The Golden Temple
The Golden Temple 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.
It is not only a central religious place of the Sikhs, but also a symbol of human
brotherhood and equality. Everybody, irrespective of cast, creed or race can seek
spiritual solace and religious fulfilment without any hindrance. It also represents
the distinct identity, glory and heritage of the Sikhs.
It is also called the Harmandir Sahib which means "sacred audience”.
History
Guru Arjan Sahib, the Fifth Nanak, conceived the idea of creating a central place
of worship for the Sikhs and he himself designed the architecture of Sri Harmandir
Sahib. Earlier the planning to excavate the holy tank (Amritsar or Amrit Sarovar)
was chalked out by Guru Amardas Sahib, the Third Nanak, but it was executed by Guru
Ramdas Sahib under the supervision of Baba Budha ji. The land for the site was
acquired by the earlier Guru Sahibs on payment or free of cost from the Zamindars
(landlords) of native villages. The plan to establish a town settlement was also
made. Therefore, the construction work on the Sarovar (the tank) and the town
started simultaneously in 1570. The work on both projects completed in 1577 A.D.
Ranjit Singh founded the of the Sikh Empire in 1801 at the age of 36. 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 in 1830 Ranjit Singh
donated gold to overlay the sanctum with gold leaf.
Architecture
The Golden Temple's architecture reflects different architectural practices
prevalent in the Indian subcontinent, as various iterations of 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 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 amritsarovar
(amrit means nectar, sar is short form of sarovar and means pool). The pool is 5.1
metre 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.
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
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 and connected
by stairs.
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 far from his own location.
The Akal Takht issues edicts or writs (hukam) on matters related to Sikhism and the
solidarity of the Sikh community.
Its role in major historical events:
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.
Before 1905, the Golden Temple had Brahmin priests, idols and images for at least a
century, attracting pious Sikhs and Hindus.In 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.
Jallianwala bagh massacre
The protests in the aftermath of the tragic massacre pressured the British colonial
government to transfer the 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. The Golden Temple complex was the main
centre of operations of the movement,and important events during the 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.[102] The complex was also the site of speeches,
demonstrations, and mass arrests,[101] and where leaders of the movement domiciled
in huts during hunger strikes.
