Golden Temple
Golden Temple is situated in the beautiful city of Amritsar, Punjab, India.
Golden Temple is popularly known as Sri Harmandir Sahib and Sri Darbar Sahib.
The Gurudwara is spread in huge area and Golden Temple is the part of this huge Gurudwara complex.
Amritsar is well-connected with rest of the world and other states of India by road, rail and air. It is almost 200 Kms away from Chandigarh which is around 4 hours by road and 449 Kms far from Delhi which is around 7-8 hours by road. The nearest airport is Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport. The airport is 13 Kms away from Sri Harmandir Sahib and it takes approx 30 minutes to reach Gurudwara.
The water or holy tank in Gurudwara complex was named Amrit Sarovar by Guru Ram Das Ji, the fourth Sikh Guru. The city name, Amritsar, is taken by Amrit Sarovar’s name. The Sarovar or water tank is said to have healing powers in it and pilgrims from all over the world come here to take a bath. The Golden Temple is surrounded by the Amrit Sarovar which was designed by Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Guru of Sikhs.
The construction of Sri Darbar Sahib was started by Guru Arjan Dev Ji in 1588 and completed in 1604.
After the completion of Sri Harmandir Sahib, Guru Granth Sahib Ji (the Holy book of Sikhs) was placed.
Golden Temple is the central religious place for Sikhs worship.
There are four entrances to reach into Gurudwara premises which signifies that pilgrims of any caste and creed are equal and can enter into Sri Darbar Sahib from any of the four directions.
The Golden Temple was built with a thought that women, men and children from any caste and religion can come here and worship. They would be given equal rights to worship here.
Like every other Gurudwara, Sri Harmandir Sahib offers free langar service. A study states that over one lakh of people visit Sri Harmandir Sahib everyday and Gurudwara kitchen can serve food up to three lakh people daily.
Golden Temple has the world’s largest kitchen which offers food to everyone, irrespective of their caste, colour and background. Also, the Gurudwara helps in serving food to needy people in times of disaster. The Gurudwara kitchen serve only vegetarian food to people. The free langar service was initiated by the first Guru of Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Out of respect to God, men and women must have to cover their head before entering Gurudwara premises. This is mandatory for everyone.
The center of tourists attraction is the temple surrounded by Amrit Sarovar which is made up of 750 kilograms (kg) of pure gold.
Guru Granth Sahib Ji is seated in the Golden Temple from 5am in winters & 4am in summers and returned to the Akal Takht in night at 9:30pm in winters & 10:30pm in summers.
The Akal Takht is one of the five seats (takhts) of Sikhs religion. It was built up by Guru Hargobind Singh Ji, the sixth Sikh Guru. The Akal Takht is the place of issues consideration and justice.
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