Ever heard of a place where you can enjoy live Western classical music round-the-clock? Perhaps there is none. However, if you are interested in attending a non-stop Indian classical music concert round the year, then the place to visit is the Golden Temple (or Harmandir Sahib) at Amritsar in northern India. This place is the rallying point of the followers of Sikh religion worldwide. Music wafts across with different musicians (Ragis) taking turn to sing … The acoustics are superb and BOSE speakers dot the huge complex.
The total number of Ragas (melodic modes) used in Sri Guru Granth Sahib is 31. At the temple, one can feel the atmosphere charged with a remarkable sense of service and humanity. A huge constant flow of people, nearly 100,000 every day and night, offer prayers at the sanctum sanctorum and partake free food at the Golden Temple complex. It is a unique sight, and experience, not seen anywhere else in the world.
One can lounge anywhere in the area surrounding the Darbar Sahib (the sanctum sanctorum) and the Sarovar (the pond). We enjoyed the Kirtans/Ragas from different spots…even right inside the Darbar Sahib where the holy Guru Granth Sahib is kept (and where you can also see the Ragis), and also from the first and second floor of the sanctum sanctorum.
The generous use of gold at Darbar Sahib is well-known in the world (donated by Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab/Lahore). The floral and decorative art work on the walls, domes and doors is exquisite. No deity or human form … but the best from the Hindu and the Islamic art has been displayed.
On the second floor of the sanctum sanctorum, I could see an inscription in Urdu on one side of the marble floor. I asked those present if anyone knew Urdu so that I could understand the meaning. No one knew this exquisite language (once the language of undivided India’s elite class) that is now becoming extinct.
Later I learnt that most of the art work was done by Muslim artisans, mainly from Agra (home to the Taj Mahal). Many well-known Muslim musicians used to sing kirtans at the Golden Temple before India got divided and Pakistan came into being in 1947. The highly universal and accommodating nature of the Sikh faith is reflected in the Guru Granth Sahib, as also the Golden Temple and other gurdwaras.
In many cities of the world I have seen newly-arrived Pakistanis and others enjoying free board and lodging for days at the gurdwaras.
Every state in India has thousands of holy places and temples belonging to different religions. They have their magnetic pull and beauty. I visit only a few selected ones. I am not exactly excited at the thought of visiting religious places because of the general confusion, noise and lack of sense of cleanliness and hygiene… 🙂 …
My visit to the Golden Temple was an eye-opener … Such devotion, cleanliness, good free food, music, peace and tranquility. And with no one in particular enforcing order or discipline!!!
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.