The Golden Temple of Amritsar is the most sacred shrine of Sikhism. It is also called the Sri Harmandir Sahib (meaning Divine Temple) as well as Shri Darbar Shaib (Court of the Lord). It is located in the city of the same name, Amritsar, whose name means "pool of the nectar of immortality". This refers to the pool that surrounds the Golden Temple. The city of Amritsar is the administrative capital of the Amritsar district of Punjab, India. In the middle of the city is the Golden Temple, whose official name is Harimandir Sahib, or "temple of god". The Golden Temple of Amritsar houses the Adi Sranth, the sacred scriptures of the Sikh religion.
The Golden Temple is a two-storey building. The lower building is marble clad, and decorated with flower and animal motifs. The upper storey is gold plated. At the top is the golden dome. It is shaped like an inverted lotus. It is said to be gilded with 100 kg of pure gold. The Golden Temple was built during the term of the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev (1581-1606). It stands in the midst of a water tank that had earlier been escavated by the fourth guru, Guru Ram Das (1574-1581). The site was once a forest. It is believed that the great Indian poet Valmiki wrote the Ramayana here. It was here that Sita was banished, and it was also here that her sons Luv and Kush heard these legends of their forefathers. Gautama Buddha is also believed to have visited this site. Today, however, it is the holiest site for the Sikhs.
The great Sufi of Lahore, Hazrat Mian Mir, officiated in the laying of the foundation stone with his friend, the Guru Arjan Dev Ji. It was completed in 1601. It underwent a reconstruction in 1760 after the attack by Afghans under Ahmad Shah Abdali.
A more recent wave of violence at the Golden Temple took place in 1984, when Government troops under Operation Blue Star under General Kesar Singh Brar stormed the temple to eject the separatist militant leader, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who was seeking to establish an independent Sikh state through violent means. Bhindranwale had sought refuge in the Golden Temple and had refused to surrender despite police warnings. In the ensuing battle, Bhindranwale was killed, along with casualties on both sides. The Golden Temple also suffered much damage from the fighting. The violence subsequently claimed the life of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in the hands of her own Sikh bodyguards, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, directly related to the outrage among the Sikhs over the desecration of their holiest shrine.
