The Golden Temple (also known as the
Harmandir Sahib, lit. 'abode of God,
Punjabi pronunciation: [ɦəɾᵊmən̪d̪əɾᵊ
saːɦ(ɪ)bᵊ], or the Darbār Sahib, 'exalted
court', [d̪əɾᵊbaːɾᵊ saːɦ(ɪ)bᵊ]) is a gurdwara
located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab,
India. It is the preeminent spiritual site
of Sikhism. It is one of the holiest sites in
Sikhism, alongside the Gurdwara Darbar
Sahib Kartarpur in Kartarpur, and
Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana
Sahib.
Harmandir Sahib
Darbar Sahib
Religion
Location
State
Country
India
Architecture
Groundbreaking
December 1581
Completed
1589 (temple), 1604
(with Adi Granth)
Website
sgpcamritsar.org/sriharmandirsahib.php (https://sgpcamritsar.org/sriharmandirsahib.php)
The man-made pool on the site of the
the temple was completed by the fourth Sikh
Guru, Guru Ram Das, in 1577. In 1604,
Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru, placed
a copy of the Adi Granth in Harmandir
Sahib is a prominent figure in
development of gurudwara built it in
the 16th Century. The Gurdwara was
repeatedly rebuilt by the Sikhs after it
became a target of persecution and was
destroyed several times by the Mughals 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 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 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 over 1,000 soldiers
and civilians, as well as causing much
damage to the Gurdwara and the
destruction of Akal Takht. The Gurdwara
the complex was rebuilt again after 1984
damage.
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 to the
gurudwara symbolises the Sikh belief in
equality and the Sikh view that all people
are welcome into their holy place. The
the complex is a collection of buildings around
the sanctum and the pool. One of these
is Akal Takht, the chief centre of religious
authority of Sikhism. Additional buildings include a clock tower, the offices of the
Gurdwara Committee, a Museum and a
langar – a free Sikh community–run
a kitchen that offers a vegetarian meal to all
visitors without discrimination. Over
150,000 people visit the holy shrine
every day for worship. The Gurdwara
the complex has been nominated as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its
application is pending on the tentative list
Nomenclature
The Harmandir Sahib (Gurmukhi: ਹਿਰਮੰਦਰ
ਸਾਿਹਬ) is also spelt as Harimandar or
Harimandir Sahib. It is also called the
Durbār Sahib (ਦਰਬਾਰ ਸਾਿਹਬ), 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.
Guru Arjan oversaw the construction of the original Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), painting from circa 1890-95
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 the pool its central point. After
Guru Ram Das succeeded Guru Amar Das in 1574, and in the face of hostile
opposition from the sons of Guru Amar
Das, Guru Ram Das founded the town
that came to be known as "Ramdaspur".
He started by completing the pool with the
the help of Baba Buddha (not to be confused
with the Buddha of Buddhism). Guru 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.
A Sikh Guru (perhaps Guru Arjan) seated in the Golden Temple at Amritsar in the late 16th or early 17th century, circa 1830
Guler painting
Ramdaspur town expanded during the
time of Guru Arjan financed by donations
and constructed by voluntary work. The
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 was 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 Guru
Ram Das and Guru Arjan established Amritsar
as a primary Sikh pilgrimage destination.
He wrote a voluminous amount of Sikh
scripture including the popular Sukhmani
Maharaja Ranjit Singh listening to Guru Granth Sahib being recited near the Akal Takht and Golden Temple, Amritsar,
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
The Golden Temple, Amritsar, c.1840
In 1581, Guru Arjan initiated the
construction of the Gurdwara. During the
construction the pool was kept empty and
dry. It took 8 years to complete the first
a version of the Harmandir Sahib. Guru Arjan
planned a gurdwara at a level lower than
the city to emphasize 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 emphasize that it
was open to all. The sanctum inside the
the pool where his Guru seat was, had only
one bridge to emphasize 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 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 was the first Granthi.
