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Golden Temple

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][2]) is a gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India.[3][4] 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.[3][5]

Golden Temple
Harmandir Sahib
Darbar Sahib
Religion
AffiliationSikhism
Location
LocationAmritsar
StatePunjab
CountryIndia
Shown within Punjab
Golden Temple (India)
Golden Temple (Asia)
Geographic coordinates31°37′12″N 74°52′35″E / 31.62000°N 74.87639°E / 31.62000; 74.87639Coordinates: 31°37′12″N 74°52′35″E / 31.62000°N 74.87639°E / 31.62000; 74.87639
Architecture
GroundbreakingDecember 1581[1]
Completed1589 (temple), 1604 (with Adi Granth) [1]
Website
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee official website

The man-made pool on the site of the temple was completed by the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das, in 1577.[6][7] In 1604, Guru Arjan placed a copy of the Adi Granth in Harmandir Sahib.[3][8] The Gurdwara was repeatedly rebuilt by the Sikhs after it became a target of persecution and was destroyed several times by the Mughal and invading Afghan armies.[3][5][9] 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.[10][11][12]

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.[13] In 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent in the Indian Army as part of Operation Blue Star, leading to 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 complex was rebuilt again after the 1984 damage.[5]

The Golden Temple is an open house of worship for all people, from all walks of life and faiths.[3] 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.[14] The complex is a collection of buildings around the sanctum and the pool.[3] One of these is Akal Takht, the chief centre of religious authority of Sikhism.[5] Additional buildings include a clock tower, the offices of the Gurdwara Committee, a Museum and a langar – a free Sikh community–run kitchen that offers a vegetarian meal to all visitors without discrimination.[5] Over 150,000 people visit the holy shrine everyday for worship.[15] The Gurdwara complex has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its application is pending on the tentative list of UNESCO.[16]

Nomenclature

The Harmandir Sahib (Gurmukhi: ਹਰਿਮੰਦਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ) is also spelled as Harimandar or Harimandir Sahib.[3][17] It is also called the Durbār Sahib (ਦਰਬਾਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ), which means "sacred audience", as well as the Golden Temple for its gold leaf-covered sanctum centre.[5] The word "Harmandir" is composed of two words: "Hari", which scholars translate as "God ",[3] and "mandir", which means "house".[18] "Sahib" is further appended to the shrine's name, the term often used within Sikh tradition to denote respect for places of religious significance.[19] 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.[20][21]

History

 
The Golden Temple, Amritsar, c.1840

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.[6][7][22] After Guru Ram Das succeeded Guru Amar Das in 1574, and in the face of hostile opposition from the sons of Guru Amar Das,[23] Guru 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). 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.[22]

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).[24] 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.[25] Guru Arjan installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new gurdwara in 1604.[24] Continuing the efforts of Guru 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.[26][27]

Construction

 
Maharaja Ranjit Singh listening to Guru Granth Sahib being recited near the Akal Takht and Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab, India.

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 Guru Ram Das.[22][28]

In 1581, Guru Arjan initiated the construction of the Gurdwara.[1] During the construction the pool was kept empty and dry. It took 8 years to complete the first 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.[1] He also demanded that the gurdwara compound be open on all sides to emphasize that it was open to all. The sanctum inside the pool where his Guru seat was, had only one bridge to emphasize that the end goal was one, states Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair.[1] 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.[1] This belief is however unsubstantiated.[29][30] According to Sikh traditional sources such as Sri Gur Suraj Parkash Granth it was laid by Guru Arjan himself.[31] 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.[32]

Ath Sath Tirath, which means "shrine of 68 pilgrimages", is a raised canopy on the parkarma (circumambulation marble path around the pool).[3][8][33] 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.[34][35] 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.[1]

 
The Golden Temple at twilight

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.[36][37] He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE.[36][37][38] Guru Arjan's son and successor Guru Hargobind left Amritsar and moved into the Shivalik Hills to avoid persecution and to save the Sikh panth.[39] 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.[39] In the 18th century, Guru Gobind Singh and his newly founded Khalsa Sikhs came back and fought to liberate it.[39] 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.[9]

The Golden Temple was the centre of historic events in Sikh history:[40][10]

  • 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 again.
  • In 1762, Ahmad Shah Durrani returned and had the Golden Temple blown up with gunpowder. Sikhs returned and celebrated Diwali in its premises. In 1764, Baba 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 Ravi River for the pool.

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 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.[41] The Temple was renovated in marble and copper in 1809, and in 1830 Ranjit Singh donated gold to overlay the sanctum with gold leaf.[10]

After learning of the Gurdwara through Maharaja Ranjit Singh,[42] the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad "Mir Osman Ali Khan" started giving yearly grants towards it.[43]

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 hereditary.[3]

Destruction and reconstruction after Indian independence

 
Interior of Darbar Sahib with gold encrusted walls and featuring a golden chandelier

The destruction of the temple occurred during the Operation Blue Star. It was 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.[44] 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.[45][46] The government claimed Bhindranwale later made the sacred temple complex an armoury and headquarters.[47]

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.[48] 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 Punjab.[49]

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 were 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 army were 83 dead and 249 injured.[50] According to the official estimates, 1,592 militants were apprehended and there were 493 combined militant and civilian casualties.[51] According to the government claims, high civilian casualties were attributed to militants using pilgrims trapped inside the temple as human shields.[52]

Brahma Chellaney, the Associated Press's South Asia correspondent, was the only foreign reporter who managed to stay on in Amritsar despite the media blackout.[53] 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 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.[54] 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.[55] In reaction to the dispatch, the Indian government charged Chellaney with violating Punjab press censorship, two counts of fanning sectarian hatred and trouble, and later with sedition,[56] calling his report baseless and disputing his casualty figures.[57]

The military action in the temple complex was criticized by Sikhs worldwide, who interpreted it as an assault on the Sikh religion.[58] Many Sikh soldiers in the army deserted their units;[59] several Sikhs resigned from 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.[46] 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 riots.[60]

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.[61]

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 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.[3][62]

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 (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][63] Bathing in the pool is believed by many Sikhs to have restorative powers, purifying one's karma.[64] Some carry bottles of the pool water home particularly for sick friends and relatives.[65] The pool is maintained by volunteers who perform kar seva (community service) by draining and desilting it periodically.[64]

 
 
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 bedroom inside Akal Takht with elaborate ceremonies in a palki, for sukhasana and Prakash.[34] 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. 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 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.[3]

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.[3][66]

 
Side view of the causeway leading from the Darshani Deorhi (right) to the sanctum (left)

The Darshani Deorhi is a two-storey structure that houses the temple management offices and treasury. At 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.[3][67][page needed]

They also have free service of wheelchair. Anyone can take wheelchair and roam around the temple. Worshipper can take wheelchair from starting entrance and they have a special lift to physically challenged people.[citation needed]

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 far from his own location. A building was later constructed over the Takht 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.[68][69] It is also the headquarters of the main political party of the Indian state of Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal (Supreme Akali Party).[5] The Akal Takht issues edicts or writs (hukam) 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 oversees the operations of major Sikh temples.[5][70]

Ramgarhia Bunga and Clock Tower

 
 
Left: Ramgarhia Bunga watchtowers 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[71]) on extreme right-side.

