Earlier this month Monica, Tina and I decided to visit Amritsar. With the country starting to recover from COVID epidemic and cases being at an all time low coupled with the long weekend break as Dussehra this year was on a Friday, we decided to do a three day trip to Amritsar. Mummy was also keen that as a newly married couple, Monica and I visit Harmandir Sahib to seek Gurubaba's blessings.
We decided to visit Harmandir Sahib early on Saturday morning. Whilst the original plan was to reach the gurudwara at around 0400/0430 hrs to watch Palki Sahib being taken back to the Shri Harmandir Sahib, we unfortunately ( but expectedly) got late and reached the temple premises at around 0615 hrs. Every day in the evening ( I think at around 10 o clock) the holy book , Guru Granth Sahib, is carried in the Palki Sahib to Shri Akal Takht Sahib Ji for symbolic night's sleep and then each morning the next day at around 4 AM , Guru Granth Sahib ji is taken in the Palki sahib back to Harmandir Sahib. There is a huge line of devotees each morning to witness Palki Sahib being brought back to Harmandir Sahib. Since it was the long weekend, the rush seemed to have doubled. In fact the receptionist at Hotel Taj where we were staying mentioned that they were fully sold out for the next few days.
Whilst we were in the queue to enter the main hall where Guru Sahib is kept, right next to us was another Sindhi family from Alwar in Rajasthan. The parents had come with their two young daughters to seek Guru baba's blessings and the mother was speaking with her husband in chaste Sindhi. Meeting a fellow Sindhi family at 7 in the morning with their 8 year old younger daughter , Pari , mentioning about Seyal Phula /Maani being her favorite breakfast dish was an absolute joy !
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| (L-R) : Tina, me & Monica |
In the evening, we visited the recently opened Partition Museum, a 5-7 minute walk from Golden Temple. It is run by the The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust in association with Department of Culture, Government of Punjab. It is the world's first museum focusing on 1947 partition and aims to tell the stories of the millions impacted during partition, through oral histories, refugee artefacts, archival photographs, original documents and art works. I had heard about the museum when about an year or so ago, I read about the museum running a special series on the impact of partition on Sindhi diaspora. The famous Bollywood actor ( and fellow Sindhi) Dilip Tahir was one of the panelists at the museum. It was heartening to see an entire section in the museum dedicated to Sindh and Sindhi stories stories of partition. Unfortunately photography is prohibited inside the museum premises. All three of us found the visit enriching as it gave us an insight into the aspects of partition that we were previously unaware of. The section contains generous donations in forms of artefacts, photographs etc. from various Sindhi families. I strongly recommend a visit to the museum to everyone who is visiting Amritsar. The link to Partition Museum's website is as follows:-
https://www.partitionmuseum.org/
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| Partition Museum Entrance |
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| ( L-R) Tina, Me and Monica at Partition Museum |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hAMKL5Nn2k
Jai Jhulelal