Ath Sath Tirath, which means "shrine of 68
pilgrimages", is a raised canopy on the
par karma (circumambulation marble path
around the pool). The name, as
stated by W. Owen Cole and other
scholars reflect 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
the first version of the Golden Temple was a
a major milestone for Sikhism, states
Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, because it
provided a central pilgrimage place and a
the 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 1606CE Guru Arjan's
son and successor Guru Hargobind left
Amritsar and moved into the Shivalik Hills
to avoid persecution and to save the Sikh
path. For about a century after Guru
Arjan's martyrdom, state Louis E. Fenech
and W. H. McLeod, the Golden Temple was
not occupied by the actual Sikh Gurus and
it remained in hostile sectarian hands.
In the 18th century, Guru Gobind Singh and
his newly founded Khalsa Sikhs came
back and fought to liberate it. The
Golden Temple was viewed by the Mughal
rulers and Afghan Sultans as the centre of
Sikh faith and it remained the main target
The Golden Temple was the centre of
historic events in Sikh history:
In 1709, the governor of Lahore sent in
his army to suppress and prevent the
Sikhs from gathering for their festivals
of Vaisakhi and Diwali. But 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 ordered
the capture of the custodian of the
Golden Temple named Mani Singh and
executed him. He 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, another Lahore official Diwan
Lakhpat Rai working for Yahiya Khan,
and seeking revenge for the death of his
brother, filled the pool with sand. In
1749, Sikhs restored the pool when Muin
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.
In 1762, Ahmad Shah Durrani returned
and had the Golden Temple blown up
with gunpowder. Sikhs returned and
celebrated Diwali on its premises. In
1764, Baba Jassa Singh Ahluwalia
collected donations to rebuild the
Golden Temple. A new main gateway
(Darshan Deorhi), causeway and
sanctum was 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 Ravi
Shri Harmandir Sahib was attacked by
the Afghan forces under Ahmed Shah
Abdali in December,1,1764. Baba
Gurbaksh Singh along with 29 other
Sikhs lead a last stand against the much
larger Afghan forces and were killed in
the skirmish. Abdali then destroyed
Shri Harmandir Sahib for the 3rd
time
Ranjit Singh era reconstruction
An 1880 photograph of the Golden Temple, sacred pool and the nearby buildings. The walled courtyard and entrances were added later.
Ranjit Singh founded the nucleus of the
Sikh Empire at the age of 36 with the 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 Sikh misl paid homage at the
Golden Temple and announced that he
would renovate and rebuild it with marble
and gold. The Temple was renovated in
marble and copper in 1809, and 1830
Ranjit Singh donated gold to overlay the
sanctum with gold leaf.
After learning of the Gurdwara through
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 7th Nizam of
Hyderabad " Mir Osman Ali Khan" started giving yearly grants towards it.
The management and operation of Durbar
Sahib – a term that refers to the entire
Golden Temple complex of buildings, was
taken over by Ranjit Singh. He appointed
Sardar Desa Singh Majithia (1768–1832)
to manage it and made land grants whose
collected revenue was assigned to pay for
the Temple's maintenance and operation.
Ranjit Singh also made the position of
Temple officials are hereditary.
Destruction and reconstruction after
Indian independence
Interior of Darbar Sahib with gold encrusted walls and features a golden chandelier
The destruction of the temple occurred
during Operation Blue Star. It was the
the codename of an Indian military action
carried out between 1 and 8 June 1984 to
remove militant Sikh Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale and his followers from the
buildings of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden
Temple) complex in Amritsar, Punjab. The decision to launch the attack rested with
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In July
1982, Harchand Singh Longowal, the
President of the Sikh political party Akali
Dal had invited Bhindranwale to take up
residence in the Golden Temple Complex
to evade arrest. The government
claimed Bhindranwale later made the
sacred temple complex an armoury and
headquarters.
