The Golden Temple is a gurdwara located in Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the pre-eminent spiritual site of Sikhism and its holiest site. The gurdwara complex is a collection of buildings around the sanctum sanctorum and the sarovar (holy pool), known as the Amrit Sarovar. One of these is Akal Takht, part of the Panj Takht (five seats of authority in Sikhism) and the chief centre of religious authority of Sikhism. Additional buildings include a clock tower, the offices of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, a museum and a langar—a free Sikh community-run kitchen that offers a vegetarian meal to all visitors without discrimination. Over 150,000 people visit the shrine every day for worship, being one of the most visited religious sites in the world. The gurdwara complex has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its application is pending on the tentative list of UNESCO.
The pool on the site of the gurdwara was completed by the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das, in 1577. Guru Arjan finalised the constructions at the site. In 1604, Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh Guru, placed a copy of the Adi Granth in the Golden Temple and played a prominent role in its development. The gurdwara was repeatedly rebuilt by the Sikhs after they became a target of persecution and was destroyed several times by the Mughal and invading Afghan armies. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, after founding the Sikh Empire, rebuilt it in marble and copper in 1809, and overlaid the sanctum with gold leaf in 1830. This has led to the name the Golden Temple.
The Golden Temple is spiritually the most significant shrine in Sikhism. It became a centre of the Singh Sabha Movement between 1883 and the 1920s, and the Punjabi Suba Movement between 1947 and 1966. In the early 1980s, the gurdwara became a centre of conflict between the Indian government and a radical movement led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent in the Indian Army as part of Operation Blue Star, leading to the deaths of thousands of soldiers, militants and civilians, as well as causing significant damage to the gurdwara and the destruction of the nearby Akal Takht—the prime seat of authority for the Sikhs. The gurdwara complex was again rebuilt after the 1984 attack.
The Golden Temple is an open house of worship for all people, from all walks of life and faiths. It has a square plan with four entrances, and a circumambulation path around the pool. The four entrances of the gurdwara symbolise the Sikh belief in equality and the Sikh view that people from all groups, castes and ethnicities are welcome at their holy place.
Nomenclature
The Harmandir Sahib is also spelled as Harimandar or Harimandir Sahib. It is also called the Durbār Sahib, which means "sacred audience", as well as the Golden Temple for its gold leaf-covered sanctum centre. The word "Harmandir" is composed of two words: "Hari", which scholars translate as "God ", and "mandir", which means "house". "Sahib" is further appended to the shrine's name, the term often used within Sikh tradition to denote respect for places of religious significance. The Sikh tradition has several gurdwaras named "Harmandir Sahib", such as those in Kiratpur and Patna. Of these, the one in Amritsar is most revered.
History
Background
It is difficult to reconstruct the history of the complex due to a lack of records. The few Persian sources which exist tend to be biased, thus most of the early history of the site is reconstructed from what is found in hagiographical Sikh literature, especially the sakhi, mahima, gurbilas, and panth prakash genres. However, historical Sikh sources are semi-historical and generally reverential toward the site, being written by poets rather than historians, focusing more on theological aspects rather than objective history.
Mythology
Sikh sources claim that the site was chosen as it had long been a site associated with religion but fell into obscurity before being rediscovered by the Sikh gurus. There are myths regarding the antecedents of the site, with a Puranic-style one declaring the site as an amrit kund ("reservoir of nectar"). Another claim linked to the Ramayana asserts that the site was named Iksvakusar, named after the figure Iksvaku who supposedly performed yajnas at it. Furthermore, there is a legend that Rama was injured by his sons Lava and Kush at the spot that the Dukh Bhanjani Beri now exists. The sons brought amrit to their father to heal him, with the excess believed to have been poured into a closeby pond, which now is known as the Amrit Sarovar. However, the importance of the site fell out of favour during the Buddhist era as per these beliefs, although some Sikh writers, such as Gurnam Singh, have attempted to link the site to Buddha and his bhikshus, or with Padmasambhava.