The Ramgarhia Bunga – the two high towers visible from the parikrama (circumambulation) walkway around the tank,[72] 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 Jassa Singh Ramgarhia. It was constructed as the temple watchtowers for sentinels to watch for any military raid approaching the temple and the surrounding area, help rapidly gather a defense 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.[73] These served defensive purposes, provided accommodation for Sikh pilgrims and served as centres of learning in the 19th century.[73] 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 contribution to defending the Golden Temple over the centuries.[74]

The Clock Tower did not exist in 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 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.[71][75]

Ber trees

 
The historic Dukh Bhanjani Ber tree 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 deori 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.[34][35]

A second tree is called Laachi Ber, believed to the one under which Guru Arjan rested while the temple was being built.[35] 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 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 epithet of "suffering remover".[18][76] There is a small Gurdwara underneath the tree.[35] The Ath Sath Tirath, or the spot equivalent to 68 pilgrimages, is in the shade underneath the Dukh Bhanjani Ber tree. Sikh devotees, states Charles Townsend, believe that bathing in the pool near this spot delivers the same fruits as a visit to 68 pilgrimage places in India.[35]

Sikh history museums

The main ghanta ghari deori north entrance has a Sikh history museum on the first floor, according to the Sikh tradition. 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, chakkars.[77] A new underground museum near the clock tower, but outside the temple courtyard also shows Sikh history.[78][79] 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 trend in Sikhism of presenting their history to be one of persecution, martyrdoms and bravery in wars.[80]

 
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.[81]

Guru Ram Das Langar

 
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 eat 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.[35]

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 everyday 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:[82][83]

  • 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 bedroom is in the Akal Takht, on the first floor. Once it arrives there, the scripture is tucked into a bed.[82][83]
  • Opening rite called prakash which means "light". About dawn everyday, 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 ritual singing of a series of Var Asa kirtans and ardas, a random page is opened. This is the mukhwak of the day, it is read out loud, and then written out for the pilgrims to read over that day.[82][83]

Influence on contemporary 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.[84][85] The movement was triggered by the conversion of Ranjit Singh's son Duleep Singh and other well-known people to Christianity. Started in 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.[84][86][87] There were three main groups with different viewpoints and approaches, of which the Tat Khalsa group had become dominant by the early 1880s.[88][89] Before 1905, the Golden Temple had Brahmin priests, idols and images for at least a century, attracting pious Sikhs and Hindus.[90] In 1890s, these idols and practices came under attack from reformist Sikhs.[90] In 1905, with the campaign of the Tat Khalsa, these idols and images were removed from the Golden Temple.[91][92] The Singh Sabha movement brought the Khalsa back to the fore of Gurdwara administration[93] over the mahants (priests) class,[94] 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[95] and had been most prominent during the 19th century.[95]

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.[96] The massacre strengthened the opposition to colonial rule throughout India, particularly that from Sikhs. It triggered massive non-violent protests. The protests 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.[97]

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.[98] It was first presented as a policy position in April 1948 by the Shiromani Akali Dal,[99] 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.[100] The Golden Temple complex was the main centre of operations of the movement,[101] 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.[103] The borders of the modern 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.[104]

Operation Blue Star

The Golden Temple and Akal Takht were occupied by various militant groups in 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.[105] 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.[106] The Bhindranwale-led group under the military leadership of General Shabeg Singh had begun to build bunkers and observations posts in and around the Golden Temple.[107] 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.[105] 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 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.[108]

In June 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to begin Operation Blue Star against the militants.[105] The operation caused severe 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.[109] Within days of the Operation Bluestar, some 2,000 Sikh soldiers in India mutinied and attempted to reach Amritsar to liberate the Golden Temple.[105] Within six months, on 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.[110]

List of granthi

Granthi is a person, female or male, of the Sikh religion who is a ceremonial reader of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, which is the Holy Book in Sikhism. Here is list of granthi:

  1. Baba Budha
  2. Bidhi Chand
  3. Mani Singh
  4. Gopal Das Udasi
  5. Chanchal Singh
  6. Atma Singh
  7. Sham Singh
  8. Jass Singh
  9. Jawahar Singh
  10. Harnam Singh
  11. Fateh Singh
  12. Kartar Singh kalaswalia
  13. Mool Singh
  14. Bhulinder Singh
  15. Chet Singh
  16. Makhan Singh
  17. Labh Sinhh
  18. TakurSingh
  19. Achhru Singh
  20. Arjan Singh
  21. Kapoor Singh
  22. Niranjan Singh
  23. Mani Singh
  24. Kirpal Singh
  25. Sahib Singh
  26. Pritam Singh
  27. MohanSingh
  28. 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
  37. Amarjit Singh
  38. Baljit Singh
  39. Rajdeep Singh
  40. Sultan Singh

