Amritsar and the Golden Temple
When: January 2019. Weather: Coldish 10-18C
Leica M10P 75mm summilux and 35mm summilux. Canon 24-105mm
In Amritsar for a weekend and the golden temple of course was a must to visit. Not really having much time here to visit any nature reserves and not seeing any green patches at our conference hotel, the Taj Swarna, I didn’t bring any birding gear along, just the gear to shoot the temple. And as I have noticed before, whenever I do not bring my birding gear, something will always show up…..
We opted to visit the temple, the most holy place of Sikhism at 5am so that we could see it by night and by daybreak….
the first monument as you approach the golden temple
the tradesmen were already open at this time
the temple is fronted by a large piazza..where you deposit your shoes and wash your feet prior to entering…
first glimpse of the famed temple through the arches….
even in black and white, the temple shimmered in the night, floating on a lake
and in colour, the golden temple lived up to its name….the crowds queuing to get in can be seen on the right
brilliantly golden!
magnificent from every angle…here contrasted against another building
end on view
prostrate worshipper
intricate detail
and as the sun came up, the worshippers still came
and then to my surprise I saw a few birds hovering over the lake….
it was the unmistakeable shape of a kingfisher!
A pied kingfisher…one of the prettiest kingfishers which typically hovers in the sky and then plummets into the water to catch a fish…..
hovering…
assuming the position…
sighting its prey….it plummets downwards
and splashes into the lake
before emerging….
and flying off…it was so unexpected seeing the pied kingfisher right inside the golden temple…..and of course I didn’t have my birding cameras with me so these were taken with my manual Leica M10P and 75mm lens with some from the Canon 24-105mm zoom.
The Golden Temple of Amritsar is small, but is resplendent in its gold facade…seeing it at night is magical and I think more dramatic although I imagine it would look good if the sunrise or sunset was good. As a bonus for birders, bring your birding gear if you have never shot the pied kingfisher….there were a number of them over the lake!
Thank you for sharing the photos! They are absolutely beautiful.
You’re welcome. Thanks for visiting my blog.
amazing..
beautiful photography Ron — you are very talented!
Thanks uday ! The golden palace makes photography easy…. sees u in San Diego
Ron