the next day, we went back to the golden temple to tour it properly.
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| that same first view in the daylight. | more people walking around the tank. | more views of the temple from across the tank. | |
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| “you are there” – in line to enter the temple. | the exterior is covered in gold, with inlaid marble reminiscent of the taj mahal. you can’t photograph inside, of course, but the interior is even more splendid: gold, intricate painted designs, and a copy of the adi granth under a brilliantly embroidered canopy. | a sikh meditating on the top level of the temple. if it weren’t for the green plastic bag, this shot would have a timeless quality, but bags and water bottles are ubiquitous these days. | |
in addition to temple offices, the compound contains an enormous kitchen that feeds tens of thousands of people every day, around the clock, for free – sikhs and non-sikhs alike.
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| volunteers preparing vegetables. there were well over a hundred people peeling onions and garlic, shelling peas, and so on. | the stove. | the pots were enormous. | women rolling out chapatis. the kitchen produces 50,000 chapatis daily – 20,000 by hand and 30,000 with machines. |
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| artisanal chapati-making, by the women … | … and by the men. | this man is doing a final quality check by hand … | … while these women checks the ones coming off the machine. |