Commemorative Postal Stamps

Commemorative stamps released by India Post (by year) -

 
1935
 
1949
 
1987

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair 2013, pp. 41–42.
  2. ^ McLeod, W.H. (11 June 2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 146. ISBN 9781442236011. The latter name was attached to it after Maharaja Ranjit Singh gilded the upper two stories, and it became known as the Suvaran Mandir, or the Golden Temple
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Kerr, Ian J. (2011). "Harimandar". In Harbans Singh (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. Punjabi University Patiala. pp. 239–248. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  4. ^ Eleanor Nesbitt 2016, pp. 64–65, 150.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Harmandir-Sahib". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2014.
  6. ^ a b Louis E. Fenech & W. H. McLeod 2014, p. 33.
  7. ^ a b Pardeep Singh Arshi 1989, pp. 5–7.
  8. ^ a b W. Owen Cole 2004, p. 7
  9. ^ a b M. L. Runion (2017). The History of Afghanistan, 2nd Edition. Greenwood. pp. 69–71. ISBN 978-0-313-33798-7., Quote: "Ahmad Durrani was forced to return to India and [he] declared a jihad, known as an Islamic holy war, against the Marathas. A multitude of tribes heralded the call of the holy war, which included the various Pashtun tribes, the Balochs, the Tajiks, and also the Muslim population residing in India. Led by Ahmad Durrani, the tribes joined the religious quest and returned to India (...) The domination and control of the [Afghan] empire began to loosen in 1762 when Ahmad Shah Durrani crossed Afghanistan to subdue the Sikhs, followers of an indigenous monotheistic religion of India found in the 16th century by Guru Nanak. (...) Ahmad Shah greatly desired to subdue the Sikhs, and his army attacked and gained control of the Sikh's holy city of Amritsar, where he brutally massacred thousands of Sikh followers. Not only did he viciously demolish the sacred temples and buildings, but he ordered these holy places to be covered with cow's blood as an insult and desecration of their religion (...)"
  10. ^ a b c Trudy Ring, Noelle Watson & Paul Schellinger 2012, pp. 28–29.
  11. ^ Eleanor Nesbitt 2016, pp. 64–65.
  12. ^ Jean Marie Lafont (2002). Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Lord of the Five Rivers. Oxford University Press. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-0-19-566111-8.
  13. ^ Fenech, Louis E. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. OUP Oxford. pp. 30–31. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8. But this strategy backfired in the spring of 1984, when a group of armed radicals led by Bhindranwale decided to provoke a confrontation with the government by occupying Akal Takhat building inside the Golden Temple complex.
  14. ^ "Nature and importance of Harmandir Sahib - Pilgrimage - GCSE Religious Studies Revision". BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Soon, Golden Temple to use phone jammers". The Times of India. 19 July 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013.
  16. ^ Sri Harimandir Sahib, Amritsar, Punjab, UNESCO
  17. ^ Asher, Catherine Blanshard (24 September 1992). Architecture of Mughal India. Cambridge University Press. p. 316. ISBN 978-0-521-26728-1. Situated in the middle of an enormous tank connected to land via a long causeway, the shrine is known as Harimandir.
  18. ^ a b Louis E. Fenech & W. H. McLeod 2014, p. 146.
  19. ^ McLeod, W.H. (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 269. ISBN 9781442236011.
  20. ^ Henry Walker 2002, pp. 95–98.
  21. ^ H. S. Singha (2000). The Encyclopedia of Sikhism (over 1000 Entries). Hemkunt Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-81-7010-301-1.
  22. ^ a b c G.S. Mansukhani. "Encyclopaedia of Sikhism". Punjab University Patiala. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  23. ^ Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair 2013, pp. 38–40.
  24. ^ a b Christopher Shackle & Arvind Mandair 2013, pp. xv–xvi.
  25. ^ W. H. McLeod 1990, pp. 28–29.
  26. ^ Mahindara Siṅgha Joshī (1994). Guru Arjan Dev. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 6–8. ISBN 978-81-7201-769-9.
  27. ^ Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair 2013, pp. 42–43.
  28. ^ Louis E. Fenech & W. H. McLeod 2014, p. 67.
  29. ^ Louis E. Fenech & W. H. McLeod 2014, p. 205.
  30. ^ Rishi Singh (2015). State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab. ISBN 978-9351505044. It is, however, possible that Mian Mir, who had close links to Guru Arjan, was invited and present at the time of the laying of the foundation stone, even if he did not lay the foundation stone himself.
  31. ^ Rishi Singh (2015). State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab. ISBN 978-9351505044.
  32. ^ Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh 2011, pp. 34–35.
  33. ^ Madanjit Kaur (1983). The Golden Temple: Past and Present. Amritsar: Dept. of Guru Nanak Studies, Guru Nanak Dev University Press. p. 174. OCLC 18867609.
  34. ^ a b c W. Owen Cole 2004, pp. 6–9
  35. ^ a b c d e f Pashaura Singh & Louis E. Fenech 2014, pp. 435–436.
  36. ^ a b Pashaura Singh (2005). (PDF). Journal of Punjab Studies. 12 (1): 29–62. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016.
  37. ^ a b W. H. McLeod (2009). "Arjan's Death". The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0810863446. The Mughal rulers of Punjab were evidently concerned with the growth of the Panth, and in 1605 the Emperor Jahangir made an entry in his memoirs, the Tuzuk-i-Jahāṅgīrī, concerning Guru Arjan's support for his rebellious son Khusrau Mirza. Too many people, he wrote, were being persuaded by his teachings, and if the Guru would not become a Muslim the Panth had to be extinguished. Jahangir believed that Guru Arjan was a Hindu who pretended to be a saint and that he had been thinking of forcing Guru Arjan to convert to Islam or his false trade should be eliminated, for a long time. Mughal authorities seem to have been responsible for Arjan's death in custody in Lahore, and this may be accepted as an established fact. Whether the death was by execution, the result of torture, or drowning in the Ravi River remains unresolved. For Sikhs, Guru Arjan Dev is the first martyr Guru.
  38. ^ Louis E. Fenech, Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition, Oxford University Press, pp. 118–121
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  40. ^ Pardeep Singh Arshi 1989, pp. 22–25.
  41. ^ Patwant Singh (2008). Empire of the Sikhs: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Peter Owen. pp. 18, 177. ISBN 978-0-7206-1323-0.
  42. ^ . Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  43. ^ Pandharipande, Reeti; Nadimpally, Lasya (5 August 2017). "A Brief History of The Nizams of Hyderabad". Outlook Traveller. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  44. ^ Swami, Praveen (16 January 2014). "RAW chief consulted MI6 in build-up to Operation Bluestar". The Hindu. Chennai, India. from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  45. ^ Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Volume II: 1839–2004, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 332.
  46. ^ a b "Operation Blue Star: India's first tryst with militant extremism". DNA. 5 November 2016. from the original on 3 November 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  47. ^ "Sikh Leader in Punjab Accord Assassinated". LA Times. Times Wire Services. 21 August 1985. from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2018. The Punjab violence reached a peak in June, 1984, when the army attacked the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest Sikh shrine, killing hundreds of Sikh militants who lived in the temple complex, and who the government said had turned it into an armory for Sikh terrorism.
  48. ^ Wolpert, Stanley A., ed. (2009). "India". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  49. ^ Kiessling, Hein (2016). Faith, Unity, Discipline: The Inter-Service-Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1849048637.
  50. ^ Varinder Walia (20 March 2007). "Army reveals startling facts on Bluestar". Tribune India. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  51. ^ White Paper on the Punjab Agitation. Shiromani Akali Dal and Government of India. 1984. p. 169.
  52. ^ Kiss, Peter A. (2014). Winning Wars amongst the People: Case Studies in Asymmetric Conflict (Illustrated ed.). Potomac Books. p. 100. ISBN 978-1612347004.
  53. ^ Hamlyn, Michael (12 June 1984). "Amritsar witness puts death toll at 1000". The Times. p. 7.
  54. ^ Eric Silver (7 June 1984). "Golden Temple Sikhs Surrender". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  55. ^ Chellaney, Brahma (14 June 1984). "Sikhs in Amritsar 'tied up and shot'". The Times.
  56. ^ "India is set to drop prosecution of AP reporter in Punjab Case". The New York Times. Associated Press. 14 September 1985. p. 5. from the original on 2 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  57. ^ "Indian Police Question Reporter on Amritsar". The New York Times. Associated Press. 24 November 1984. from the original on 3 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  58. ^ Westerlund, David (1996). Questioning The Secular State: The Worldwide Resurgence of Religion in Politics. C. Hurst & Co. p. 1276. ISBN 978-1-85065-241-0.
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  62. ^ Eleanor Nesbitt 2016, pp. 64–65 Quote: "The Golden Temple (...) By 1776, the present structure, a harmonious blending of Mughal and Rajput (Islamic and Hindu) architectural styles was complete."
  63. ^ Pardeep Singh Arshi 1989, pp. 97–116.
  64. ^ a b Gene R. Thursby (1992). The Sikhs. Brill. pp. 14–15. ISBN 90-04-09554-3.
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  67. ^ Fahlbusch, Erwin; Geoffrey William Bromiley (1999). The encyclopedia of Christianity (Reprint ed.). Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-14596-2.
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General bibliography

