Page 205 - Udaan 2019-2021...................

People were throwing coins into the well and a local resident said that it was

done to bring peace to the spirits of the dead women and children. I felt sad
thinking about the martyrs. One of the guards we spoke to, told us that not

many bodies were extracted from the well since there was a huge pile of
bodies already stacked up. Within a week, the bodies started to decay in the

depths of the well. It was a sombre evening, after I returned from the
Jallianwala Bagh.

We had decided to visit the Golden Temple on the second day and hired a
local rickshaw. Much to our surprise, the rickshaw- puller said that he did not
know where it was. We tried explaining that it is the main gurudwara having a

golden dome. On hearing this, he went on laughing and explained in his local

language that the locals called that temple Har Mandir Sahib and most people
in Amritsar were familiar with that name. He said that they called their temple
a Gurudwara because it literally means the “Door of God '' from where no one

is sent back empty handed or empty stomach, ever. We came to know that the

Gurudwara provides free meals called Langar to everybody. There was a
devotee who took us inside the temple premises and told us to wash our feet
and cover our heads before entering the temple. I was awe-struck seeing the

huge dome of the temple which was made of gold and was shining in the sun.