Week Ending February 2, 2020

Tuesday morning we flew to Amritsar in the Punjab to attend a conference, "Reflections on the Life and Legacy of Guru Nanak Devji," the first guru and founder of the Sikh Religion who was born 550 years ago in the Lahore province of the Delhi Sultanate, now part of Pakistan.  At the airport we met Professors Alonzo Gaskill and Taunalyn Rutherford from BYU.  Both teach world religions and she has been studying the Church in India, especially focusing on women.  Both were coming to present at the conference being held at the BBK DAV College for Women Amritsar.  The four of us along with Jeannette Schiwek Klejiweg from Germany stayed there.  Jeannette, also a Church member originally from Holland, had befriended the head of the College, Dr. Pushpinder Walia a year or so ago in Europe and it was through Jeannette’s influence that the BYU professors were invited.  

The conference began Wednesday morning.  In the first session, Professor Gaskill spoke on what Christians can learn from Guru Nanak.  Professor Rutherford spoke on LDS Women and Sikh Women.  Following Professor Rutherford, Jeannette made a presentation on Joseph Smith and origins of the Church with references to Sikhism and Guru Nanak. 

The morning session closed with a beautiful presentation of Sufi devotional music.  Guru Nanak was not a Muslim but taught that there is only one God, the Divine Creator and Lord on Earth.  Sikhs believe God is manifest in the ten forms of their ten Gurus.  Sikhs also believe there were divine messengers, including Moses, Jesus and Mohammed in other religions.

That evening, accompanied by three faculty members, we visited the stunning Golden Temple, set in a man made pool. Built in 1577, the dome is covered with 750 kilograms (just under 1,500 lbs.) of pure gold.  It is the holiest Gurdwara and most important pilgrimage site of Sikhism.   In 2017 it was declared the most visited place in the world.  

Heads covered and feet bare, we waited in line for a long time to be able to walk through it.  The interior was even more beautifully ornate than the exterior.  The central activity was singing from and adoration of the holy book, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.  The central religious scriptures of Sikhism, it is regarded as the final, sovereign and eternal living Guru.  Afterwards we ate the langar or communal meal of roti, dahl, and vegetable curries prepared in the communal kitchen.  

The conference wrapped up on Thursday and Professors Gaskill and Rutherford and Jeannette were recognized for their participation which, by the way, made it an "international" conference.

 Afterwards some of the students demonstrated gatka, Sikh martial arts.

Part of the conference on Thursday was the inauguration of a Punjabi cultural heritage center.  These lovely students are dressed in traditional attire singing folk songs.

In the evening we visited the Gobindgarh Fort founded in the eighteenth century by the Opium State of Dhillon Jats then conquered and enhanced in the early nineteenth century by the Maharaja Ranjit Singh, leader of the short lived Sikh Empire. His young heir Duleep Singh was deposed and exiled by the British who also relieved him of the famous Koh i Noor Diamond (originally 186 carats).  We especially enjoyed this turban museum at the fort.  Devout Sikh men and women use the turban to manage their hair which remains uncut their entire lives.

On Friday morning Grant and I visited Jallianwalla Bagh, the site of the unprovoked massacre of 400 plus unarmed and peaceful Indians on 13 April 1919 by the British Indian Army under orders of acting Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer. It was the beginning of the end for the British in India. 

This brick wall surrounding a small mosque still has bullet holes from the incident.

Next stop was the new Partition Museum nearby in the old Town Hall.  Its a very well done tribute to another British induced tragedy.  Check out their website https://www.partitionmuseum.org/and learn about the largest migration in human history (14 million displaced) which resulted in as many as 2 million deaths. 

Suiti and me in front of a huge memorial to Maharaja Raanjit Singh. 

That evening Jeannette, Alonzo Gaskill, Grant and I went to the Waga boarder ceremony about 40 minutes outside of Amritsar.  Two hours before sunset every day a flag ceremony is conducted by the Pakistan Rangers and the Indian Boarder Security Forces.  Its like a big pep rally.  This is the Indian side.

You can see the much smaller Pakistan side on the left of the photo.  The Rangers are in black and the Indians in brown. 

That evening we went to dinner with Dr. Pushpindar and were caught in a wedding procession on the way to the hotel restaurant.  This guy was hired to hold one of a line of bright lit canopies. 

We came home Saturday morning to find Ellen and Steph here.  That evening we attended a lovely south Indian Carnatic vocal concert by Sudha Raghurdman  .