Third DAY OF WORK... February 2, 2017

With not too many casualties to report, other than Linda Bertuzzi having the chills, sore throat and bad cough, and Dave Smith suffering from possible heat exhaustion or the flu, we were so fortunate in being able to plough through, as it were, literally several tons of rock, a few tons of both wet and dry masala, basin by basin, step by step, layer by layer in forming rather impressive "walls" of this dam.
Having said all of this, however, many of us has been so impressed with the Golden Temple in Amritsar last year, that we wanted to visit the huge Sikh temple in ANANDPUR SAHIB, known as Gurudwara Shri Bhora Sahib, and believed to be the seat of Sikhism as a religion, founded by the ninth guru. So right after breakfast, we boarded the busettes and headed there for a short tour.
Prayers were being offered and mantras chanted and we were able to pick up head covers for the men and the ladies wore head scarves. We walked barefooted through shallow pools of water before entering. A rough guess of the number of people who were the at the same time as we were is about two thousand. These were comprised of the devout, as well as the curious. When entering the center area, where the holy Scriptures were being guarded a humnd the mantras were being chanted and simulcast to the outside world, we walked in a clockwise and then we invited to sit on the floor as we listened to the chanting. All the while, the holy Scriptures were being guarded by the Royal blue turbaned Sikh guards. After exiting the remote itself, we LP then fed, among with thousands, as we sat on the ground outside the inner complex. We enjoyed a mix of bulgar wheat and honey, as well as gobi  and masala tea, again while sitting cross legged on the ground. Before reboarding the busettes, we wandered on the grounds and poked into the shops to purchase our own head coverings and I even bought John one of the iron bracelets worn by Sikhs everywhere.
After touring and eating and shopping, we returned to the busettes to drive to get back to work.  Some of us went to our respective pits, but awaiting our arrival at the dining tent were the members of the Panchayjat (five member village council) as well as the executive director of the PHD-RDF. They were all there to express their gratitude to our team for the work we had committed thus far. Shortly thereafter, a few dozen chairs were brought out of the dining tent and placed in three rows facing a table which was being covered with some beautifully colored turbans and Rajasthani head scarves with tiny mirrors applied.
The ceremony started and the Sarpanch (head of the Panchayjat) welcomed us and many of the village ladies and children who sat on the ground in front of our team members.
Then the executive director of the PHD-RDF spoke to explain who we were and what we were doing with the construction of the two dams. Sanjiv Saran was asked to speak, as well, and then I was asked to speak.  Once the speeches were finished, each of the men was marked with a tika of red cumcum and then had a turban placed on our heads. Members of the Panchayjat and other men from the village did the honors for us and then the village women honored our ladies by marking the tika on the women's foreheads and then draping each of our women with the beautiful embroidered head scarves.
Following the ceremony, many photos at the placement of the commemorative plaque were taken.  The day's festivities concluded and we returned to our cabins.