  • Pardeep Singh Arshi (1989). The Golden Temple: history, art, and architecture. Harman. ISBN 978-81-85151-25-0.
  • Bal, Sarjit Singh (1985). "Punjab After Independence (1947–1956)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 46: 416–430. JSTOR 44141382.
  • W. Owen Cole (2004). Understanding Sikhism. Dunedin Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-906716-91-2.
  • Doad, Karnail Singh (1997). "Punjabi Sūbā Movement". In Siṅgh, Harbans (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Sikhism (3rd ed.). Patiala, Punjab, India: Punjab University, Patiala (published 2011). pp. 391–404. ISBN 9788173803499. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  • Louis E. Fenech; W. H. McLeod (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1.
  • W. H. McLeod (1990). Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-56085-4.
  • Eleanor Nesbitt (2016). Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-874557-0.
  • Trudy Ring; Noelle Watson; Paul Schellinger (2012). Asia and Oceania: International Dictionary of Historic Places. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-63979-1.
  • Christopher Shackle; Arvind Mandair (2013). Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-45101-0.
  • Pashaura Singh; Louis E. Fenech (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-100411-7.
  • Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair (2013). Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-4411-0231-7.
  • Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh (2011). Sikhism: An Introduction. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-0-85771-962-1.
  • Henry Walker (2002). Kerry Brown (ed.). Sikh Art and Literature. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-63136-0.

External links

  • SGPC Live Kirtan
  • Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee official website
  • World Gurudwaras