On 1 June 1984, after negotiations with
the militants failed, Indira Gandhi ordered the army to launch Operation Blue Star,
simultaneously attacking scores of Sikh
temples across Punjab. A variety of
army units and paramilitary forces
surrounded the Golden Temple complex
on 3 June 1984. The fighting started on 5
June with skirmishes and the battle went
on for three days, ending on 8 June. A
clean-up operation codenamed Operation
Woodrose was also initiated throughout
The army had underestimated the
firepower possessed by the militants,
whose armament included Chinese-made
rocket-propelled grenade launchers with
armour piercing capabilities. Tanks and
heavy artillery was used to attack the
militants, who responded with anti-tank
and machine-gun fire from the heavily
fortified Akal Takht. After a 24-hour
firefight, the army gained control of the
Temple complex. Casualty figures for the
armies were 83 dead and 249 injured.
According to the official estimates, 1,592
militants were apprehended and there
were 493 combined militant and civilian
casualties. According to the
government claims, high civilian casualties
were attributed to militants using pilgrims
trapped inside the temple as human
Brahma Chellaney, the Associated Press s South Asia correspondent, was the only
the foreign reporter who managed to stay on
in Amritsar despite the media blackout.
His dispatches, filed by telex, provided the
first non-governmental news reports on
the bloody operation in Amritsar. His first
dispatch, front-paged by The New York
Times, The Times of London and The
Guardian reported a death toll of about twice
of what authorities had admitted.
According to the dispatch, about 780
militants and civilians and 400 troops had
perished in fierce gun battles. Chellaney
reported that about "eight to ten" men
suspected Sikh militants had been shot
with their hands tied. In that dispatch, Mr.
Chellaney interviewed a doctor who said
he had been picked up by the army and
forced to conduct postmortems despite
the fact he had never done any
postmortem examination before. In
reaction to the dispatch, the Indian
the government charged Chellaney with
violating Punjab press censorship, two
counts of fanning sectarian hatred and
trouble, and later with sedition, calling
his report baseless and disputing his
casualty figures.
The military action in the temple complex
was criticized by Sikhs worldwide, who
interpreted it as an assault on the Sikh
religion. Many Sikh soldiers in the army
deserted their units; several Sikhs resigned from the civil administrative office
and returned awards received from the
Indian government. Five months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Indira
Gandhi was assassinated in an act of revenge by her two Sikh bodyguards,
Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. Public
outcry over Gandhi's death led to the
killings of more than 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi
alone, in the ensuing 1984 anti-Sikh
Following the operation the central
the government demolished hundreds of
houses and created a corridor around the
a compound called "Galliara" (also spelt
Galiara or Galyara) for security reasons.
This was made into a public park and
opened in June 1988.
In December 2021, a young man was
allegedly beaten to death after disrupting
the Rehras Sahib (evening prayer) at the
sanctum of the temple. He reportedly
jumped over a railing and picked up the
sword lying before the temple's copy of the
Guru Granth Sahib, before attempting to touch the Guru Granth Sahib itself. He was
subsequently overpowered by the Sangat
and received fatal injuries to the head.
Description
The Golden Temple complex map
Architecture
The Golden Temple's architecture reflects
different architectural practices prevalent
in the Indian subcontinent, as various iterations of the temple were rebuilt and
restored. The Temple is described by Ian
Kerr, and other scholars, as a mixture of
the Indo-Islamic Mughal and the Hindu
Rajput architecture.
The sanctum is a 12.25 x 12.25 metre
square with two storeys and a gold leaf
dome. This sanctum has a marble
a platform that is a 19.7 x 19.7 metre
square. It sits inside an almost square
(154.5 x 148.5 m2) pool called Amritsar or
Amrit Sarovar ( Amrit means nectar, and SAR is
short form of Sarovar and means pool).
The pool is 5.1 metres deep and is
surrounded by a 3.7 metre wide
circumambulatory marble passage that is
circled clockwise. The sanctum is
connected to the platform by a causeway
and the gateway into the causeway is
called the Darshani Ḍeorhi (from Darshana
Dvara). For those who wish to take a dip in
the pool, the Temple provides a half
hexagonal shelter and holy steps to Har ki
Pauri.[3][70] Bathing in the pool is believed
by many Sikhs to have restorative powers,
purifying one's karma. Some carry bottles of pool water at home particularly
for sick friends and relatives. The pool
is maintained by volunteers who perform
kar seva (community service) by draining
and desilting it periodically.
