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Construction of Harmandar Sahib
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The holy pool of
Amritsar in its natural surrounding was first visited by Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji, the
founder of Sikh faith along with his faithful disciple and musician Bhai
Mardana ji on their long missionary travels. This secluded spot afforded great
peace and contentment to the Guru and he stayed there for sometime. The
scenery of crystal clear waters amidst quite forest helped Guru Nanak
to commune with God. Because Guru Nanak was so fond of this spot,
it naturally took on a hallowed significance to his disciples and followers. It
is said that the second Guru, Guru Angad Dev ji visualized a city at this spot but
since he was unable to accomplish his dream it was the fourth Guru, Guru Ram
Das ji who made that dream a reality. According to
Imperial Gazetteer, Guru Ram Das ji paid 700 Akbari rupees to the villagers of Tung to acquire 500 bighas of land on which to build modern Amritsar.
Guru Ram Das ji established his residence in the area where Guru Nanak first
halted and in 1577 the city was founded with the construction of the tank,
which was to be called Amritsar. |
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The construction was entrusted to the famous
Sikh saint, Baba Budha. Baba Budha used to sit under the huge jajuba tree, which
still stands on the north side of the tank and to the right of the main entrance gate.
Ram Das executed the plan under the counsel of Baba Buddha Ji. The inauguration was in
traditional Indian style, with distribution of sweets after prayers. The Guru
made his abode by the site, where laborers were engaged. Many Sikh devotees came to
work for the project. Before the regular excavation work of the tank began, a
sort of village settlement had grown. First of all, a boundary line of the
settlement was laid on 5 Har Vadi 18, Samvat 1627 BK, A.D. 1570 and it was
named Chak, Chak Guru, Guru Ka Chak, Chak Guru Ram Das, Ram Das Pura. These
were the previous names of Amritsar. Kilns were laid and a number of hutments
were built. Members of over 50 caste-groups from Patti, Kasur and Kalanur were
called to settle here, to assure a regular supply of essential commodities, a
market called Guru-ka-bazaar was established. Wells were dug and a good many rich
sarafs (bankers) and banjaras (traders) came to the growing town. The actual
idea of establishing various places of pilgrimage had been conceived by Guru
Amar Das ji. The predominant factor, which motivated the Guru, was to initiate
centers where the traditions of the faith could be preached. The second factor
was the consideration for the peaceful settlement of his future successor, Ram
Das. In order to avoid all possibilities of clashes between his own progeny and
the appointed successor Ram Das, Guru Amar Das ji deemed it better that his
children stay at Goindwal and Ram Das settle at some new place.
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The construction work of the tank and the town proceeded smoothly. But, while
the work was in progress, Ram Das had to rush back to Goindwal at the call of
the dying Guru Amar Das ji. The work was resumed on his return, after his
pontification in A.D. 1577, the construction of both the tank and the
town was completed the same year. Then the Guru called the khatris (business community) and told
them to take charge of the holy place. But they pleaded their inability to
perform religious duties and requested the Guru to engage some brahmins and fakirs
(mendicants) to perform the ceremonies. But the khatris sought the blessings of the
Guru for kirt and barkat to pursue their professions. The Guru and his disciples
were overjoyed on the completion of the new pilgrimage center. Guru Ram Das ji composed
beautiful verses in the glory of the sarovar, making an injunction upon his
followers to take bath in this holy tank and meditate here on Hari Nam
(the name of God). Soon after its foundation,
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Amritsar became the center of Guru Ram Das's missionary activities and the headquarters of
the Sikh faith devout have nurtured. Chak, Chak-Guru, Guru-ka-chak, Chak-Guru-Ram-Das,
Ram-Das-Pura, were the names of Amritsar in those times. The houses of the
craftsmen from the towns of Patti, Kasur and Kalanur, who came to build the holy
place, surrounded the temple on the banks of the pool of nectar. The only market
was then called Guru-ka-bazaar, still known by that name, though more populous.
