“The Golden Temple”

The Golden Temple is also known as Darbar Sahib/Harmandir Sahib meaning “abode of God”. This is the famous Gurdwara of Sikhism in the city Amritsar. The temple is surrounded by a man-made Sarovar(water lake) and was completed by Guru Ram Das.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh rebuilt it in marble, copper, and gold foil in 1809. Then it was named “the Golden Temple”.

The Darbar Sahib is an open house of worship for all men and women. The temple has four entrances and surrounded by a collection of buildings. One of these is “Akal Takht”, the chief center of the religious authority of Sikhism. Other buildings include a clock tower, the offices of the Gurdwara Committee, a Museum, and langar. Over 1,00,000 people visit the holy shrine daily for worship. This temple has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Golden temple had numerous trees around the pool but the preserve three Ber tree (jujube) which is called as BerBaba Buddha. It is believed that Baba Buddha sat to supervise the construction of the pool and the temple. A second tree is called Laachi Ber is where Guru Arjan rested while the temple was being built. The third tree is Dukh Bhanjani Ber, it is believed that this tree is the place where Sikhs were cured of their leprosy after taking the dip in the pool.

Sikh history museums are on the first floor of “Ghanta Ghar Deori” display the various paintings of gurus, martyrs, historical items like swords, Kartar, comb, chakkars.