Harmandir Sahibਸ੍ਰੀ ਹਰਿਮੰਦਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ

History

The story of the Golden Temple begins with water. In 1577 Guru Ram Das Ji, the fourth Sikh Guru, had the Amrit Sarovar, the Pool of Nectar, excavated, and the town that grew around it became Amritsar. His successor, Guru Arjan Dev Ji, raised the temple itself from 1588 at the centre of the pool; tradition holds that the foundation stone was laid by Mian Mir, a Muslim Sufi saint of Lahore, a gesture of the universality the shrine was meant to embody.

In 1604 Guru Arjan Dev Ji installed the Adi Granth, the Sikh scripture, within the temple, with Baba Budha as its first granthi. The Guru built the sanctum lower than the surrounding ground, as an expression of humility, and gave it four doors, one on each side, so that people of every caste, creed and direction might enter. The temple was open to all, and it has remained so ever since.

The Golden Temple

Through the eighteenth century the shrine was destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly as the Sikhs faced Mughal and Afghan persecution, notably in 1762. After founding the Sikh Empire, Maharaja Ranjit Singh rebuilt it in marble and copper in 1809 and overlaid the sanctum with gold leaf in 1830, giving the world the Golden Temple. The lower storeys gleam with white marble inlaid in floral patterns, while the upper floors and dome shine with gold, and the Guru's Bridge, the long causeway across the sarovar, carries pilgrims to its doors. The gurdwara was damaged during Operation Blue Star in 1984 and was rebuilt afterwards, and it stands today restored to its full radiance.

Today

Harmandir Sahib is the holiest gurdwara in Sikhism and among the most visited religious sites on earth, drawing well over a hundred thousand pilgrims and visitors every day. Its langar, the free community kitchen, serves tens of thousands of meals daily to all who come, without distinction of religion or rank, in the Sikh spirit of equality.

The rhythm of the temple never stops: the day begins before dawn with the opening of the sanctum and the singing of Asa di Var, and ends late at night when the Guru Granth Sahib is carried in procession to the Akal Takht to rest. Pilgrims bathe in the Amrit Sarovar, believed to hold healing waters, and circle the marble causeway in quiet devotion. For Sikhs everywhere it is the beating heart of the faith: the abode of God, open to all humanity.