Due to the fame and beauty of this pool of water, the city itself was called
Amritsar after the tank and each of the Gurus who lived there encouraged his
followers to settle in Amritsar. Thus the city developed into leading commercial
center. Although Guru Ram Das ji did so much for the city, it was the task of
the fifth Guru, Guru
Arjan to crystallize the spiritual aspect of the Religion and its metropolis.
He not only compiled the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs but also
started the construction of the Golden Temple, which was to be the Religious
Center of the Sikh Nation. Guru Arjan Dev ji, the fifth master, who came to the spiritual throne in 1581, felt
from the growing popularity of the shrine as a pilgrim center the need to have
the tank paved on the four sides and the steps of Harmandar bricked. The
devotees joined to construct the temple, which would be lived in during the
everyday life, where the infinite mystery would be revealed to those who may
want to see.
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Already, however, the demand to create a paradise
on earth became urgent, from the vision of Arjan Dev, of many simple hearts coming,
with dipped eyes over joined hands, to pray and touch the holy water on their
foreheads. So this Guru had the structure of the Harmandar Sahib
planned in such a way that the outsight, might afford the insight. The present
causeway leading to the Harmandar Sahib was then designed, with the rectangular
shape of the circumambulatory walk ending at the gateway, from
which the path to reality began. And to combine, symbolically, the noblest truth
of Islam about One God with the faith in the Hindu God Hari and his many
incarnations, the Muslim divine, Mian Mir of Lahore, is said to have
been invited by Guru Arjan Dev ji to lay the foundation stone of the temple in A.D.
1588. In 1589 the scope of the project was confined to building the Harmandar Sahib
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
Harmandar Sahib 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. |
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There, shimmering in the
hallowed pool, proud and serene, stands the redoubtable Harmandar Sahib. 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 Harmandar Sahib, 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.
Amrit Sarovar remained enclosed in kachcha construction till Guru Arjan Dev ji ascended
the gaddi in A.D. 1581. Then the tank was made pucca and the side stairs were
bricked, but the bottom of the tank was still to be attended.
The Sikhs showed great enthusiasm and devotion for seva (voluntary service) to
complete the job. Construction work on the tank was completed in a short time.
The successful completion of the project was attributed to the grace of God.
Guru Arjan Dev ji expressed his thanksgiving in the words:
God Himself hath come to fulfill the
Task of the Saints
Yea, He Himself hath come to do the Work.
And, now, Blessed is the earth, the Tank and
the Nectar with which it is filled...
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The tank was named Amritsar. The town also came to be called by the same name. While
the tank was under construction, Guru Arjan Dev consulted Baba Buddha Ji and
expressed his wish to raise a beautiful permanent structure in the pool of
nectar. Guru Arjan Dev then projected the plan of the present Harmandar. It was decided by the Guru to build the temple in the center of the
tank. The object of Guru Arjan Dev ji in planning the structure of the Harmandar in the middle of Amrit Sarovar was to combine both spiritual and
temporal aspects, to represent a new synthesis of Indian thought, the
combination of Nirgun and Sargun. The leaders of the Sikh
community and the devotees of the Guru welcomed the new plan. The plan was
executed under the direct control and supervision of Guru Arjan Dev ji assisted by
Baba Buddha Ji, Bhai Gurdas and other devoted Sikhs. Guru appointed his trustworthy
followers, such as Bhai Salo, Bhai Bhagtu, Bhai Paira, Bhai Bahlo and Bhai Kalyana, to
supervise the construction and arrange for building materials. The assignment
of brickmaking was entrusted to Bhai Bahlo, an expert. According to early Sikh tradition, the foundation stone
of the Harmandar Sahib was laid by Guru Arjan Dev ji himself. (A related story tells us
that a mason accidentally displaced a brick, on which the Guru expressed the
fear that the foundation would have to be laid again in the future. This
incident is mentioned in the Sikh sources written after the reconstruction of
the Harmandar Sahib, in A.D. 1764, and is carried up to the late nineteenth
century). |
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The recorded account is that Guru Arjan Dev ji laid the foundation of
Harmandar on Ist Magh Samvat 1645 (A.D. 1588). However, the later Sikh
tradition holds that the foundation was laid at the request of Guru Arjan Dev ji
by a Muslim divine, Pir Mian Mir of Lahore, in Samvat 1645 BK (A.D. 1588). This
version is based on oral tradition and is not supported either by the early Sikh
sources or any of the Persian accounts, including the biographies of Mian
Mir. The construction work of the new temple was undertaken with great
enthusiasm. A large number of Sikhs participated in the work. Some of the Sikh
devotees became legends and adorn the pages of the annals of Sikh literature.
