Golden Temple, also known as Sri Harmandir Sahib which means "abode of god." It is located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. The temple is a two-storeyed structure with its top half covered in almost 400 kg of pure gold leaf. It has a square plan with four entrances, has a circumambulation path around the pool. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the leader of the Sikh empire, is believed to have initiated the construction in the 19th century. The remaining of the temple is built in white marble, inset with precious colourful stones. The Golden Temple is an open house of worship for all men and women, from all walks of life and faith.
One must cover one’s head and remove his/her footwear before entering the Golden Temple, as a mark of respect. One can also have free meal that is offered there to around 20,000 people every day at the Guru Ka Langar which is community meal. The entire process is managed by volunteers. The glistening temple is surrounded by water from all the direction, also called Amrit Sarovar (pool of nectar), whose waters are said to have healing powers.
A group of us planned this trip to the Golden temple. we made our visit at night. As we entered the temple, i was overwhelmed to see the the majestic view with startling beauty. The night view of temple and its surrounding was beautiful in its own way, lights glittering everywhere just like stars dropping to the earth.
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| The Golden Temple |
The number of visit people make to the temple everyday is just astonishing. As a mark of repect to the temple, we covered our heads and removed our footware. All visitors must remain barefoot and everyone passes through a separate foot-washing pool before the entry. It is mandatory.
The faithful travel to the golden center of the temple is through a walkway across the surrounding pool. Hundreds of devotees in the queue, eagerly waiting for the temple to open so that they can go inside and worship, some sleeping on the floor waiting, some dipping into the holy water to purify themselves.
You will notice temple workers along the walkways using buckets to haul water to the worshippers.The water is considered holy, and visitors take home bottles for purification and health.
I went near the lake water. To my surprise there was so many colourful fish!
Yes, you can see beautiful,colourful fish in the lake.
On our way to Golden Temple, we also came across Jallianwala Bagh and Heritage street.
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| Heritage Street: has a vintage look, amazing architecture. |
So, hope next time you are in Punjab, you will visit this place. A must visit place it is.✌
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