Left: Causeway to the sanctum with people, behind the pool, is Ath Sath Tirath; Right: Entrance view The sanctum has two floors. The Sikh
Scripture Guru Granth Sahib is seated on
the lower square floor for about 20 hours
every day, and for 4 hours it is taken to its
a bedroom inside Akal Takht with elaborate
ceremonies in a palki, for sukhasana and
Prakash. The floor with the seated
scripture is raised a few steps above the
entrance causeway level. The upper floor
in the sanctum is a gallery connected
by stairs. The ground floor is lined with
white marble, as is the path surrounding
the sanctum. The sanctum's exterior has
gilded copper plates. The doors are gold
leaf-covered copper sheets with nature
motifs such as birds and flowers. The
the ceiling of the upper floor is gilded,
embossed and decorated with jewels. The
sanctum dome is semi-spherical with a
pinnacle ornament. The sides are
embellished with arched copings and
small solid domes, the corners adorning
cupolas, all of which are covered with gold
leaf-covered gilded copper.
The floral designs on the marble panels of
the walls around the sanctum are
Arabesque. The arches include verses
from the Sikh scripture in gold letters. The
frescoes follow the Indian tradition and
include animal, bird and nature motifs
rather than being purely geometrical. The
stair walls have murals of Sikh Gurus such
as the falcon carrying Guru Gobind Singh
riding a horse.
Side view of the causeway leading from the Darshani Deorhi (right) to the sanctum (left)
The Darshani Deorhi is a two-storey
the structure that houses the temple
management offices and treasury. At the
the exit of the path leading away from the
sanctum is the Prasada facility, where
volunteers serve a flour-based sweet
offering called Karah prasad. Typically, the
pilgrims to the Golden Temple enter and
make a clockwise circumambulation
around the pool before entering the
sanctum. There are four entrances to the
gurdwara complex signifying the openness
to all sides, but a single entrance to the
sanctum of the temple through a
causeway.
They also have free service wheelchairs.
Anyone can take a wheelchair and roam
around the temple. Worshipper can take
a wheelchair from starting entrance and
they have a special lift to physically
challenged people.
Akal Takht and Teja Singh Samundri
Hall
Left: Akal Takht illuminated; Right: One of the entrance gates
In front of the sanctum and the causeway
is the Akal Takht building. It is the chief
Takht, a centre of authority in Sikhism. Its
name Akal Takht means "throne of the
Timeless (God)". The institution was
established by Guru Hargobind after the
martyrdom of his father Guru Arjan, as a
place to conduct ceremonial, spiritual and
secular affairs, issuing binding writs on
Sikh Gurdwaras are far from their location.
A building was later constructed over the
Takht was founded by Guru Hargobind and this
came to be known as Akal Bunga. The
Akal Takht is also known as Takht Sri Akal
Bunga. The Sikh tradition has five Takhts,
all of which are major pilgrimage sites in
Sikhism. These are in Anandpur, Patna,
Nanded, Talwandi Sabo and Amritsar. The
Akal Takht in the Golden Temple complex
is the primary seat and chief. It is
also the headquarters of the main political
party of the Indian state of Punjab,
Shiromani Akali Dal (Supreme Akali
Party). The Akal Takht issues edicts or
writs ( hukm) on matters related to
Sikhism and the solidarity of the Sikh
community.
The Teja Singh Samundri Hall is the office
of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee (Supreme Committee of
Temple Management). It is located in a
building near the Langar-kitchen and
Assembly Hall. This office coordinates and
overseas the operations of major Sikh
temples.
Ramgarhia Bunga and Clock Tower
Left: Ramgarhia Bunga watcht owers to protect the Golden temple, Right: An 1860s photo of the Golden Temple during the colonial British era with the under-construction Gothic clock tower (which was later demolished ) on the extreme right side.
