Golden temple, Amritsar

Amritsar is located at a distance of about 180 km from Ambala in the Amritsar District of the state of Punjab. It is a state bordering India and Pakistan. Apart from the Sikhs, the Golden Temple in Amritsar is one of the proudest structures of every Indian. Amritsar is a great holy shrine for the Sikhs. Ram Das, the fourth Sikh teacher, built a lake and a temple on it to promote the Sikh religion. The temple was further refurbished by Arjuna Guru, the fifth religious leader after him. The temple has gates on all four sides and houses the Sikh scripture Sahab. Swarnamandira Temple is located in the middle of the lake. There is a 38 feet wide paved path around the lake. This is called the programmed route. There are several large halls for sandals at all entrances. The service is completely free. Apart from the employees appointed by the temple committee, a large number of devotees also come and serve for free for a while. Women are required to cover their heads with a cloth before entering the temple premises, i.e. from the outside, on the programmed route. Men should also cover their heads with a cloth or at least a pocket necklace. One of the buildings around the lake is called the Langer Building. I.e. dining room. This includes free meals for everyone who visits the temple, at any time. To enter the temple in the middle of the lake, there is a 20-foot-wide bridge-like path from the shore of the lake. To get to this path, there is an arch-like entrance on the shore. It is also known as Darshan Darwaza. The entire front of the Darshan Darwaza, the walls of the corridor inside, the entire roof, are plated with gold-plated foil and are nicely engraved on it. The doors of the temple are festooned with fine ivory carvings. From near the gate, to the temple, a very beautiful roof like a shamiana was built on the path.

In the center of the lake was a platform about 67 feet square, with a temple built in the middle of it. The temple has two floors. There is only one large hall on the ground floor. In the middle of that hall, there is one of the attractively decorated stages. On the golden throne above that platform is the holy book Saheb. Govindasingh, the last Guru, decided that this book was a teacher for the Sikhs. This scripture has a total of 1430 large size pages. It contains 5894 verses. To sing these verses, each verse has a definite melody. Next to the pedestal where the Granth Saheb is, those who sit on the stage and sing hymns are called ragi.

Scripture reading continues from the opening of the temple in the morning until the closing of the temple at night. Directly opposite the Darshan Darwaza on the banks of the temple, there is a 6-story high building about 20 meters away. On top of this is a hemispherical dome-like peak plated with gold-plated foil. This building is called Akal Takht. The Granth Saheb is preserved in this Akal Takht concept every night. Every morning, the Granth Sahib from Akal Takht is placed on a palanquin, carried on his shoulders, and brought to the temple. Back, at 10 pm, Grantha Saheb is placed on a palanquin and taken to Akal Takht. The book is occasionally carried in procession through the village. Their profound belief is that the waters of the Golden Temple Lake will make the Sikhs without reincarnation and wash away all their sins. Guru Gobind Singh defeated the Sikhs as valiant soldiers. He asked all the Sikhs to leave the family name and add Singh at the end of the men's name and Kaur at the end of the women's name. About 700 kg of gold was used in the construction of the temple. Apart from Sikhs, other religions also visit this temple.