The Golden Temple

"Harimandir Sahib, popularly known as the Golden Temple, is the most important Sikh shrine and has emerged as the spiritual capital of the Sikh faith. Because of its unique role in Sikh history and psyche, it has become the symbol of the Sikh community’s undying faith and religious fervour.

The temple was designed by Guru Arjan Dev who chose to provide four doors, one in each direction, signifying its accessibility to people from all the four directions, irrespective of their caste or creed. The guru invited a well known Sufi Saint, Mian Mir of Lahore, to lay the foundation of the Golden Temple. The construction of the sacred tank and the temple was done through voluntary labour and cash contributions of devotees from far and near.

When Ranjit Singh became the Maharaja of Panjab, he commissioned well known artisans and craftsmen who decorated the temple with stone inlay work as well as beautiful floral patterns and covered the temple with gold-plated copper sheets. From then on it came to be known as the Golden Temple. This perhaps is the only temple in the world which was designed by the founder in such a way where the sanctum sanctorum floats like a lotus in the sacred tank.

Through pictures and stories the book tries to capture the glory and grandeur of the Golden Temple and the central role that the shrine plays in the life of the Sikhs all over the world."