Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib)

Harmandir Sahib, popularly the Golden Temple, is the central pilgrimage site of Sikhism. The fourth Sikh Guru, Ram Das, founded the city of Amritsar around the sacred pool ('amrit-sarovar') in 1577. His successor Guru Arjan Dev built the gurudwara at the centre of the pool and installed the Adi Granth — the original compilation of the Sikh scripture, eventually expanded into the Guru Granth Sahib — there in 1604. The building is a square plinth in the middle of the pool, accessed by a single causeway. Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire applied the gold and marble facing in 1830, hence the popular English name. Four entrances symbolise openness to all four castes and all four cardinal directions. The langar (community kitchen) feeds an estimated 100,000 visitors a day for free, regardless of religion or income — the largest free-meal operation in the world. The temple has been damaged and rebuilt multiple times, most traumatically in Operation Blue Star in June 1984, when the Indian Army assaulted the complex to flush out Sikh militants who had occupied the Akal Takht. The bullet damage to the Akal Takht has been repaired but the trauma of the operation, and the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards four months later, still shape Punjab's politics. Visitors of all faiths are welcome. Heads must be covered (free scarves at the entrance), shoes left at the gate, and feet washed in the small channel before entering the marble walkway. The 4am prakash ceremony, in which the Guru Granth Sahib is brought from the Akal Takht to Harmandir Sahib for the day, is the single best moment to witness — early but unforgettable.