THE GOLDEN TEMPLE

THE HARIMANDIR SAHIB ::

Sri Harimandir Sahib , (now called the Golden Temple Amritsar), is a living symbol of spiritual and historical traditions of the Sikhs. The Holy tank and the temple have been a source of inspiration to the Sikh community ever since their foundation. The foundation of Sri Harimandir Sahib is the most significant achievement of the Sikh Gurus as a centre of inspiration and action for the Sikhs. Soon after its foundation the temple became an unparalleled establishment as a place of pilgrimage. The origin of the place where Sri Harimandir Sahib stands is shrouded in mystery. Some traditions trace its origin from the pre-historic period as a place of considerable religious importance in the form of an Amrit Kund (Spring of Nectar).
Legends and miracles are connected with the origin of the Amrit Sarowar (Tank of Nectar). Sri Guru Amar Das Jee found at the edge of the pool the desired herb to cure the skin ailment of Guru Angad (the second Guru of the Sikhs). However, the persistent local tradition best highlighting the medicinal properties of the water of the pond is the story of Rajni, daughter of Rai Duni Chand, a Kardar (revenue collector) of Patti, and the subsequent cure of her leprous husband after taking a dip into the pond.
The tank was named Amar Sarowar or Amritsar. The fame of the sacred tank led to its identity with the latter appellation and the city got its final name 'Amritsar'.
Sri Harimandir Sahib got the name of Golden Temple when its upper part sheathed in richly embossed and highly gilded sheets was covered with gold all around it during the period of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Maharaja Ranjit Singh granted rupees 5 lakhs for placing golden plates on Sri Harimandir Sahib in I803. It is evident from the inscription on the gold plate engraved over the entrance gate on the north-eastern side of the central shrine that the gold service of the temple was got done by Maharaja Ranjit Singh through the supervision of Bhai Sant Singh Giani in 1830. Bhai Sant Singh Giani appointed Mohammad Yar Khan Mistri as technical expert for the task of gold-plating. The greater part of the architectural structure of the present building of Sri Harimandir Sahib was constructed and decorated in the nineteenth century. The architecture of the Golden Temple represents the highest achievement of the Sikhs in art and architecture. The allied arts of decoration, naqashi and frescoes inside the temple display the skilled craftsmanship of the Indian artists of the nineteenth century. No building in the world can vie with the Golden Temple where nature and art have been treated in such a harmonious blending so beautifully.
The Golden Temple (also called Sri Darbar Sahib) is not only a place of worship but a rallying centre of the Sikh community. Sri Harmandir Sahib is the heritage of the Sikh people gathered in their five hundred years old history. Legends and miracles are connected with the holy tank while great martyrdoms and triumphs are associated with various spots of the temple precincts. The temple had been a symbol of the Sikh struggle for independence in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries all important Sikh movements have been led from the precincts of Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple).