[ Sept.2006 ] The highlight of Amritsar in India was this Golden Temple whose proper name is Harmandir Sahib.
This is the head temple of Sikhism and it took 30 years to build this, completed in 1604.
Here both men and women had to wear something on their heads and take off not only shoes but socks, too.
There was a woman in our tour who wore tights and she refused to take them off.
We had to go through a puddle to clean ourselves and she went in with her tights on.
They said that there were about 40000 visitors here every day.
They served foods free of charge and there were many people working here as volunteers.
Sikhism seem generally a peaceful religion, but in 1980s some extremists had a power and started an independence movement.
And then prime minister, Indira Gandhi was assassinated because she suppressed this movement.
By the way, the firtst time I went to India, it was the era of Indira Gandhi.
In a souvenir shop, they let us wear sari.
When I wore it, the shop assistant told me “Oh, you look like Indira Gandhi!”.
I knew that it was a compliment, but I remeber feeling not very comfortable.
