Golden Temple Darbar Sahib Harmandir Sahib

The Golden Temple: The Most Visited Religious Site in the World That Most Westerners Have Never Heard Of

Harmandir Sahib, more commonly known as the Golden Temple, receives approximately 100,000 visitors per day, more than the Taj Mahal, more than the Vatican, more than Mecca (which is closed to non-Muslims). It is the holiest site in Sikhism and one of the most genuinely extraordinary buildings in Asia. If you’re passing through northern India, the detour to Amritsar to see it is not optional.

What It Is

The temple sits on a platform in the middle of the Amrit Sarovar, a sacred pool about 150 metres square that gives Amritsar its name (“the pool of immortal nectar”). The pool is surrounded by the parikrama, a marble walkway from which the temple is reached by a narrow causeway called the Guru’s Bridge. The temple building itself is two-storey, the lower two-thirds white marble and the upper third covered in 750 kilograms of gilded copper. The gold surface reflects in the pool when the light is right, which is from approximately 5am and again from about 6pm.

The current structure was built in the early 19th century under Maharaja Ranjit Singh; the gold was applied in stages. The original gurdwara on this site was established in the late 16th century by the fourth and fifth Sikh Gurus. It has been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times, most notoriously by the Afghan general Ahmed Shah Durrani in 1762 and then rebuilt within 30 years.

The Visit

There is no admission charge and no ticket required. The complex is open 24 hours. Visitors must remove shoes (shoe deposit services are at the entrance), cover their heads (cloth head coverings are available free at the entrance), wash feet in a small pool at the entrance, and enter respectfully.

The interior of the main temple is reached by the causeway; the queue can be several hours long at peak times. The experience of walking the causeway with the pool on both sides and the temple ahead, surrounded by the sound of kirtan (devotional music) broadcast throughout the complex, is unlike anything else. The interior houses the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy scripture, which is read continuously from approximately 4am to 10pm.

The Akal Takht, the seat of Sikh temporal authority adjacent to the complex, was partially destroyed in Operation Blue Star (the 1984 Indian Army assault on the temple complex to remove the militant group led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale) and subsequently rebuilt. The political and religious history of 1984, including the Sikh Golden Temple massacre, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the subsequent anti-Sikh riots, is part of the recent history that the Sikh Khalsa maintains with direct memory. Visiting the complex with some awareness of this history is respectful.

The Langar

The langar, the community kitchen, is the world’s largest free communal meal operation. It serves approximately 100,000 people per day, every day, funded by voluntary donations and staffed by volunteers. The food is simple (dal, sabzi, roti) and the experience of eating at long low tables alongside pilgrims, tourists, and homeless people who have come for a meal is specific to this tradition of seva (selfless service). Go. Sit on the floor. Eat the food. It’s one of the most humanising experiences available in India.

Visiting Amritsar

The Wagah Border, 28 kilometres west of Amritsar, is where Pakistan and India lower their flags simultaneously each evening in a ceremony involving high-step marching, crowd spectacle, and mutual theatrical nationalism from both sides of the border simultaneously. The ceremony takes about 45 minutes; bleachers on both sides hold thousands of domestic tourists who provide enthusiastic noise. It’s worth seeing once.

Jallianwala Bagh, a garden 500 metres from the Golden Temple, is the site where British Indian Army troops under General Reginald Dyer fired into a crowd of unarmed civilians in April 1919. Estimates of those killed range from 379 (the official British figure) to over 1,000 (Indian estimates). The bullet holes in the surrounding walls are preserved. The garden is now a national memorial and the events of 13 April 1919 are commemorated here each year.

Getting to Amritsar: the Shatabdi Express train from Delhi takes about 6 hours; the daily service is the standard approach. Flights from Delhi to Amritsar take about 90 minutes.