golden, temple, other, uses, disambiguation, also, known, harmandir, sahib, abode, punjabi, pronunciation, ɦəɾᵊmən, əɾᵊ, saːɦ, bᵊ, darbār, sahib, exalted, court, əɾᵊbaːɾᵊ, saːɦ, bᵊ, gurdwara, located, city, amritsar, punjab, india, preeminent, spiritual, site,. For other uses see Golden Temple disambiguation The Golden Temple also known as the Harmandir Sahib lit abode of God Punjabi pronunciation ɦeɾᵊmen d eɾᵊ saːɦ ɪ bᵊ or the Darbar Sahib exalted court d eɾᵊbaːɾᵊ saːɦ ɪ bᵊ 2 is a gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar Punjab India 3 4 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 3 5 Golden TempleHarmandir Sahib Darbar SahibReligionAffiliationSikhismLocationLocationAmritsarStatePunjabCountryIndiaShown within PunjabShow map of PunjabGolden Temple India Show map of IndiaGolden Temple Asia Show map of AsiaGeographic coordinates31 37 12 N 74 52 35 E 31 62000 N 74 87639 E 31 62000 74 87639 Coordinates 31 37 12 N 74 52 35 E 31 62000 N 74 87639 E 31 62000 74 87639ArchitectureGroundbreakingDecember 1581 1 Completed1589 temple 1604 with Adi Granth 1 WebsiteShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee official websiteThe man made pool on the site of the temple was completed by the fourth Sikh Guru Guru Ram Das in 1577 6 7 In 1604 Guru Arjan placed a copy of the Adi Granth in Harmandir Sahib 3 8 The Gurdwara was repeatedly rebuilt by the Sikhs after it became a target of persecution and was destroyed several times by the Mughal and invading Afghan armies 3 5 9 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 10 11 12 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 13 In 1984 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent in the Indian Army as part of Operation Blue Star leading to 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 complex was rebuilt again after the 1984 damage 5 The Golden Temple is an open house of worship for all people from all walks of life and faiths 3 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 14 The complex is a collection of buildings around the sanctum and the pool 3 One of these is Akal Takht the chief centre of religious authority of Sikhism 5 Additional buildings include a clock tower the offices of the Gurdwara Committee a Museum and a langar a free Sikh community run kitchen that offers a vegetarian meal to all visitors without discrimination 5 Over 150 000 people visit the holy shrine everyday for worship 15 The Gurdwara complex has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its application is pending on the tentative list of UNESCO 16 Contents 1 Nomenclature 2 History 2 1 Construction 2 2 Mughal Empire era destruction and rebuilding 2 3 Ranjit Singh era reconstruction 2 4 Destruction and reconstruction after Indian independence 3 Description 3 1 Architecture 3 2 Akal Takht and Teja Singh Samundri Hall 3 3 Ramgarhia Bunga and Clock Tower 3 4 Ber trees 3 5 Sikh history museums 3 6 Guru Ram Das Langar 3 7 Daily ceremonies 4 Influence on contemporary era Sikhism 4 1 Singh Sabha movement 4 2 Jallianwala Bagh massacre 4 3 Punjabi Suba movement 4 4 Operation Blue Star 5 List of granthi 6 Commemorative Postal Stamps 7 See also 8 References 8 1 Citations 8 2 General bibliography 9 External linksNomenclature EditThe Harmandir Sahib Gurmukhi ਹਰ ਮ ਦਰ ਸ ਹ ਬ is also spelled as Harimandar or Harimandir Sahib 3 17 It is also called the Durbar Sahib ਦਰਬ ਰ ਸ ਹ ਬ which means sacred audience as well as the Golden Temple for its gold leaf covered sanctum centre 5 The word Harmandir is composed of two words Hari which scholars translate as God 3 and mandir which means house 18 Sahib is further appended to the shrine s name the term often used within Sikh tradition to denote respect for places of religious significance 19 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 20 21 History Edit The Golden Temple Amritsar c 1840 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 6 7 22 After Guru Ram Das succeeded Guru Amar Das in 1574 and in the face of hostile opposition from the sons of Guru Amar Das 23 Guru 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 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 22 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 24 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 25 Guru Arjan installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new gurdwara in 1604 24 Continuing the efforts of Guru 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 26 27 Construction Edit Maharaja Ranjit Singh listening to Guru Granth Sahib being recited near the Akal Takht and Golden Temple Amritsar Punjab India 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 Guru Ram Das 22 28 In 1581 Guru Arjan initiated the construction of the Gurdwara 1 During the construction the pool was kept empty and dry It took 8 years to complete the first 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 1 He also demanded that the gurdwara compound be open on all sides to emphasize that it was open to all The sanctum inside the pool where his Guru seat was had only one bridge to emphasize that the end goal was one states Arvind Pal Singh Mandair 1 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 1 This belief is however unsubstantiated 29 30 According to Sikh traditional sources such as Sri Gur Suraj Parkash Granth it was laid by Guru Arjan himself 31 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 32 Ath Sath Tirath which means shrine of 68 pilgrimages is a raised canopy on the parkarma circumambulation marble path around the pool 3 8 33 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 34 35 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 1 The Golden Temple at twilight Mughal Empire era destruction and rebuilding Edit 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 36 37 He refused was tortured and executed in 1606 CE 36 37 38 Guru Arjan s son and successor Guru Hargobind left Amritsar and moved into the Shivalik Hills to avoid persecution and to save the Sikh panth 39 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 39 In the 18th century Guru Gobind Singh and his newly founded Khalsa Sikhs came back and fought to liberate it 39 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 9 The Golden Temple was the centre of historic events in Sikh history 40 10 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 again In 1762 Ahmad Shah Durrani returned and had the Golden Temple blown up with gunpowder Sikhs returned and celebrated Diwali in its premises In 1764 Baba 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 Ravi River for the pool Ranjit Singh era reconstruction Edit 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 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 41 The Temple was renovated in marble and copper in 1809 and in 1830 Ranjit Singh donated gold to overlay the sanctum with gold leaf 10 After learning of the Gurdwara through Maharaja Ranjit Singh 42 the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan started giving yearly grants towards it 43 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 hereditary 3 Destruction and reconstruction after Indian independence Edit See also Operation Blue Star Interior of Darbar Sahib with gold encrusted walls and featuring a golden chandelier The destruction of the temple occurred during the Operation Blue Star It was 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 44 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 45 46 The government claimed Bhindranwale later made the sacred temple complex an armoury and headquarters 47 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 48 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 Punjab 49 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 were 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 army were 83 dead and 249 injured 50 According to the official estimates 1 592 militants were apprehended and there were 493 combined militant and civilian casualties 51 According to the government claims high civilian casualties were attributed to militants using pilgrims trapped inside the temple as human shields 52 Brahma Chellaney the Associated Press s South Asia correspondent was the only foreign reporter who managed to stay on in Amritsar despite the media blackout 53 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 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 54 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 