Discovery by the Sikh gurus
According to Madanjit Kaur, the low-lying location was likely originally a jungle, comprising a pond with the Dukh Bhanjani Beri tree (associated with healing properties) and a number of other trees. The pond was located near a caravan route headed northwest. There were hamlets located nearby, such as Sultanwind, Tung, Gumtala, and Gilwali. According to Giani Gian Singh'sTawarikh Guru Khalsa, Guru Nanak visited the site in 1502 during one of his udasis (travel itineraries). An early Sikh story involving the site claims that Amar Das discovered it while looking for medicinal herbs to heal a skin ailment of Guru Angad, finding a healing plant on the bank of the pool. Another legend involves Rajani, daughter of Rai Duni Chand (the kardar [revenue collector] of Patti) and wife of a leper, who brought her husband to the pool near the Dukh Bhanjani Beri which cured him. When Ram Das (not yet the guru) heard the tale of Rajani, he was inspired and would visit the area alongside a sangat from Goindwal.
According to the Sikh historical records, the land that became Amritsar and houses the Harimandir Sahib was chosen by Guru Amar Das, the third Guru of the Sikh tradition. It was then called Guru Da Chakk, after he had asked his disciple Ram Das to find land to start a new town with a man-made pool as its central point. After Guru Ram Das succeeded Guru Amar Das in 1574, and in the face of hostile opposition from the sons of Amar Das, Ram Das founded the town that came to be known as "Ramdaspur". He started by completing the pool with the help of Baba Buddha (not to be confused with the Buddha of Buddhism). Ram Das built his new official centre and home next to it. He invited merchants and artisans from other parts of India to settle in the new town with him.
Ramdaspur town expanded during the time of Guru Arjan financed by donations and constructed by voluntary work. The town grew to become the city of Amritsar, and the area grew into the temple complex). The construction activity between 1574 and 1604 is described in Mahima Prakash Vartak, a semi-historical Sikh hagiography text likely composed in 1741, and the earliest known document dealing with the lives of all the ten Gurus. Guru Arjan installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new gurdwara in 1604. Continuing the efforts of Ram Das, Guru Arjan established Amritsar as a primary Sikh pilgrimage destination. He wrote a voluminous amount of Sikh scripture including the popular Sukhmani Sahib.
Construction
Guru Ram Das acquired the land for the site. Two versions of stories exist on how he acquired this land. In one, based on a Gazetteer record, the land was purchased with Sikh donations of 700 rupees from the people and owners of the village of Tung. In another version, Emperor Akbar is stated to have donated the land to the wife of Ram Das.
In 1581, Guru Arjan initiated construction. During the construction the pool was kept empty and dry. It took eight years to complete the first version of the Harmandir Sahib. Guru Arjan planned a gurdwara at a level lower than the city to emphasise humility and the need to efface one's ego before entering the premises to meet the Guru. He also demanded that the gurdwara compound be open on all sides to emphasise that it was open to all. The sanctum inside the pool where his Guru seat was, had only one bridge to emphasise that the end goal was one, states Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair. In 1589, the gurdwara made with bricks was complete. Guru Arjan is believed by some later sources to have invited the Sufi saint Mian Mir of Lahore to lay its foundation stone, signalling pluralism and that the Sikh tradition welcomed all. This belief is however unsubstantiated. According to Sikh traditional sources such as Sri Gur Suraj Parkash Granth it was laid by Guru Arjan himself. After the inauguration, the pool was filled with water. On 16 August 1604, Guru Arjan completed expanding and compiling the first version of the Sikh scripture and placed a copy of the Adi Granth in the gurdwara. He appointed Baba Buddha as the first Granthi.
Ath Sath Tirath ("shrine of 68 pilgrimages"), is a raised canopy on the parkarma (circumambulation marble path around the pool). The name, as stated by W. Owen Cole and other scholars, reflects the belief that visiting this temple is equivalent to 68 Hindu pilgrimage sites in the Indian subcontinent, or that a Tirath to the Golden Temple has the efficacy of all 68 Tiraths combined. The completion of the first version of the Golden Temple was a major milestone for Sikhism, states Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, because it provided a central pilgrimage place and a rallying point for the Sikh community, set within a hub of trade and activity.
