Offbeat and undiscovered Punjab

 

My offbeat and undiscovered Punjab journey to Amritsar, Hola Mohalla, and the famous mustard fields

IT WAS MY FIRST TIME in the state of Punjab, and I was looking forward to experiencing offbeat and undiscovered Punjab — from the sublime beauty of the Golden Temple to idyllic, rural homestays, the famous Hola Mohalla festival, and Punjabi food, the richest in India.

I thought I knew what to expect from all those Bollywood movies, Punjabi restaurants, and Indian weddings I’ve attended. Heroines running through fields of yellow mustard flowers. Tall, bearded men in colourful turbans dancing with abandon. Large portions of rich and hearty food like thick lassis, fluffy parathas, paneer tikka masala, and tandoori baked, well, everything. And the Sri Harmandir Sahib (aka Golden Temple) shimmering in the centre of it all. Yup, it was all there when I joined the five-day “Punjab: Beyond the Brochure” tour. Punjab was everything I expected it to be and much, much more.

Together with our tour leader, travel writer Puneetinder Kaur Sidhu, we began our spiritual and culinary tour in Amritsar at the Golden Temple, the centre of the Sikh religion. Amritsar is known as the home of this famous gurdwara, a draw for thousands of tourists and Sikhs alike each day. The city is also known as the culinary capital of Punjab. How can you not love a city that celebrates the divine, and divinely delicious food, in equal measure?

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Read Five best places to visit in Amritsar to find out more about this historic city.

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Men cooking food at langar, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab

Amritsar is not a city of fine dining rooms and starred chefs, but rather tiny hole-in-the-wall joints that proffer high-calorie goodies with unabashed and unrepentant generosity. Rich kulchas, spicy choley, moist Amritsari fish, dripping sweet gulab jamun. The best food in Amritsar is found in the narrow, ancient lanes that spread out like a fine web around the Golden Temple, or the restaurants that grew from these humble beginnings.

Starting our Punjab tour at the Golden Temple was fitting because the Sikhs are intrinsically linked with the state, and because we would be finishing our tour five days later at Hola Mohalla, an exuberant Sikh festival that coincides with Holi. 

The Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab really is golden

Industry and serenity at the Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab

The Golden Temple is one of those places that must be felt and experienced. Everything about it is massive in scale. A new white marble plaza provides a colossal gathering place in front of the main entry gate, one of four facing in each direction. Inside, the gold-leaf covered temple shimmers in the large pool. A long queue of people waits patiently to enter the inner sanctum. Several huge kitchens prepare upwards of 50,000 meals per day. And hundreds of volunteers work busily cleaning, reading, chopping vegetables, making rotis, and serving langar – the Sikh practise of offering free meals to those in need.

In spite of all this activity, however, the Golden Temple retains a deeply peaceful ambience. Like most visitors, we entered the inner sanctum first, and then walked leisurely around the pool while Puneet told us about the history of the famous gurdwara and the traditions of the Sikhs. Then we lined up for langar, and sat on the ground among the long rows as volunteers served us rice, dal, sabzi, roti, and water. Langar is designed to both feed the poor and act as a levelling agent on society. Rich and poor, famous and humble, all sit together in a spirit of oneness and equality.

From the Golden Temple we walked through the newly reconstructed market towards Jallianwala Bagh, Town Hall, and the new Partition Museum. This boulevard in the centre of Amritsar is now clean, spacious, and pleasant while still maintaining the character of the old city by utilizing only wooden sign boards painted in muted colours. Our visit to Amritsar ended on our way out of town at a local culinary legend, Makhan Fish, for platefuls of moist, tasty Amritsari fish.