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Golden Temple - Siri Hamandar Sahib |
 Vision
Siri Guru Arjan Dev Ji envisioned a temple that
would be made the repository of the Sikh religion, a reflection of its resoluteness and
its strength. It would become the hallowed symbol of the indestructibility of the faith.
It would be known as the Harmandir.
The plan he conceived for the Harmandir was designed to reflect the clarity, simplicity
and logic of the new movement. Its location in the center of the pool would symbolize the
synthesis of nirgun and sargun: the spiritual and temporal realms of human
existence.
Siri Guru Arjan Dev reversed the prevalent practice of designing high temple plinths.
By building the Harmandir at a level lower than the surrounding land, he wanted to
emphasize the inner strength that was provided by the faith, rather than draw attention to
its external manifestations.
Unlike traditional temple architecture that provided only one entrance,
the Harmandir would have four, one on each side. Its doors would thus be open to all the
four castes, for to Siri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, "the four castes of Kshatriyas,
Brabmins, Sudras and Vaisyas are equal partners in divine instruction."
The principle of universal participation was extended to the planning and execution of
the project. All Sikhs in all congregations had a role in building this noble edifice to
their faith. Their participation took two forms: voluntary labor (sewa) at the
site, and a donation (daswandh) of ten percent of their income to support the
construction. Both these practices have endured ever since. While clearly not all Sikhs
give ten percent of their earnings towards the upkeep and improvement of their
Gurdwaras
(Sikh temples), the offerings of the devotees are not inconsiderable. The tradition of
voluntary service too has remained unchanged from the time the sarowar and the
Harmandir were built.
Foundation
 Though Siri Guru Arjan Dev Ji's role was central to the realization of idea of a
sacred shrine, the Darbar Sahib does not reflect the concept of a single designer or
master builder. The complex evolved over the centuries. It grew as the passionate
adherents of the faith poured their energies, resources and skills into building something
wondrous. Ironically, the calamitous events that were to befall the Sikhs, and the
savagery and wantonness with which the shrine they revered was repeatedly destroyed,
contributed towards its increasing magnificence as they embellished and adorned it still
further each time it was rebuilt. Its ultimate grandeur was the outcome of the labor and
love of the many generations who reconstructed it after each attempt at its destruction.
There is no agreement on who actually laid the foundation stone of the Harmandir, nor
the year in which it was laid. Some hold it was Mian Mir, a Sufi saint of Lahore who
performed the ceremony at the invitation of the guru. With many written records destroyed
in the unending battles fought over the Darbar Sahib, oral tradition remains the source
for much of the information of that period.
Sarowar
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By the time the Harmandir's foundation stone was laid, the sarowar had been
lined with bricks and steps had been built along its sides so that the devout could bathe
in the immortal pool. The original structure in the pool was modest in scale, and built
with simple materials, in stunning contrast both to the Renaissance buildings of that
period in Europe, with their ornamentation and richness, and to the splendor and scale of
those that India's Islamic rulers were building. |
It offered its adherents something more inspiring: an abiding sense of spiritual
reassurance, an unshakeable confidence in the Sikh gospel of God's accessibility to all
and, by a philosophy of reconciliation, a convincing way out of the mood of despair
generated by the claims of the competing religions of that time.
Because of his emphasis on the spiritual rather than the material, Siri Guru Arjan Dev
Ji chose to build a small structure in burnt brick and lime, in the center of this
"pool of nectar" and to construct a causeway over the water to reach it. He
wanted its design to reflect the directness and simplicity that he felt to be
characteristic of Sikh beliefs. The gilding, marble, mirror and inlay work were to come
much later, in the nineteenth century, when a proud people, having reached the pinnacle of
their power and affluence during Maharajah Ranjit Singh's reign (1799-1839), lavished
their wealth on increasing the magnificence of their shrine at Amritsar.
The Construction of the Harmandir
In 1589 the scope of the project was confined to building the Harmandir in the pool.
First, a solid brick and lime foundation above the bed of the pool was erected. On it came
thick supporting walls. The causeway connecting to the western bank of the pool was built
over aqueducts-(52 in number). Along the four sides of the pool, the ground was
leveled
for the parkarma, (circumambulation). Since the steps going down into the pool had
already been built for bathing, the core of the complex had now taken shape.
Whether through design or accident, the visual relationship of the pool with the
Harmandir in its center, the length of the causeway that connects the shrine to the parkarma,
which in turn takes devotees around the sacred waters, all seem part of a rational
progression. It is easy to relate to it, since neither the scale of the parkarma around
the pool, nor the proportions of the buildings surrounding it, appear designed to
dominate.
