The first floor has a gallery in the middle, overlooking the hall below, and it is supported by four or more columns and the outer walls. On the ground floor, in the space thus marked out by the four columns, or approximately in the center, Sri Guru Granth Sahib is enshrined on a platform or a movable palanquin with a canopy above. The congregation occupies the remaining space. On the top, a dome is always there, specially on older historical shrines. It is mostly white, and sometimes gilded, as in the Golden Temple of Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Sis Ganj, Delhi.
Several turrets decorate the parapet.
At the bottom, one may come across floral or other artistic designs. Starting with a wide base, the domes reach the maximum circumference when they are less than half way up. On the pinnacle is a kalas, a short, straight, cylindrical -construction with often some concentric circles and a very small canopy at the absolute top, pendants hanging at the outer rim. The temples have entrance from all sides, signifying that they are open to all without any distinction whatsoever, and that God is omnipresent. From the first floor, generally, windows bulge out on all sides, supported on brackets, and on their top are shallow elliptical cornices.