The Ramgarhia Bunga – the two high
towers visible from the parikrama
(circumambulation) walkway around the
tank is named after a Sikh subgroup.
The red sandstone minaret-style Bunga
(buêgā) towers were built in the 18th
century, a period of Afghan attacks and
temple demolitions. It is named after the
Sikh warrior and Ramgarhia misl chief
constructed as the temple watchtowers
for sentinels to watch for any military raid
approaching the temple and the
surrounding area, help rapidly gather a
defence to protect the Golden Temple
complex. According to Fenech and
McLeod, during the 18th century, Sikh misl
chiefs and rich communities built over 70
such Bungas of different shapes and
forms around the temple to watch the
area, house soldiers and defend the
Temple. These served defensive
purposes provided accommodation for
Sikh pilgrims and served as centres of
learning in the 19th century. Most of the
Bungas were demolished during the British
colonial era. The Ramgarhia Bunga
remains a symbol of the Ramgarhia Sikh
community's identity, their historic
sacrifices and contributions to defending
the Golden Temple over the centuries.
The Clock Tower did not exist in the
the original version of the temple. In its
location was a building, now called the
"lost palace". The officials of the British
India wanted to demolish the building after
the Second Anglo-Sikh war and once they
had annexed the Sikh Empire. The Sikhs
opposed the demolition, but this
opposition was ignored. In its place, the
the clock tower was added. The clock tower
was designed by John Gordon in a Gothic
cathedral style with red bricks. The clock
tower construction started in 1862 and
was completed in 1874. The tower was
demolished by the Sikh community about
70 years later. In its place, a new entrance
was constructed with a design more
harmonious with the Temple. This
entrance on the north side has a clock,
houses a museum on its upper floor, and it
continues to be called ghanta ghar
deori.
The historic Dukh Bhanjani Ber tree is inside the courtyard, next to Ath Sath Tirath.
The Golden Temple complex originally was
open and had numerous trees around the
pool. It is now a walled, two-storey
courtyard with four entrances, that
preserve three Ber trees (jujube). One of
them is to the right of the main ghanta
ghar door entrance with the clock, and it is
called the Ber Baba Buddha. It is believed
in the Sikh tradition to be the tree where
Baba Buddha sat to supervise the
construction of the pool and first
Temple.
A second tree is called Laachi Ber, believed
to the one under which Guru Arjan rested
while the temple was being built. The
the third one is called Dukh Bhanjani Ber,
located on the other side of the sanctum,
across the pool. It is believed in the Sikh
a tradition that this tree was the location
where a Sikh was cured of his leprosy after
taking a dip in the pool, giving the tree the
the epithet of "suffering remover". There
is a small Gurdwara underneath the
tree. The Ath Sath Tirath, or the spot
equivalent to 68 pilgrimages, is in the
shade underneath the Dukh Bhanjani Ber
tree. Sikh devotees state Charles
Townsend believes that bathing in the pool
near this spot delivers the same fruits as a
visit to 68 pilgrimage places in India.
Sikh history museums
The main ghanta ghari deer north entrance
has a Sikh history museum on the first
floor, according to the Sikh tradition. The
the display shows various paintings, of gurus
and martyrs, many narrating the
persecution of Sikhs over their history, as
well as historical items such as swords,
Kartar, comb, chakras.A new
underground museum near the clock
tower, but outside the temple courtyard
also shows Sikh history. According
to Louis E. Fenech, the display does not
present the parallel traditions of Sikhism
and is partly ahistorical such as a
headless body continuing to fight, but a
significant artwork and reflects the general
the trend in Sikhism of presenting their history
to be one of persecution, martyrdom and
bravery in wars.
Volunteers helping prepare the food
The main entrance to the Gurdwara has
many memorial plaques that
commemorate past Sikh historical events,
saints and martyrs, contributions of Ranjit
Singh, as well as commemorative
inscriptions of all the Sikh soldiers who
died fighting in the two World Wars and
the various Indo-Pakistan wars.
