page_title: Golden Temple
section_title: Ranjit Singh era reconstruction
hierarchical_section_title: Golden Temple / History / Ranjit Singh era reconstruction
caption_attribution_description: English: From the source, British Library: Photograph with a view of the Golden Temple and sacred reservoir at Amritsar in Punjab, taken by George Craddock in the 1880s, part of the Bellew Collection of Architectural Views. The city of Amritsar, largest in the Punjab and holy to the Sikhs, lies between the Beas and Ravi rivers, close to the Pakistan border. It is renowned for the Golden Temple (Harmandir), the holiest shrine in the Sikh religion. Amritsar is a derivative of the Sanskrit amrita sarowar or 'pool of nectar', and the third Sikh Guru, Amar Das (1552-74) came to this area of forested tranquillity around the pool. His successor Guru Ram Das, may have been offered the land as a gift by the Mughal Emperor Akbar, but also paid the local Jat peasantry. In any case, the association of the gurus with the area made it a place of pilgrimage, and the fifth Guru, Arjan (1581-1606), added the Harmandir to the site. The city developed and in the 18th century acquired the name Amritsar. The original simple structure was brick-built in the centre of the pool, with a connecting causeway. With the expansion of Sikh power in the 19th century, the temple evolved into the Darbar Sahib complex, replete with gilding, marble and inlay decoration.
context_page_description: The Golden Temple, also known as Harmandir Sahib, meaning "abode of God" or Darbār Sahib, meaning "exalted court", is a Gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the preeminent spiritual site of Sikhism.
  The Gurdwara is built around a man-made pool that was completed by the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das in 1577. Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru of Sikhism, requested Sai Mir Mian Mohammed, a Muslim Pir of Lahore, to lay its foundation stone in 1589. In 1604, Guru Arjan placed a copy of the Adi Granth in Harmandir Sahib, calling the site Ath Sath Tirath. The Gurdwara was repeatedly rebuilt by the Sikhs after it became a target of persecution and was destroyed several times by the Mughal and invading Afghan armies. Maharaja Ranjit Singh after founding the Sikh Empire, rebuilt it in marble and copper in 1809, overlaid the sanctum with gold foil in 1830. This has led to the name the Golden Temple.
  The Golden Temple is spiritually the most significant shrine in Sikhism. It became a center of the Singh Sabha Movement between 1883 and 1920s, and the Punjabi Suba movement between 1947 and 1966.
context_section_description: Ranjit Singh founded the nucleus of the Sikh Empire at the age of 21 with help of Sukerchakia Misl forces he inherited and those of his mother-in-law Rani Sada Kaur. In 1802, at age 22, he took Amritsar from the Bhangi Sikh misl, paid homage at the Golden Temple and announced that he would renovate and rebuild it with marble and gold. The Temple was renovated in marble and copper in 1809, and in 1830 Ranjit Singh donated gold to overlay the sanctum with gold foil.
  After learning of the Gurdwara through Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad "Mir Osman Ali Khan" started giving yearly grants towards it.
  The management and operation of Darbar Sahib – a term that refers to the entire Golden Temple complex of buildings, was taken over by Ranjit Singh. He appointed Sardar Desa Singh Majithia (1768–1832) to manage it and made land grants whose collected revenue was assigned to pay for the Temple's maintenance and operation. Ranjit Singh also made the position of Temple officials hereditary.
caption: An 1880 photograph of the Golden Temple, sacred pool and the nearby buildings. The walled courtyard and entrances were added later.
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