Mughal Empire era destruction and rebuilding
The growing influence and success of Guru Arjan drew the attention of the Mughal Empire. Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and asked to convert to Islam. He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606. Arjan's son and successor Guru Hargobind fought a Battle at Amritsar and later left Amritsar and its surrounding areas in 1635 for Kiratpur. For about a century after the Golden Temple was occupied by the Minas. In the 18th century, Guru Gobind Singh after creating the Khalsa sent Bhai Mani Singh to take back the temple. After the death of Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1719, anti-Sikh persecution decreased in intensity and the Sikhs began congregating at Amritsar again periodically.
The Golden Temple was viewed by the Mughal rulers and Afghan Sultans as the centre of Sikh faith and it remained the main target of persecution. After the original temple was destroyed by hostile forces, the shrine was reconstructed in 1764 (a date which H.H. Cole affirms in his monograph on the temple), however most of the elaborate decorations and additions were added to the shrine in the early 19th century. However, according to Giani Gian Singh's Tawarikh Sri Amritsar (1889), a slightly later date of 1776 is given for the construction of the temple tank (sarovar), the temple edifice proper, the causeway, and the entry gateway or archway (Darshani Deori). Another source states that the principal shrine itself (sanctum sanctorum) was reconstructed in 1765 by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, the Darshani Deori (main entrance pathway) was built in 1776, while the parkarma (encircling walkway) was finished in 1784.
The Golden Temple was the centre of historic events in Sikh history:
In 1709, the governor of the Subah of Lahore deployed his army to suppress and prevent the Sikhs from gathering for their festivals of Vaisakhi and Diwali. The Sikhs defied by gathering in the Golden Temple. In 1716, Banda Singh and numerous Sikhs were arrested and executed.
In 1737, the Mughal governor of Lahore Zakariya Khan Bahadur ordered the capture of the custodian of the Golden Temple named Mani Singh and had him executed. Zakriya Khan appointed Masse Khan as the police commissioner, who then occupied the Temple and converted it into his entertainment centre with dancing girls. He befouled the pool. Sikhs avenged the sacrilege of the Golden Temple by assassinating Masse Khan inside the Temple in August 1740.
In 1746 Lakhpat Rai, the Dewan of Lahore under Zakriya Khan's successor Yahya Khan, had the pool filled with sand as an act of revenge for the death of his brother Jaspat Rai. In 1749, Sikhs restored the pool when the Mughal governor Moin-ul-Mulk slackened Mughal operations against Sikhs and sought their help during his operations in Multan.
In 1757, the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani, also known as Ahmad Shah Abdali, attacked Amritsar and desecrated the Golden Temple. He had waste poured into the pool along with entrails of slaughtered cows, before departing for Afghanistan. The Sikhs restored it again.
In 1762, Ahmad Shah Durrani returned and had the Golden Temple blown up with gunpowder. Sikhs returned and celebrated Diwali in its ruins. In 1764, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia collected donations to rebuild the Golden Temple. A new main gateway (Darshan Deorhi), causeway and sanctum were completed in 1776, while the floor around the pool was completed in 1784. The Sikhs also completed a canal to bring in fresh water from the Ravi River for the pool.
The Golden Temple was attacked by Afghan forces under Ahmed Shah Durrani on 1 December 1764. Baba Gurbaksh Singh along with 29 other Sikhs led a last stand against the much larger Afghan forces and were killed in the skirmish. Abdali then destroyed the Golden Temple for the 3rd time.
Ranjit Singh era reconstruction
Ranjit Singh founded the nucleus of the Sikh Empire at the age of 36 with help of Sukerchakia Misl forces he inherited and those of his mother-in-law Rani Sada Kaur. In 1802, at age 22, he took Amritsar from the Bhangi misl, paid homage at the Golden Temple and announced that he would renovate and rebuild it with marble and gold. The Sikh ruler donated the gilded copper panels for the roof, worth 500,000 rupees in the erstwhile currency. He entrusted Mistri Yar Muhammad Khan to carry-out the roofing work, who himself was supervised by Bhai Sand Singh. The first gilded copper panel was placed on the shrine in 1803.