55 In reaction to the dispatch the Indian government charged Chellaney with violating Punjab press censorship two counts of fanning sectarian hatred and trouble and later with sedition 56 calling his report baseless and disputing his casualty figures 57 The military action in the temple complex was criticized by Sikhs worldwide who interpreted it as an assault on the Sikh religion 58 Many Sikh soldiers in the army deserted their units 59 several Sikhs resigned from 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 46 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 riots 60 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 61 Description Edit The Golden temple complex map Architecture Edit 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 3 62 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 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 63 Bathing in the pool is believed by many Sikhs to have restorative powers purifying one s karma 64 Some carry bottles of the pool water home particularly for sick friends and relatives 65 The pool is maintained by volunteers who perform kar seva community service by draining and desilting it periodically 64 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 bedroom inside Akal Takht with elaborate ceremonies in a palki for sukhasana and Prakash 34 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 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 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 3 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 3 66 Side view of the causeway leading from the Darshani Deorhi right to the sanctum left The Darshani Deorhi is a two storey structure that houses the temple management offices and treasury At 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 3 67 page needed They also have free service of wheelchair Anyone can take wheelchair and roam around the temple Worshipper can take wheelchair from starting entrance and they have a special lift to physically challenged people citation needed Akal Takht and Teja Singh Samundri Hall Edit Main article Akal Takht 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 far from his own location A building was later constructed over the Takht 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 68 69 It is also the headquarters of the main political party of the Indian state of Punjab Shiromani Akali Dal Supreme Akali Party 5 The Akal Takht issues edicts or writs hukam 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 oversees the operations of major Sikh temples 5 70 Ramgarhia Bunga and Clock Tower Edit Main article Ramgarhia Bunga Left Ramgarhia Bunga watchtowers 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 71 on extreme right side The Ramgarhia Bunga the two high towers visible from the parikrama circumambulation walkway around the tank 72 is named after a Sikh subgroup The red sandstone minaret style Bunga buega 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 Jassa Singh Ramgarhia It was constructed as the temple watchtowers for sentinels to watch for any military raid approaching the temple and the surrounding area help rapidly gather a defense 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 73 These served defensive purposes provided accommodation for Sikh pilgrims and served as centres of learning in the 19th century 73 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 contribution to defending the Golden Temple over the centuries 74 The Clock Tower did not exist in 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 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 71 75 Ber trees Edit The historic Dukh Bhanjani Ber tree 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 deori 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 34 35 A second tree is called Laachi Ber believed to the one under which Guru Arjan rested while the temple was being built 35 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 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 epithet of suffering remover 18 76 There is a small Gurdwara underneath the tree 35 The Ath Sath Tirath or the spot equivalent to 68 pilgrimages is in the shade underneath the Dukh Bhanjani Ber tree Sikh devotees states Charles Townsend believe that bathing in the pool near this spot delivers the same fruits as a visit to 68 pilgrimage places in India 35 Sikh history museums Edit The main ghanta ghari deori north entrance has a Sikh history museum on the first floor according to the Sikh tradition 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 chakkars 77 A new underground museum near the clock tower but outside the temple courtyard also shows Sikh history 78 79 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 trend in Sikhism of presenting their history to be one of persecution martyrdoms and bravery in wars 80 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 81 Guru Ram Das Langar Edit 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 eat 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 35 Daily ceremonies Edit 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 everyday 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 82 83 Closing rite called sukhasan sukh means comfort or rest asan means position At night after a series of devotional kirtans and three part ardas 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 bedroom is in the Akal Takht on the first floor Once it arrives there the scripture is tucked into a bed 82 83 Opening rite called prakash which means light About dawn everyday 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 ritual singing of a series of Var Asa kirtans and ardas a random page is opened This is the mukhwak of the day it is read out loud and then written out for the pilgrims to read over that day 82 83 Influence on contemporary era Sikhism EditSingh Sabha movement Edit Main article 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 84 85 The movement was triggered by the conversion of Ranjit Singh s son Duleep Singh and other well known people to Christianity Started in 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 84 86 87 There were three main groups with different viewpoints and approaches of which the Tat Khalsa group had become dominant by the early 1880s 88 89 Before 1905 the Golden Temple had Brahmin priests idols and images for at least a century attracting pious Sikhs and Hindus 90 In 1890s these idols and practices came under attack from reformist Sikhs 90 In 1905 with the campaign of the Tat Khalsa these idols and images were removed from the Golden Temple 91 92 The Singh Sabha movement brought the Khalsa back to the fore of Gurdwara administration 93 over the mahants priests class 94 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 95 and had been most prominent during the 19th century 95 Jallianwala Bagh massacre Edit Main article 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 96 The massacre strengthened the opposition to colonial rule throughout India particularly that from Sikhs It triggered massive non violent protests The protests 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 97 Punjabi Suba movement Edit Main article 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 98 It was first presented as a policy position in April 1948 by the Shiromani Akali Dal 99 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 100 The Golden Temple complex was the main centre of operations of the movement 101 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 103 The borders of the modern 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 104 Operation Blue Star Edit Main article Operation Blue Star The Golden Temple and Akal Takht were occupied by various militant groups in 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 105 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 106 The Bhindranwale led group under the military leadership of General Shabeg Singh had begun to build bunkers and observations posts in and around the Golden Temple 107 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 105 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 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 108 In June 1984 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to begin Operation Blue Star against the militants 105 The operation caused severe 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 