When God’s Footprints are etched in Gold – The Golden Temple

Posted On September 21, 2011

If you ever want to be touched by God and feel passionate about your devotion to Him then just pause in the land of five rivers – Punjab. This is where is located the Golden Temple of Amritsar in this part of India. This main pilgrim spot of the Sikhs in general and everyone in particular is the place that was started by the fourth leader of the Sikhs Guru Ram Das. When Guru Arjan Dev completed the holy book of the Sikhs The Adi Granth in the year 1604, he installed it in the Gurudwara started by Guru Ram Das. In the year 1634, Guru Hargobind went to the hills of the Shivalik range from Amritsar. Then the Gurudwara came under the hands of other groups. In the 18th century, the Golden Temple or the Harmandir Sahib saw a lot of feuds between the Mughals and the Sikhs. Then it was Maharana Ranjit Singh who got it back from the Mughals and gave the name Golden Temple by filling the upper storey with gold.

Situated in Amritsar, this beautiful place is an epitome of beauty and grace. This place had a lake in the middle of the serene ambience. Many people in the past and many sages had meditated here and the place thus was religiously very significant. Then it was touched by the great leader Guru Nanak who founded the Religion of the Sikhs. When he passed away, the disciples of this great leader did not cease coming here. Today it is a major pilgrim spot for the Sikhs. Under the time of Guru Ram Das, the lake was widened and developed. Then it was during the time of Guru Arjan Dev that the temple was finally built.

The architecture of the temple deserves special mention as it has influences of both Muslim and Hindu art forms. The entire temple was decorated with the help of golden gilding, marble structures, and many valuable stones. There is a platform which is studded with jewels and on this is the holy book Adi Granth. With a lot of devotional prayers and poems and many religious hymns which was composed by all the leaders of the Sikh religion, the holy book is a lovely collection of all religious ideals of the erstwhile leaders of the Sikh religion.

The lilting music is from early morning to sunset. There are the sounds of other instruments like the drums, stringed instruments, flutes. The serene lake here is the main feature and the lovely melodious music renders the pilgrim completely in sync with the surroundings and they go into a complete trance. The lake is perennially filled with water from a spring under the ground and the pilgrims feel blessed to take a dip in the water and they feel that their soul is cleansed of all sufferings when they do so. There are dormitories available around the complex in the temple area and these cater to the needs of the devotee.