Amritsar

The Punjab is chilly!! Twenty degrees when I arrived this afternoon, I nearly had to don my thermal vest. Amritsar has long been on my wish list but today there was no time to visit the famous golden temple, the Sikh heart of this city.

Instead I contented myself with a Hindu temple recommended by my host here who described it as 'like going to the fair.'   This over the top gaudy beyond gaudy construction was built to resemble the pilgrimage to its namesake in Kashmir, so visitors crawl under plastic rocks, paddle in man made streams, climb facsimile rock faces, all bathed in the glow of thousands of coloured glass pieces as if walking in a circus hall of mirrors.

Her Holiness to whom the temple is dedicated complete with her favourite blanket

The finer details defeat me but here is the gist

Bemused in a hall of mirrors at the fairground moment

The gods illuminated along the way had to be the most bizarre I have seen so far. Monkey gods, elephant gods, so far so familiar,  even rude faces and child-like imagery but this temple took it to extremes.

Monkey God, looking fed up

yes - that is a christmas tree in the corner complete with baubles!

Temple deities

Odd deities

Outside - summoning the faithful with a loudhailer!

Not the Amritsar of my imagination but the Sikh Golden temple, my reason for being here, is too major a visit for a late afternoon trip, and this Hindu temple certainly gave me an amusing few hours!