In Punjab, the land of the Sikhs,
gurdwaras replace temples as the most popular places of worship and the
personable, turban-clad population generally provide a break from the stresses
found elsewhere in India. Punjab feels distinct from the other states although
many parts of Punjabi culture, from butter chicken to bhangra music,
strike visitors as quintessentially Indian. This is because Punjab, with more
ex-patriots than any other state has exported its culture far and wide. Another
benefit of this foot-loose population is the foreign remittances that have
helped make Punjab the most developed state. Yet, a strong sense of the past
remains at sites as Amritsar's Golden Temple, Sikhism holiest shrine and
one of India's most beautiful buildings. The gold-plated gurdwara glitters in
the middle of its holy pool like a huge bullion bar, a sight that many visitors
rate alongside the Taj Mahal. The architecture, like the religion, is a blend of
Hindu and Islamic styles but different to both. The atmosphere inside is
genuinely spiritual but not daunting, with crowds always chatting and bathing in
the pool. Four priests inside the temple keep up a continuous chant in Gurmukhi
from the Sikh holy book and this is broadcast around the temple complex by
loudspeakers enhancing the experience and making of the whole place an
unique and mood lifting one. Some 30 km west of Amritsar, at the
India-Pakistan border in Wagah, the Indian and Pakistani military meet
every late afternoon, just before sunset, and engage in an extraordinary 20
minute ceremony of pure theatre. The border-closing ceremony elicits machismo
and patriotism from the proud young soldiers and crowds on both sides, but also,
despite the two countries' uneasy relationship, a stunning display of harmony.