Yet a feeling of quiet strength, a sense of drama comes through with the first view of
the Darbar Sahib as it is experienced by those who step down the stairs that lead to the
level of the parkarma. There, shimmering in the hallowed pool, proud and serene, stands
the redoubtable Harmandir. It takes a while to absorb the scene, to come to grips with the
long-awaited sight every Sikh has yearned for. But even this is only the beginning, for
the feeling of excitement does not end here. If anything, it is the start of yet another
level of expectation, as the established custom of turning left along the parkarma is
followed. The clockwise circumambulation to the Harmandir, alongside the hallowed pool,
gives time for contemplation, for a necessary spiritual reorientation, for adjusting to
and marveling at this reality that has thus far been a dream the devout have nurtured.
Compilation of The Siri Guru Granth Sahib
Siri Guru Arjan Dev Ji was convinced that the devotion of a
people, who came for a profound experience to the fountainhead of their faith, would not
be sustained by an empty structure. With that in mind, he had already embarked on an
ambitious project of compiling the Sikh scriptures: an anthology of the teachings, hymns,
thoughts and verses of the first five gurus, and of Hindu and Muslim scholars and saints,
like Kabir, Namdev, Ravidas, Sheikh Farid and others.
He wanted the Harmandir to be synonymous with the best that men of wisdom and divine
inspiration had to offer. It must become the repository of rational thought, not blind
belief. People no doubt had to be held in thrall by the devotional dimension of the
scriptures recited in it. Even more, the message of the scriptures had to be logical, set
to the ragas (the classical system of Indian music), so that the rationality of thought
was rendered lyrically.
The original volume of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji consisted of 1,948 pages
containing more than 7,000 hymns. The writings of the gurus, in chronological order, are
followed by the works of the saints and sufis. They are composed in 31 ragas, with
the compositions framed to an exacting method, corresponding to the time of the day and
the different moods. Yet, since faith must lead to a balanced outlook, the joyous and the
sad are subtly interwoven with moods of yearning and rejoicing. The Gurmukhi script was
used throughout the book, even where the original hymns were composed in medieval Punjabi,
Hindi and other languages of the time.
Siri Guru Arjan Dev Ji's efforts at compilation were prodigious, and his own
contribution to the text of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji enormous. His editing standards
were also meticulous, both with regard to the content and to the syntax, style and rhythm
that would help the natural flow of the text. Thus was born the Adi Granth, the holy book
of the Sikhs -generally known as the Siri Guru Granth Sahib-which would be installed in
the Harmandir in 1604, three years after the completion of the shrine in the pool.
The manuscript on which Siri Guru Arjan Dev worked still exists
at Kartarpur. Though the manuscript to which Siri Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last
guru, added the hymns of his father Tegh Bahadur was destroyed, a copy made by his
followers fortunately survives.
The high level of sanctity and reverence accorded to the Harmandir could not have been
possible without the Siri Guru Granth Sahib located in it. A religion that stresses
rationality, like Sikhism, would have been unable to sustain its momentum in a vacuum. A
compilation of the philosophical and ethical insights of the wise men of that age was as
logical a move as its installation at the Harmandir.
The Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji was made the fountainhead of the Sikh religion by Siri
Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Just before his death in 1708, he ended a hundred years of the guru
tradition by enjoining his followers to look to the Siri Guru Granth Sahib as the supreme
Guru. They were to worship its wisdom and knowledge from then on.
The elevation of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib to the status of a guru, which was
an unusual concept of leadership, was to work admirably over the centuries, with the
scriptures providing spiritual direction to the Sikhs. Whether in tragedy or triumph,
rejoicing or grief, the people would turn to the Siri Guru Granth Sahib for philosophical
insights and guidance, and it would, in time, find a place in most Sikh homes. As the art
of calligraphy yielded to newer methods of printing, the size of the book was fixed at
1,430 pages, with every copy anywhere in the world standardized to this length.
From the very day the first copy of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib was taken ceremonially
to the Harmandir, till the present time, it is customary to take it with the same ceremony
every morning from the Akal Takht-where it is kept each night-to the Harmandir. Passages
are read from it throughout the day, interspersed with the singing of excerpts, so that
those who come to sit and listen will leave enriched by the words of their spiritual
forefathers.
Also
Visit
A Day at Harmandir Sahib
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