happened, and our spirit sank as we felt the carnage that unfolded so close to us, and as we heard anecdotes of wailing survivors from the local dwellers through the evening. We returned to our hotel and spent an introspective night in our room silently witnessing the grandeur of the Golden Temple from the balcony.

Amritsar has had another tryst with massacre in June 1984 during the infamous Operation Blue Star, a military operation ordered by the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The government’s intent was to overpower the Sikh militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers who had taken shelter in the Golden Temple premises. The militants were killed during the operation, but so were many civilian pilgrims held as hostages and human shields by the militants. The encounter left around five hundred people dead and hundreds injured. It also had serious consequences including a sniper’s bullet attack on the then President Zail Singh during his visit to the Golden Temple after the operation, and eventually assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi in 1984 that in turn triggered the infamous anti-Sikh riots in Northern India.

The Golden Temple, also known as the Harmandir Sahib, is a magnificent monument with intricate interiors and a shining golden exterior. It took us about an hour and a half to reach the sanctum sanctorum located in the midst of a picturesque man-made lake (Sarovar) within the premises as there is always a long queue of thousands of pilgrims waiting to enter the sanctum across a narrow bridge. Another marvel of the Temple is the famous langar service which is availed by an estimated one lakh visitors every day on an average. Nutritious and freshly cooked food is served free of cost at the langar to everybody who visits. We relished the langar and as I experienced the operational efficiency of the process, I felt that the langar was worth management case studies on supply chain management, organizational effectiveness, quality consciousness and service excellence. The Golden Temple workers are none other than the sevadars or volunteers who selflessly offer their services as an exemplary symbolism of humanity. The other significant element of the Golden Temple is the Akal Takht or the Timeless Throne overlooking the sanctum and standing as the highest political institution of the Sikhs. It symbolizes the seamless interweaving of spirituality and politics that has stood the test of time as a formidable fortress of Sikh unity against invasive forces.

Interestingly, it is believed that a Muslim Pir of Lahore was invited to lay the foundation stone of the Golden Temple in 1589, albeit over the years the Temple has been a target of persecution and destruction by Muslim tyrants from Afghanistan and the Mughals. The Golden Temple today stands tall as a symbol of unity in diversity with its doors open to people of all faiths, and its langar denied to none.

The visit to the Golden Temple is incomplete if one does not experience its grandeur in the evening. While the sanctum shines magnificently in broad day light and fulfils pious pilgrimage throughout the day, in the evening it is resplendent with ornate electrical lighting that creates a magical aura with the sound of the Gurbani Kirtan playing in the background. As we sat on the banks of the Sarovar on that breezy evening, witnessing mesmerizing golden hues of the grand sanctum reflecting on the water while a variety of colorful fish swam gracefully near the shore, a sense of calm, peace and positivity engulfed my being. Amritsar came across to me truly as a lake of nectar that its name stands for (Amrit + Sarovar), ironically far from being a city of massacres that its history alleges.