(photo credit to the inimitable Todd Moore)
Susannah: The first impression we got of Amritsar, sacred city of the Sikhs, was from a plump, jolly man in a turban who we met on the train coming into town. To celebrate our new friendship, he called a cousin in an upcoming town on his cellphone. When we hit the next station, the guy handed us a bottle of whisky as the train rumbled through.
A little disoriented (needless to say), we arrived in Amritsar after dark and hopped a bicycle rickshaw to the famed Golden Temple. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people sleeping on the floors in the lobbies of the temple’s dormitories, where we intended to stay. We had come to town, it turns out, on the eve of the religion’s most important festival, celebrating the birthday of their last guru.
Miraculously, we got a room. The next day we stepped out the door right into an amazing parade featuring thousands of men and children in the full ceremonial dress of their sects.
At every turn we were greeted with broad smiles and outstretched hands. The Sikhs truly are some of the friendliest people in the world. After the parade, one of our new friends showed us around the temple complex. Every single day the temple feeds tens of thousands of people a simple but delicious free meal, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
All the food is made and served entirely by volunteers, such as this proud man who demanded I take his portrait as he distributed plates: 
As you can imagine, food for that many people is made in enormous vats. The temple also owns the world’s largest chapatti machine! 
With our spirits warmed and our bellies full, we reluctantly left the hospitality of the temple, on our way to another of India’s most magnificent religious monuments, the Taj Mahal.
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