The Golden Temple or Darbar Sahib, situated in Amritsar, Punjab, is the most sacred temple for Sikhs. It is a symbol of the magnificence and strength of the Sikh people all over the world. In the evolution of the Darbar Sahib, is entwined the history and ideology of Sikhism. In its architecture are included, symbols associated with other places of worship. This is an example of the spirit of tolerance and acceptance that the Sikh philosophy propounds.

The Darbar Sahib is considered holy and beautiful by Sikhs because the eternal Guru of Sikhism, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, is present inside in it. It is moved to the Sri Akal Takhat Sahib at around 10 PM and then moved back from there to Sri Darbar Sahib at 5 AM. Its construction was mainly intended as a place of worship for men and women from all walks of life and all religions to come and worship God equally.Sri Harmandir Sahib, also known as Sri Darbar Sahib or Golden Temple, (on account of its scenic beauty and golden coating for English speaking world), is named after Hari(God) the temple of God. The Sikhs all over the world, daily wish to pay visit to Sri Amritsar and to pay obeisance at Sri Harmandir Sahib in their Ardas.

All Sikh people try to make a visit to the temple and take bath in the holy tank of the temple. The devotees believe that a bath in the tank will cleanse the soul. Hari Mandir, a two storied marble shrine in the middle of the tank was built by the 5th Guru Arjan Dev.

The great Sikh secular leader, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, donated 100 kgs of gold to the temple in 1830 and thus gold was applied to the copper sheets on the roof and the exterior of the building. The temple compound is entered through a Clock Tower. There is a Sikh museum on top of the clock tower comprising a gallery of paintings telling the story of the Sikhs and their martyrs. The tank is surrounded by an 8m wide white marble pavement, banded with black and brown Jaipur marble. The temple has a Dining Hall, Assembly Hall and Guesthouses. The main complex has numerous plaques commemorating Sikhs who became martyrs. There is a community kitchen which serve free meals to thousands of people everyday. Here, anyone from any religion can have food together. Volunteers from the temple help with the kitchen jobs and other works. The atmosphere in the golden temple is exceptionally peaceful and beautiful.

History:

Its name literally means House of God. The fourth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Ram Das, excavated a tank in 1577 which subsequently became known as Amritsar (meaning: Pool of the Nectar of Immortality),[3] giving its name to the city that grew around it. In due course, a splendid Sikh edifice, Darbar Sahib (Temple of God),[3] was constructed in the middle of this tank which became the supreme centre of Sikhism. Its sanctum came to house the Adi Granth comprising compositions, Sikh values, philosophies and teachings of the Sikh Gurus and other saints of Guru Nanak's time, e.g. Ravidas a Hindu Guru, Baba Farid a Sufi Sant (Saint) and Kabir, all of whom the Sikhs refer to as the Bhagats. The compilation of the Adi Granth was started by the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Arjun Dev.