Photos

After completing my Leh series, I have decided now to post pictures from around my hometown for a while. So in the next few posts, I'll be posting pictures from Amritsar Golden Temple and Dharamshala which is the official residence of H.H. Dalai Lama.

This pictures gives a view of world famous temple of "Harmandir Sahib" or popularly known as "Golden Temple" of Amritsar. It is the most holy shrine of Sikhs and other Indians who visit by millions. This temple known as Gurudwara is covered with pure Gold and looks amazing both in the day and night.

The Golden temple is considered holy by Sikhs because the 11th Guru of Sikhism, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, is present inside it. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib (The Holy Book) is the holiest thing in the Sikh religion, the tenth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh on 7th October 1708 made it the eleventh Sikh Guru and the leader of Sikhism. Anywhere in the world where the Guru Granth Sahib is present is equally holy and precious to Sikhs. Moreover, Sikhism does not have priests, they were abolished by Guru Gobind Singh (the 10th Guru of Sikhism) as he felt they had become full of ego and corrupt.The only position he left was a Granthi to look after the Guru Granth Sahib. Any Sikh is free to become Granthi or read from the Guru Granth Sahib.

Originally during 1574 AD, the site of the temple was surrounded by a small lake in a thin forest. The third of the six grand Mughals, emperor Akbar, who visited the third Sikh Guru, Guru Amar Das, at the neighbouring town of Goindval was so impressed by the way of life in the town that he gave a jagir (the land and the revenues of several villages in the vicinity) to the Guru's daughter Bhani as a gift on her marriage to Bhai Jetha, who later became the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das. Guru Ram Das enlarged the lake and built a small township around it. The town was named after Guru Ram Das as "Guru Ka Chak", "Chak Ram Das" or "Ram Das Pura".

During the leadership of the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev (1581-1606), the full-fledged Temple was built. In December 1588 the great Muslim Sufi saint of Lahore, Hazrat Mian Mir, who was a close friend of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, initiated the construction of the temple by laying the first foundation stone (December 1588 AD). A mason then straightened the stone but Guru Arjan Dev told him that, as he had undone the work just completed by the holy man, a disaster might come to the Harmandir Sahib. It was later attacked by the Mughals.

The temple was completed in 1604. Guru Arjan Dev, installed the Guru Granth Sahib in it and appointed Baba Buddha Ji as the first Granthi (Reader) of it on August 1604 AD. In the mid 18th century it was attacked by the Afghans, by one of Ahmed Shah Abdali's Generals, Jahan Khan, and had to be substantially rebuilt in the 1760s. However, in response a Sikh Army was sent to hunt down the Afghan force. They were under orders to show no mercy and historical evidence suggests none was shown. Both forces met each other 5 miles outside Amritsar; Jahan Khan's army was destroyed.He himself had his head decapitated by commander Sardar Dayal Singh.

Much of the present decorative gilding and marblework dates from the early 1800s. All the gold and exquisite marble work were conducted under the patronage of Hukam Singh Chimni and Emperor Ranjit Singh, Maharaja of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab. The Darshani Deorhi Arch stands at the beginning of the causeway to the Golden Temple; it is 202 feet (62 m) high and 21 feet (6 m) in width. The gold plating on the Golden Temple was begun by Emperor Ranjit Singh and was finished in 1830 AD. The Sher-e-Punjab (Lion of the Punjab), was a heavy donor of wealth and materials for the shrine and is remembered with much affection by the Punjabi people in general and the Sikh community in particular. Maharaja Ranjit Singh also built two of the other most sacred temples in Sikhism. This was due to Maharaja Ranjit Singh having a deep love for the tenth Guru of Sikhism Guru Gobind Singh. The other two most sacred temples in Sikhism, which he built, are Takht Sri Patna Sahib (intiation or birth place of Guru Gobind Singh) and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib the place of Guru Gobind Singh's Sikh ascension into heaven.

(Source Wikipedia)
WS gives another view of Golden Temple.