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Things To Know About Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab, India
The Darbar Sahib, is a Gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the prominent pilgrimage site of Sikhism. It is usually called the Golden Temple in English, because it is plated with gold. The Gurdwara sahib is built around a man-made pool that was completed by Guru Ram Das in 1577.
The Gurdwara is spiritually the most significant shrine in the Sikh Religion. It is also a symbol of human brotherhood and equality. The Harmandir Sahib is an open boat of worship for all men and women, from all walks of life and faith. It has a square plan wth four entrances and has a circumambulation path around the pool.
The temple is a collection of buildings around the sanctum and the pool. The Gurdwara complex has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of these is Akal Takht, the chief center of religious authority of Sikhism. The spiritual focus is the tank, the Amrit Sarovar, which surrounds the glistening central shrine.
Guru Arjan Sahib, the Fifth Nanak, conceived the idea of creating a central place of worship for the Sikhs and he himself designed the architecture of Sri Harmandir Sahib. The Gurdwara was repeatedly rebuilt by the Sikhs after it was destroyed several times by Afghanis and the Mughal Empire. Maharaja Ranjit Singh rebuilt it in Marble and Gold.
In 1604, Guru Arjan placed a copy of the Adi Granth in Harmandir Sahib, calling the site Ath Sath Tirath. It is also called the Darbar Sahib, which means "sacred audience", as well as the Golden Temple for its gold foil-covered sanctum center.
The sanctum is a 12.25 x 12.25 m square with two-storeys and a gold foil dome. This sanctum has a marble platform of size 19.7 x 19.7 m square. It sits inside an almost square pool called amrit sarovar (Amrit means nectar & sarovar means lake). The pool is 5.1 m deep and is surrounded by a 3.7 m wide circumambulatory marble passage that is circled clockwise.