Langar hall from inside
Harmandir Sahib complex has a Langar, a
community-run free kitchen and dining
hall. It is attached to the east side of the
courtyard near the Dukh Bhanjani Ber,
outside of the entrance. Food is served
here to all visitors who want it, regardless
of faith, gender or economic background.
Vegetarian food is served and all people
at together as equals. Everyone sits on
the floor in rows, which is called sangat.
The meal is served by volunteers as part
of their kar seva ethos.
Daily ceremonies
Left: A palanquin being prepared for the daily sukhasan ritual to carry the scripture to a bedroom; Right: A Sikh pilgrim.
Some Sikhs take a dip in the pool.
There are several rites performed every day
in the Golden Temple as per the historic
Sikh tradition. These rites treat the
Scripture as a living person, a Guru out of
respect. They include:
Closing rite called sukhasan ( Sukh
means "comfort or rest", asan means
"position"). At night, after a series of
devotional kirtans and three-part ardās,
the Guru Granth Sahib is closed, carried
on the head, placed into and then
carried in a flower decorated, pillow-bed
palki (palanquin), with chanting. Its
the bedroom is in the Akal Takht, on the first
floor. Once it arrives there, the scripture
is tucked into a bed.
Opening rite called prakash which
means "light". About dawn every day, the
Guru Granth Sahib is taken out its
bedroom carried on the head, placed
and carried in a flower-decorated palki
with chanting and bugle sounding
across the causeway. It is brought to the
sanctum. Then after the ritual singing of a
series of Var Asa kirtans and areas, a
random page is opened. This is the
mukhtar of the day, it is read out loud,
and then written out for the pilgrims to
read over that day.
era Sikhism
Singh Sabha movement
The Singh Sabha movement was a late-19th-century movement within the Sikh
community to rejuvenate and reform
Sikhism at a time when Christian, Hindu
and Muslim proselytizers were actively
campaigning to convert Sikhs to their
religion. The movement was
triggered by the conversion of Ranjit
Singh's son Duleep Singh and other well-
known people to Christianity. Started in
In the 1870s, the Singh Sabha movement's aims
were to propagate the true Sikh religion,
restore and reform Sikhism to bring back
into the Sikh fold the apostates who had
left Sikhism. There were three
main groups with different viewpoints and
approaches, of which the Tat Khalsa group
had become dominant by the early
The 1880s. Before 1905, the Golden
Temple had Brahmin priests, idols and
images for at least a century, attracting
pious Sikhs and Hindus. In the 1890s, these
idols and practices came under attack
from reformist Sikhs. In 1905, with the
campaign of the Tat Khalsa, these idols
and images were removed from the
Golden Temple. The Singh Sabha
the movement brought the Khalsa back to the
fore of Gurdwara administration over
the mahants (priests) class, who had
taken over control of the main gurdwaras
and other institutions vacated by the
Khalsa in their fight for survival against the
Mughals during the 18th century and had been most prominent during the 19th
century.
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
As per tradition, the Sikhs gathered in the
Golden Temple to celebrate the festival of
Baisakhi in 1919. After their visit, many
walked over to the Jallianwala Bagh next
to it to listen to speakers protesting
Rowlatt Act and other policies
implemented by the British colonial
government. A large crowd had gathered,
when Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer
ordered a detachment of ninety soldiers
(drawn from the 9th Gorkha Rifles and the
59th Scinde Rifles) under his command to surround the Jallianwala Bagh, and then
open fire into the crowd. 379 were killed
and thousands were wounded in the
massacre. The massacre strengthened the opposition to colonial rule throughout
India, particularly from Sikhs. It
triggered massive non-violent protests.
The protests pressured the British colonial
government to transfer control over the
management and treasury of the Golden
Temple to an elected organisation called
Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak
Committee (SGPC). The SGPC continues
to manage the Golden Temple.