The solid foundation was laid on a level higher than the bottom of the tank with
lime and bricks. Broad walls were built. A bridge connecting the temple with
Darshani Deorhi (entrance gate) was constructed over the support of Surang
Duraries (aqueducts) mehrabs and dats (arches). Thus the establishment of
Harmandar was a revolutionary step in Indian history. It was an architectural
manifestation of the Guru's teachings that all men and women of all castes and
beliefs were equal and dignified in the eyes of God. It echoed their creed that
God the Father was one and all creatures were his children. When Harmandar Sahib was
completed it became the Vatican of Sikhism. Devotees poured into this sacred
city and it became not only a religious center but also the hub and capital of the
Sikh Empire which was to develop. But the harmony that reigned between the
Muslim rulers and the early Gurus was not to last long. While Muslim emperors
bowed their heads to the feet of first Gurus, their sons and descendents were
to demand the Guru's head to satiate the thirst of their swords. The martyrdom
of the Fifth and Ninth Guru by the orders of their contemporary Mughal
emperors widened the gap between the Sikh followers and Mughal rulers to the
extent of no compromise. Wars were waged between the Sikhs and the Mughal
and time after time the Sikhs were driven from their holy temple. Many times
the temple was destroyed and the tank was filled up in an effort to destroy the
water, which the Sikhs believed offered eternal life.
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Although the Sikhs were
driven from their holy city and forced to live in the jungles as hunted men
with prices on their heads nothing could dim their determination to
liberate the Golden temple and return to Amritsar. As often the Mughal and
Afghans destroyed it, the Sikhs recouped their forces and rebuilt it. Many
stories of heroism and courage are interwoven in the art, plaster and bricks
of Harmandar Sahib. Sikh martyrs Baba Gurbaksh Singh, Sukha Singh, Mehtab
Singh and Baba Deep Singh are a few top heads of the numberless devotees who
sacrificed their lives for the honor and protection of Harmandar Sahib. Just as
it took many bricks to enclose the sacred precincts, it took many such heroes
to cement the foundations of Sikhism. Each stone, each bit of marble has tale
to tell of heroism, of martyrdom, of miracles. The structure of the shrine also mixed the rectangular form of the Hindu temple
with the dome and minarets of the Muslims hallowed by the meditations of
holy men, the blood of martyrs defending the Sikh faith against imperial
oppression, a refuge to the sick and weary, the faithful held on to the center
against many on slaughters and the rhythms of the universal life seemed to secure
the pilgrims in the belief that the essential self exists in and
through and behind the flow of the obvious states.
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And as the universe of calm
survived in the midst of all the inclemency of change, the first Sikh Emperor,
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, made the pool of nectar the spiritual
capital, while Lahore was the temporal seat of his newly founded kingdom. The
gilding of the embossed plate, above the marble skirt of the Harmandar, the
renewal of the Pietra Dure, the embellishment of the interior,
with lovely ceilings, adorned with Horal relieves and little mirrors, were all
renovated, finished and perfected under the patronage of the great general, so
that men and women may brood upon the inner splendor, after
gazing at the beauty and wonder of the outer house and body of God. The Sikhs
have always retained, in spite of the militancy they were forced to adopt to
defend their order against the enemies of their reformation, the injunction of
Guru Nanak that you can range from yourself to the stars and the moral law, if
you contemplate the Nam in the quiet of your heart. As an eclectic monument, this has grown from the devotion of the folk, as much as through the skill of the craftsmen of the guilds, the Golden Temple achieves the kind of romantic glory, which flouts convention, answers to the mood of astonishment and compels humility before the inner sight.
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