Wednesday, April 23, 2008

the 5 ks


made it to amritsar, to the golden temple. we stayed there two nights - (the temple houses anyone that wants a place to stay - and masses of sikhs, coming to worship, sleep there.) the foreigners are all housed seperately, and we had good accommodations - in fact, i slept there better than i slept at several of the hotels where i have stayed.

i've enjoyed learning more about some of the religions that make up india. and sikhism is fascinating. i won't go into the history and all that, like i did last time, but will at least mention a couple of things, like "the 5 ks," or the emblems of a "full-fledged" sikh:
kesh- don't cut their hair
kanga- the comb that's used to maintain their hair
kaccha- knee-length underwear for modesty
kara- bracelet worn on the right wrist
kirpan- dagger

so it's become easy to recognize a sikh. (some of the men don't wear the turban, and some cut their hair, but you can always recognize the kara on the right wrist.) i enjoyed the temple. we arrived in the evening, and the sun was down - so the temple was lit with lights around the complex and the gold covering it was so bright. but i will post more on this later, cause its late here, and i am tired.

4 comments:

ewesa said...

how is your foot Joseph? the golden temple sounds amazing. did you take any interior photos? I had dinner with cindy and jacob last night, good times, we think a trip to florida staying at the Golden Farrar Palace is in order. take good care of jenni, or the other way around. :)
for a good time go here and watch the second video. remind you of the Lao gala and our dancing? reminded me. yikes.
http://p-b-and-j.blogspot.com/
take care.

jrm said...

no foot problems for some reason. mighta been a dip in holy water that cured it for me. but i am not gonna trek up some mountain like jenni wants to do... i aint gonna push my luck. and i couldn't take interior photos, prohibited.
i think a trip to florida would be fun. (only now i have no vacation...) i will have to take a look at that video. how are things with you?

Anonymous said...

The Golden Temple is gorgeous!

I got a call from John last night. He wanted your address & then said he was in Seattle. I was like "DUDE! Why are you in Seattle when Joseph is in India??" He told me you said they could stay at your place & that he & Ivona were going to Alaska for a 20th wedding anniversary celebration! KEWL! Natahli called & he put phone on 3-way so I could talk to her. John asked about American Idol & before Nats could say she had not viewed it yet, I gave away that Carly, the tatoo'd Irish chick, got the boot. Joseph, I hope you can see the show from Tuesday. Our girl Brooke totally botched the beginning of her song. She forgot a lyric & actually stopped & looked to the band & asked to start over. My jaw dropped! That's never happened on Idol. But I guess he got lots of sympathy votes because she wasn't even in the bottom 2. Syesha was even though her performance was amazing. I really think it's gonna come down to the "2 David's." I hope "Little David" wins. I think it'd be neat to have a Mormon American Idol.

Glad you're having such a great time. That dreaded appt. is Monday so I am just doing a lot of praying for you & ME! Love Ya!

jrm said...

yeah wl,
but this comment goes beyond the standard for comments, and it really shoulda been an email sent to my hotmail account. but your recounting of american idol is well received. did john make it to my place??? i gave him my address in a text message 3-4 weeks ago! i bet he is still roaming the streets of seattle trying to find my place.