The Golden Temple

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Preface "The first feeling that we have on entering church (temple) is one of peace and repose. The world is in such a hurry, and is moving, as some people tell us, so much faster than before, that we seen to want a few minutes of rest, an occasional breathing time before we go hence. We desire to be with God as we believe that we shall hereafter be with Him. Here, at any rate, the strife of tongues is hushed, the strain of mind is taken off, the cares of life are no longer immediately present to us: "There is a great calm." Here we pause for a moment in our journey that we may proceed refreshed. Here we are raised above the mean thoughts of mankind: we hear the words of saints and prophets of the old: we live for a short time in the nearer companionship of God and of another world; we pass in review the last day or two, and ask ourselves whether we are doing enough for others; we seek to realise in our minds a higher standard of duty and character. Here are revived in us those aspirations after another and better state of being, which in good men are always returning and are never completely satisfied, but which, like wings bear us on the sea of life, and prevent our sinking into the routine of custom which prevails around us. Here we resign ourselves to the pure thought, to the pure will, to the pure mind, which is the truer part of our own souls, and in which and through which we see God." Says Benjamin Jowett, to them, who demand to know why they should go to their temples.

The world may rejoice in it many temples of many religions, and many more might be the temples, great and small from different standpoints, but the Golden Temple at Amritsar is unique. Sri Guru Arjan Dev left us an image of His divine mind in this Dream of Marble It is not a building, it is life in its myriad glow of worship going endlessly in self- attraction round itself. It is the great Soul that rises like a golden lotus on the blue waters and is made manifest here in its perfume and in its live swarm of honey-bees buzzing about it.

Foreword Bhai Mohan Singh ji Vaid, a Municipal Commissioner of Tarn Taran and a member of the Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, is a learned scholar in the Sikh Community. He has written many useful books on religion, history, sociology, hygiene and social reforms. I am pleased to say, that his son S. Jagjit Singh is also following his father's footsteps.

He has written the history of the Golden Temple. Amritsar. It seems that he has taken a great deal of pains in collecting the material and arranging it. All those interested in the history of this Temple in particular and the faithful pilgrims in general will be greatly profited by it. I congratulate Sardar Jagjit Singh on his laudable effort in writing this book.

Introduction For those Sikh and non-Sikh readers, who do not have the time and patience to go through the six volumes of M.A. Macauliffe's The Sikh Religion, Its Gurus' Sacred Writings, Khushwant Singh's A History of the Sikhs (2 vols.) or the works of J.D. Cunningham, and J.H. Gordon's scholarly writings on the religion and history of Sikhs, I would recommend the reading of the booklet: Temple of Spirituality or Golden Temple, Amritsar by S. Jagjit Singh. Written in a style which is akin to poetic prose and containing rare photographs, it is a good book to be read profitably by all. Every religion of the world has places of worship, be they the temples, churches, mosques or Gurudwaras. The number of such places of worship is quire large but there are some places, which stand apart, either hallowed by the saintly persons, the birth-places of their prophets or associated with gods or goddesses, People flock to these places for peace and tranquility and to extinguish the fire of their worldly affairs. They want to have communion with their Lord at such places and have silent talks, appeals, prayers to redress their worries, grievances or troubles. They want to unburden their hearts of the losses suffered in their lives, be the death of a son or a daughter, wife or any other near relative. It may be that they have suffered monetary losses in business or their crops had been bad. Worries could be of a hundred sorts. There are others who visit the temples, sit in a corner beside the tank or a pond, and recite from their holy scriptures and meditate on their Lord. The number of the first type of persons is quite large, while of the second type it is small.

There is one temple of the Sikhs, called Golden Temple, which is their highest holy seat. The author says that at such places, a devotee wants to have a real contact with the spiritual power beyond. According to the author, a temple is not of stone or mortar or bricks. He writes: "Those who look on merely the alabaster and the gold of this 'jewel of architecture' miss the Inner Spirit which pervades the whole building but for which it would have been another colourless Temple' The place where the Golden Temple now exists was a renowned place for Sadhus in ancient days. Even the Buddha is said to have visited the place and called the place unique of the places he had visited. There was no temple or shrine then. Guru Nanak also visited this place once or twice. Such a place known for its sanctity naturally had its attraction when the fourth Guru thought of constructing a Gurudwara and dig a tank there so that the devotees could have a draught of Amrita or elixir flowing in this tank.

The history of the Sikhs is mainly the history of their Gurus. Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was the founder of this Religion and the nine Gurus that succeeded him were also called Nanaks in the Sikh tradition. To an outside observer, it may appear strange how the followers of Nanak, a God-fearing soul, have turned into a martial people. Two things shine out clearly in respect of Sikhs: Their blakti (devotion) and their bravery. The sikhs are devout and highly religious-minded people but if their sense of honour is challenged, the same people turn into lions. They sweep the floors of their Gurudwaras with their own hands with pride, fan the followers with their hands during summer season and feed people in their langar (free kitchen). It is a sight to see their sincerity and devotion when feeding others, Sikhs and non- Sikhs. I had a taste of their sincerity when I was fed at Paonta Sahib Gurudwara at Nahan where I had gone for some research work on Guru Gobind singh. I did not reveal the purpose of my arrival there and I wanted to see how they behave with the lay visitors. I cannot forget throughout my life the hospitality that they extended to me and to my wife during our short visit there.

Guru Nanak, called Wycliffe or a Luther, was more than that. He toured as a pedestrian round the whole Asia and abroad to reform mankind. To my mind, Nanak was a born saint, it appears that a great soul had taken birth in the land of great rishis and munis. He was generous and liberal to the extreme. He never preached, for a man's life speaks more than the words spoken. People are impressed not by words but how one leads a life or how one behaves with others. Nanak reached as far as South Arabia and there is a story about his visit to Mecca and Medina.

**Contents and Sample** ,