Recently I revisited the beautiful Gurdwara Bangla Sahib near Connaught Place in Delhi. Gurdwara Bangla Sahib 'is the most prominent Sikh gurdwara in Delhi, known for its association with the eighth Sikh Guru, Guru Har Krishan' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurudwara_Bangla_Sahib). It is a large, lovely building and there is something about it that I really enjoy. It has amazing golden domes and a stunning pond of water lying down at the bottom the marble steps.
As foreigners my sister and I entered firstly through the tourist entrance where we were greeted by a lovely man who instructed us to remove our shoes and cover our head. I thankfully had bought my own head scarf but my sister had to borrow a really lovely scarf! The gentleman then gave us a brief run down on the Gurdwara then took us up to visit the main event.
After stepping through the water trough, to clean our feet, we walked up the steps and entered the temple. It has amazing high ceilings and all the faithful sit on the floor in front of the holy book - Guru Granth Sahib. Inside the temple Gurbani (devotional music) plays and is very calming. Unfortunately no photos are allowed inside.
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| Exiting the temple |
On leaving the temple we passed the small room where the Guru Granth Sahib is kept overnight and covered in silk, which is known as the Rumala to protect it.
We then visited the outdoor area on our own, our guide wished us well and told us to enjoy ourselves - very welcoming! We wandered around the pond outside 'Sarovar', this water is considered holy by Sikhs and while we were there there were many people bathing in the pond(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Granth_Sahib).
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| Reflections and my sister |
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| This much space in Delhi is so relaxing. |
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| Time to bath |
One of my favourite things about the Sikh temples is the langar. This is where anyone and everyone can come for a meal. It doesn't matter what caste or creed, everyone is welcome. It is an amazing place, an amazing kitchen and so many people chipping in to feed others.
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| Naan anyone? |
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| A pot of dahl! |
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| What a kitchen... amazing |
Apologies if anything here is incorrect, I have done my best to get the facts right but please let me know if I haven't. Cheers x
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