Golden Temple

The Harmandir Sahib, now called the Golden Temple, is a living symbol of the spiritual and historical traditions of the Sikhs. Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru of Sikhism, who came to the spiritual throne in 1581, felt from the growing popularity of the shrine as a pilgrim center, the need to have the tank paved on the four sides and the steps of Harmandir Sahib bricked for the many simple hearts coming, with dipped eyes over joined hands, to pray and touch the holy water on their foreheads.

The Sikh Gurus encouraged all, irrespective of caste and creed, to come to reside in Amritsar. The Golden Temple is an example of the form in which Hindu temple architecture assumed in the nineteenth century. Its lower parts are of white marble, but the upper parts are covered with plates of gilded copper. Inside the temple, on the ground floor, is the Guru Granth Sahib, placed under a gorgeous canopy, studded with jewels.

Located in the Golden Temple is the Akal Takht, one of the five seats of temporal religious authority of the Sikhs.  The Akal Takht is of a unique and noble structure spread out somewhat like an outer court of the piazza Saint Marco in Venice. for view the more pictures click here.