109 Within days of the Operation Bluestar some 2 000 Sikh soldiers in India mutinied and attempted to reach Amritsar to liberate the Golden Temple 105 Within six months on 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 110 List of granthi EditThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed January 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Granthi is a person female or male of the Sikh religion who is a ceremonial reader of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib which is the Holy Book in Sikhism Here is list of granthi Baba Budha Bidhi Chand Mani Singh Gopal Das Udasi Chanchal Singh Atma Singh Sham Singh Jass Singh Jawahar Singh Harnam Singh Fateh Singh Kartar Singh kalaswalia Mool Singh Bhulinder Singh Chet Singh Makhan Singh Labh Sinhh TakurSingh Achhru Singh Arjan Singh Kapoor Singh Niranjan Singh Mani Singh Kirpal Singh Sahib Singh Pritam Singh MohanSingh Pooran Singh Ravail Singh Sukhjinder Singh Jaswinder Singh Maan Singh Jagtar Singh Jagtar Singh Ludhiana Gurminder Singh Balwinder Singh Amarjit Singh Baljit Singh Rajdeep Singh Sultan SinghCommemorative Postal Stamps EditCommemorative stamps released by India Post by year 1935 1949 1987See also Edit Punjab portalGolden Temple Vellore Amritsar Jamnagar Expressway Amritsar Ring Road Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib Hazur Sahib Nanded List of Gurudwaras Takht Sri Patna SahibReferences EditCitations Edit a b c d e f g Arvind Pal Singh Mandair 2013 pp 41 42 McLeod W H 11 June 2014 Historical Dictionary of Sikhism Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers p 146 ISBN 9781442236011 The latter name was attached to it after Maharaja Ranjit Singh gilded the upper two stories and it became known as the Suvaran Mandir or the Golden Temple a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Kerr Ian J 2011 Harimandar In Harbans Singh ed Encyclopaedia of Sikhism Punjabi University Patiala pp 239 248 Retrieved 1 July 2018 Eleanor Nesbitt 2016 pp 64 65 150 a b c d e f g h Harmandir Sahib Encyclopedia Britannica 2014 a b Louis E Fenech amp W H McLeod 2014 p 33 a b Pardeep Singh Arshi 1989 pp 5 7 a b W Owen Cole 2004 p 7 a b M L Runion 2017 The History of Afghanistan 2nd Edition Greenwood pp 69 71 ISBN 978 0 313 33798 7 Quote Ahmad Durrani was forced to return to India and he declared a jihad known as an Islamic holy war against the Marathas A multitude of tribes heralded the call of the holy war which included the various Pashtun tribes the Balochs the Tajiks and also the Muslim population residing in India Led by Ahmad Durrani the tribes joined the religious quest and returned to India The domination and control of the Afghan empire began to loosen in 1762 when Ahmad Shah Durrani crossed Afghanistan to subdue the Sikhs followers of an indigenous monotheistic religion of India found in the 16th century by Guru Nanak Ahmad Shah greatly desired to subdue the Sikhs and his army attacked and gained control of the Sikh s holy city of Amritsar where he brutally massacred thousands of Sikh followers Not only did he viciously demolish the sacred temples and buildings but he ordered these holy places to be covered with cow s blood as an insult and desecration of their religion a b c Trudy Ring Noelle Watson amp Paul Schellinger 2012 pp 28 29 Eleanor Nesbitt 2016 pp 64 65 Jean Marie Lafont 2002 Maharaja Ranjit Singh Lord of the Five Rivers Oxford University Press pp 95 96 ISBN 978 0 19 566111 8 Fenech Louis E 2014 The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies OUP Oxford pp 30 31 ISBN 978 0 19 969930 8 But this strategy backfired in the spring of 1984 when a group of armed radicals led by Bhindranwale decided to provoke a confrontation with the government by occupying Akal Takhat building inside the Golden Temple complex Nature and importance of Harmandir Sahib Pilgrimage GCSE Religious Studies Revision BBC Retrieved 17 March 2022 Soon Golden Temple to use phone jammers The Times of India 19 July 2012 Archived from the original on 26 January 2013 Sri Harimandir Sahib Amritsar Punjab UNESCO Asher Catherine Blanshard 24 September 1992 Architecture of Mughal India Cambridge University Press p 316 ISBN 978 0 521 26728 1 Situated in the middle of an enormous tank connected to land via a long causeway the shrine is known as Harimandir a b Louis E Fenech amp W H McLeod 2014 p 146 McLeod W H 2014 Historical Dictionary of Sikhism Rowman amp Littlefield p 269 ISBN 9781442236011 Henry Walker 2002 pp 95 98 H S Singha 2000 The Encyclopedia of Sikhism over 1000 Entries Hemkunt Press p 97 ISBN 978 81 7010 301 1 a b c G S Mansukhani Encyclopaedia of Sikhism Punjab University Patiala Retrieved 19 January 2017 Arvind Pal Singh Mandair 2013 pp 38 40 a b Christopher Shackle amp Arvind Mandair 2013 pp xv xvi W H McLeod 1990 pp 28 29 Mahindara Siṅgha Joshi 1994 Guru Arjan Dev Sahitya Akademi pp 6 8 ISBN 978 81 7201 769 9 Arvind Pal Singh Mandair 2013 pp 42 43 Louis E Fenech amp W H McLeod 2014 p 67 Louis E Fenech amp W H McLeod 2014 p 205 Rishi Singh 2015 State Formation and the Establishment of Non Muslim Hegemony Post Mughal 19th century Punjab ISBN 978 9351505044 It is however possible that Mian Mir who had close links to Guru Arjan was invited and present at the time of the laying of the foundation stone even if he did not lay the foundation stone himself Rishi Singh 2015 State Formation and the Establishment of Non Muslim Hegemony Post Mughal 19th century Punjab ISBN 978 9351505044 Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh 2011 pp 34 35 Madanjit Kaur 1983 The Golden Temple Past and Present Amritsar Dept of Guru Nanak Studies Guru Nanak Dev University Press p 174 OCLC 18867609 a b c W Owen Cole 2004 pp 6 9 a b c d e f Pashaura Singh amp Louis E Fenech 2014 pp 435 436 a b Pashaura Singh 2005 Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan PDF Journal of Punjab Studies 12 1 29 62 Archived from the original PDF on 3 March 2016 a b W H McLeod 2009 Arjan s Death The A to Z of Sikhism Scarecrow Press p 20 ISBN 978 0810863446 The Mughal rulers of Punjab were evidently concerned with the growth of the Panth and in 1605 the Emperor Jahangir made an entry in his memoirs the Tuzuk i Jahaṅgiri concerning Guru Arjan s support for his rebellious son Khusrau Mirza Too many people he wrote were being persuaded by his teachings and if the Guru would not become a Muslim the Panth had to be extinguished Jahangir believed that Guru Arjan was a Hindu who pretended to be a saint and that he had been thinking of forcing Guru Arjan to convert to Islam or his false trade should be eliminated for a long time Mughal authorities seem to have been responsible for Arjan s death in custody in Lahore and this may be accepted as an established fact Whether the death was by execution the result of torture or drowning in the Ravi River remains unresolved For Sikhs Guru Arjan Dev is the first martyr Guru Louis E Fenech Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition Oxford University Press pp 118 121 a b c Louis E Fenech amp W H McLeod 2014 pp 146 147 Pardeep Singh Arshi 1989 pp 22 25 Patwant Singh 2008 Empire of the Sikhs The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Peter Owen pp 18 177 ISBN 978 0 7206 1323 0 Maharaja Ranjit Singh s contributions to Harimandir Sahib Archived from the original on 17 April 2015 Retrieved 25 February 2019 Pandharipande Reeti Nadimpally Lasya 5 August 2017 A Brief History of The Nizams of Hyderabad Outlook Traveller Retrieved 7 March 2021 Swami Praveen 16 January 2014 RAW chief consulted MI6 in build up to Operation Bluestar The Hindu Chennai India Archived from the original on 18 January 2014 Retrieved 31 January 2014 Khushwant Singh A History of the Sikhs Volume II 1839 2004 New Delhi Oxford University Press 2004 p 332 a b Operation Blue Star India s first tryst with militant extremism DNA 5 November 2016 Archived from the original on 3 November 2017 Retrieved 29 October 2017 Sikh Leader in Punjab Accord Assassinated LA Times Times Wire Services 21 August 1985 Archived from the original on 29 January 2016 Retrieved 14 June 2018 The Punjab violence reached a peak in June 1984 when the army attacked the Golden Temple in Amritsar the holiest Sikh shrine killing hundreds of Sikh militants who lived in the temple complex and who the government said had turned it into an armory for Sikh terrorism Wolpert Stanley A ed 2009 India Encyclopaedia Britannica Kiessling Hein 2016 Faith Unity Discipline The Inter Service Intelligence ISI of Pakistan Oxford University Press ISBN 978 1849048637 Varinder Walia 20 March 2007 Army reveals startling facts on Bluestar Tribune India Retrieved 9 August 2009 White Paper on the Punjab Agitation Shiromani Akali Dal and Government of India 1984 p 169 Kiss Peter A 2014 Winning Wars amongst the People Case Studies in Asymmetric Conflict Illustrated ed Potomac Books p 100 ISBN 978 1612347004 Hamlyn Michael 12 June 1984 Amritsar witness puts death toll at 1000 The Times p 7 Eric Silver 7 June 1984 Golden Temple Sikhs Surrender The Guardian Retrieved 8 March 2021 Chellaney Brahma 14 June 1984 Sikhs in Amritsar tied up and shot The Times India is set to drop prosecution of AP reporter in Punjab Case The New York Times Associated Press 14 September 1985 p 5 Archived from the original on 2 January 2011 Retrieved 14 January 2009 Indian Police Question Reporter on Amritsar The New York Times Associated Press 24 November 1984 Archived from the original on 3 January 2011 Retrieved 14 January 2009 Westerlund David 1996 Questioning The Secular State The Worldwide Resurgence of Religion in Politics C Hurst amp Co p 1276 ISBN 978 1 85065 241 0 Sandhu Kanwar 15 May 1990 Sikh Army deserters are paying the price for their action India Today Archived from the original on 19 June 2018 Retrieved 19 June 2018 Singh Pritam 2008 Federalism Nationalism and Development India and the Punjab Economy Routledge p 45 ISBN 978 0 415 45666 1 Rana Yudhvir 19 December 2021 Amritsar Youth disrupts religious service in Golden Temple Times of India Retrieved 19 December 2021 Eleanor Nesbitt 2016 pp 64 65 Quote The Golden Temple By 1776 the present structure a harmonious blending of Mughal and Rajput Islamic and Hindu architectural styles was complete Pardeep Singh Arshi 1989 pp 97 116 a b Gene R Thursby 1992 The Sikhs Brill pp 14 15 ISBN 90 04 09554 3 Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh 2004 Sikhism Infobase Publishing pp 100 101 ISBN 978 1 4381 1779 9 Pardeep Singh Arshi 1989 pp 68 73 Fahlbusch Erwin Geoffrey William Bromiley 1999 The encyclopedia of Christianity Reprint ed Leiden Brill ISBN 978 90 04 14596 2 Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh 2011 p 80 Pashaura Singh Norman Gerald Barrier W H McLeod 2004 Sikhism and History Oxford University Press pp 201 215 ISBN 978 0 19 566708 0 W Owen Cole 2004 p 10 a b Ian Talbot 2016 A History of Modern South Asia Politics States Diasporas Yale University Press pp 80 81 with Figure 8 ISBN 978 0 300 19694 8 Pashaura Singh amp Louis E Fenech 2014 p 435 a b Louis E Fenech amp W H McLeod 2014 pp 74 75 Pashaura Singh Norman Gerald Barrier 1999 Sikh Identity Continuity and Change Manohar p 264 ISBN 978 81 7304 236 2 Shikha Jain 2015 Yamini Narayanan ed Religion and Urbanism Reconceptualising Sustainable Cities for South Asia Routledge pp 76 77 ISBN 978 1 317 75542 5 H S Singha 2000 The Encyclopedia of Sikhism over 1000 Entries Hemkunt Press p 64 ISBN 978 81 7010 301 1 Bruce M Sullivan 2015 Sacred Objects in Secular Spaces Exhibiting Asian Religions in Museums Bloomsbury Publishing pp 76 78 ISBN 978 1 4725 9083 1 Golden Temple s hi tech basement showcases Sikh history ethos opens for pilgrims Hindustan Times 22 December 2016 Retrieved 23 December 2019 G S Paul 22 December 2016 Golden Temple s story comes alive at its plaza Tribune India Retrieved 23 December 2019 Louis E Fenech 2000 Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition Playing the game of Love Oxford University Press pp 44 45 57 61 114 115 157 with notes ISBN 978 0 19 564947 5 K Singh 1984 The Sikh Review Volume 32 Issues 361 372 Sikh Cultural Centre p 114 a b c Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh 2011 pp 81 82 a b c Kristina Myrvold 2016 The Death of Sacred Texts Ritual Disposal and Renovation of Texts in World Religions Routledge pp 125 144 ISBN 978 1 317 03640 1 a b Barrier N Gerald Singh Nazer 1998 Singh Harbans ed Singh Sabha Movement 4th ed Patiala Punjab India Punjab University Patiala 2002 pp 205 212 ISBN 9788173803499 Retrieved 3 December 2019 Singh Sabha Sikhism Encyclopaedia Britannica 2010 Arvind Pal Singh Mandair 2013 pp 85 86 Louis E Fenech amp W H McLeod 2014 pp 273 274 Pashaura Singh amp Louis E Fenech 2014 pp 28 29 73 76 Harjot Oberoi 1994 The Construction of Religious Boundaries Culture Identity and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition University of Chicago Press pp 382 383 ISBN 978 0 226 61593 6 a b Kenneth W Jones 1976 Arya Dharm Hindu Consciousness in 19th century Punjab University of California Press pp 211 212 ISBN 978 0 520 02920 0 Quote Brahmin priests and their idols had been associated with the Golden Temple for at least a century and had over these years received the patronage of pious Hindus and Sikhs In the 1890s these practices came under increasing attack by reformist Sikhs W H McLeod 2009 Idol Worship The A to Z of Sikhism Scarecrow Press p 97 ISBN 978 0 8108 6344 6 Harjot Oberoi 1994 The Construction of Religious Boundaries Culture Identity and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition University of Chicago Press pp 320 327 ISBN 978 0 226 61593 6 Pashaura Singh amp Louis E Fenech 2014 pp 542 543 Deol Harnik 2003 Religion and Nationalism in India The Case of the Punjab Routledge pp 75 78 ISBN 9781134635351 a b Mandair Arvind Pal Singh 2013 Sikhism A Guide for the Perplexed illustrated ed London England A amp C Black p 83 ISBN 9781441102317 Retrieved 1 May 2019 Kristen Haar Sewa Singh Kalsi 2009 Sikhism Infobase Publishing p 112 ISBN 978 1 4381 0647 2 Pashaura Singh amp Louis E Fenech 2014 pp 433 434 Doad 1997 p 391 Bal 1985 p 419 Doad 1997 p 392 a b Doad 1997 p 397 Bal 1985 p 426 Doad 1997 p 398 Doad 1997 p 404 a b c d Jugdep S Chima 2008 The Sikh Separatist Insurgency in India Political Leadership and Ethnonationalist Movements Sage Publications pp 85 95 ISBN 978 81 321 0538 1 Khushwant Singh A History of the Sikhs Volume II 1839 2004 New Delhi Oxford University Press 2004 p 337 Tully Mark 3 June 2014 Wounds heal but another time bomb ticks away Gunfire Over the Golden Temple The Times of India Retrieved 15 June 2018 Brian Keith Axel 2001 The Nation s Tortured Body Violence Representation and the Formation of a Sikh Diaspora Duke University Press pp 96 107 ISBN 0 8223 2615 9 What happened during 1984 Operation Blue Star India Today 6 June 2018 Retrieved 13 December 2020 Know facts about Harmandir Sahib The Golden Temple India TV 22 June 2014 General bibliography Edit Pardeep Singh Arshi 1989 The Golden Temple history art and architecture Harman ISBN 978 81 85151 25 0 Bal Sarjit Singh 1985 Punjab After Independence 1947 1956 Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 46 416 430 JSTOR 44141382 W Owen Cole 2004 Understanding Sikhism Dunedin Academic Press ISBN 978 1 906716 91 2 Doad Karnail Singh 1997 Punjabi Suba Movement In Siṅgh Harbans ed Encyclopaedia of Sikhism 3rd ed Patiala Punjab India Punjab University Patiala published 2011 pp 391 404 ISBN 9788173803499 Retrieved 24 February 2020 Louis E Fenech W H McLeod 2014 Historical Dictionary of Sikhism Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers ISBN 978 1 4422 3601 1 W H McLeod 1990 Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism University of Chicago Press ISBN 978 0 226 56085 4 Eleanor Nesbitt 2016 Sikhism A Very Short Introduction Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 874557 0 Trudy Ring Noelle Watson Paul Schellinger 2012 Asia and Oceania International Dictionary of Historic Places Routledge ISBN 978 1 136 63979 1 Christopher Shackle Arvind Mandair 2013 Teachings of the Sikh Gurus Selections from the Sikh Scriptures Routledge ISBN 978 1 136 45101 0 Pashaura Singh Louis E Fenech 2014 The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 100411 7 Arvind Pal Singh Mandair 2013 Sikhism A Guide for the Perplexed Bloomsbury Academic ISBN 978 1 4411 0231 7 Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh 2011 Sikhism An Introduction I B Tauris ISBN 978 0 85771 962 1 Henry Walker 2002 Kerry Brown ed Sikh Art and Literature Routledge ISBN 978 1 134 63136 0 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harmandir Sahib Wikiquote has quotations related to Golden Temple SGPC Live Kirtan Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee official website World Gurudwaras 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