Guru Nanak Jayanti is celebrated as a holy festival in Sikhism as Guru Nanak’s Prakash Utsav. On the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, or Gurpurab, we have listed out here some interesting facts about the Golden Temple based in Amritsar.
1) Golden Temple is the abode of God and thus, is also known as Harmandir Sahib or the Darbar Sahib.
2) Golden Temple is located in Amritsar in Punjab in India. It is the most important spiritual location of Sikhism.
3) The man-made pool on the location of the Golden Temple was finished by the fourth Sikh Guru called Guru Ram Das in 1577. A copy of the Adi Granth was placed in the temple in 1604 by Guru Arjan.
4) It is reported that the Mughals and Afghans had repeatedly destroyed the temple architecture, thus making the Sikhs rebuild the temple quite repeatedly.
5) The name of Golden Temple arrived when Maharaja Ranjit Singh rebuilt the temple with marble and copper in 1809 and also kept the sanctum with gold leaf in 1830. Maharaja Ranjit Singh is the founding member of the Sikh Empire.
6) The Gurudwara of the Golden Temple has been rebuilt again in 1984 after a conflict with the Indian government.
7) The Golden Temple is not just visited by Sikhism followers but by people of all religions from different walks of life.
8) The Golden Temple is recently considered to be a symbol that promotes equality and welcomes people from different faiths as a common holy place.
8) The Golden Temple is also popular for running langar, which is a free Sikh community-run kitchen offering vegetarian meals to all visitors without any discrimination. It is reported that lakhs of people visit the holy temple on a daily basis for worship and to get prasad. Visitors sit on the floor in rows, which is called pangat. The meal is then given by volunteers as part of their kar seva ethos.
9) Here is a list of places that people can visit near the Golden Temple:
Tourist Information Center in Golden Temple Amritsar
Ramgarhia Bunga
Historical Seat from Red Fort Delhi
Central Sikh Museum
Community Kitchen (Guru ka Langar)
Dukh Bhanjani Beri
Ath Sath TirathDiwan Hall Manji Sahib
Shaheed Bunga Baba Deep Singh Ji
Darshani Deori
Lachi Ber
Karah Prasad
Ber Baba Budha Ji
Miri Piri Nishan Sahib
Sikh Reference Library
Gurdwara Baba Atal Rai
Guru Granth Sahib Research Centre
Gurdwara Bibi Kaulan Ji
Teja Singh Samundri Hall
9) If you are in Amritsar and after your visit to the places near Golden Temple are looking for more tourist attractions, then you can visit these places:
Partition Museum Amritsar
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Museum Amritsar
Pul Kanjari Amritsar
Khalsa College Amritsar
Durgiana Temple Amritsar
Wagah Border Amritsar
Sarai Amanat Khan Amritsar
Sardar Sham Singh Attariwala
Gobindgarh Fort Amritsar
10) In order to mark the importance of the Golden Temple, India Post also released commemorative stamps in 1935, 1949, and 1987.