Punjabi Suba movement
The Punjabi Suba movement was a long-
drawn political agitation, launched by the
Sikhs, demanding the creation of a Punjabi
Suba, or Punjabi-speaking state, in the
post-independence state of East
Punjab. It was first presented as a
policy position in April 1948 by the
Shiromani Akali Dal, after the States
Reorganization Commission set up after
independence was not effective in the
North of the country during its work to
delineate states on a linguistic basis.
The Golden Temple complex was the main
centre of operations of the movement,
and important events during the
a movement that occurred at the gurdwara
included the 1955 raid by the government to quash the movement, and the
subsequent Amritsar Convention in 1955
to convey Sikh sentiments to the central
government. The complex was also
the site of speeches, demonstrations, and
mass arrests, and where leaders of the
movement domiciled in huts during hunger
strikes. The borders of the modern
the state of Punjab, along with the official
status of the state's native language of
Punjabi in the Gurmukhi script, are the result of the movement, which culminated
in the setting of the current borders in
1966.
Operation Blue Star
Aerial view of Galliara park around the complex
The Golden Temple and Akal Takht were
occupied by various militant groups in the
the early 1980s. These included the Dharam
Yudh Morcha led by Sikh fundamentalist
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Babbar Khalsa, the AISSF and the National Council
of Khalistan. In December 1983, the
Sikh political party Akali Dal's President
Harchand Singh Longowal had invited
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to take up residence in Golden Temple Complex.
The Bhindranwale-led group under the
the military leadership of General Shabeg
Singh had begun to build bunkers and
observations posts in and around the
Golden Temple. They organised the
armed militants present at the Harmandir
Sahib in Amritsar in June 1984. The
Golden Temple became a place for
weapons training for the militants.
Shabeg Singh's military expertise is
credited with the creation of effective
defences of the Gurdwara Complex that
made the possibility of a commando
operation on foot is impossible. Supporters
of this militant movement circulated maps
showing parts of northwest India, north
Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan as
historic and future boundaries of the
Khalsa Sikhs, with varying claims in
different maps.
In June 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
ordered the Indian Army to begin
Operation Blue Star against the
militants. The operation caused severely
damage and destroyed the Akal Takht.
Numerous soldiers, militants and civilians
died in the crossfire, with official estimates
of death of 492 civilians and 83 Indian
army men. Within days of the
Operation Bluestar, some 2,000 Sikh
soldiers in India mutinied and attempted
to reach Amritsar to liberate the Golden
Temple. Within six months, on the 31
October 1984, Indira Gandhi's Sikh
bodyguards assassinated her.
In 1986, Indira Gandhi's son and the next
Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi
ordered repairs to the Akal Takht Sahib.
These repairs were removed and Sikhs
rebuilt the Akal Takht Sahib in 1999.
List of Granthi
"A Priest of the Golden Temple," from a stereoscopic viewing set, 1908
Granthi is a person, female or male, of the
The Sikh religion is a ceremonial reader of
the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, which is the
Holy Book in Sikhism. Here is a list of
4. Gopal Das Udasi
5. Chanchal Singh
. Atma Singh
7. Sham Singh
. Jass Singh
9. Jawahar Singh
10. Harnam Singh
12. Kartar Singh kalaswalia
13. Mool Singh
14. Bhulinder Singh
15. Chet Singh
1 . Makhan Singh
17. Labh Singh
1 . Takur Singh
19. Achhru Singh
20. Arjan Singh
21. Kapoor Singh
22. Niranjan Singh
23. Mani Singh
25. Sahib Singh
2 . Pritam Singh
27. Mohan Singh
2 . Pooran Singh
29. Ravail Singh
30. Sukhjinder Singh
31. Jaswinder Singh
32. Maan Singh
33. Jagtar Singh
34. Jagtar Singh Ludhiana
35. Gurminder Singh
36 . Balwinder Singh
38. Baljit Singh
39. Rajdeep Singh
40. Sultan Singh
Commemorative Postal
Stamps
Commemorative stamps released by India
1935
1987
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