Golden Temple Amritsar - A Photo Essay

Photo Essays
Golden Temple, Amritsar – 5

Photograph by Sukhdeep Singh

*So Dar Keha So Ghar Keha Jit Bah Sarab Sambhale
Vaje Nad Anek Sankha Kete Vavanhare
Kete Raag Pari Siun Kahian Kete Gavanhare
Gavahi Tuhno Paun Pani Baisantar Gave Raja Dharam Duare ....

Where is that wondrous mansion and where the door
From whence Thou watch and sustain us all?
Where the innumerable melodies originate
Seemingly played by countless musicians
The countless "Ragas" sung by fairies
and other innumerable singers
Air, Fire and Water all Thy adore
With "Dharamraj" singing at Thy door ....

For complete verse read the 27th Pauri of Japuji Sahib

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Morning

The Morning light falls like a Devine breath Upon the Golden temple. The waters of the Amrit sarovar are touched by the crisp wind into million ripples. To see the temple almost floating in the waters is to see the Devine beloved, a sight that reaches into the Soul and is never forgotten.

Much before this sight, one hears the loud prayers of the sevadars getting ready for the Prakash of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Sri Guru Granth sahib Ji is carried in the magnificent Golden Paalaki. Raggis inside the Golden Temple sign hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib day and night.

Evening / Night

From the dawn to midnight the Shabad Kirtan is an unbroken chain of the Devine remembrance. It has been so for hundreds of years as the wind and the Beri trees and the water are all wrapped in the music that is The Word. There is no other prayer but to tune one’s soul to the word being sung by devotees who have come and gone and will keep coming in the future.

Sitting in the recesses of the Darbar Sahib itself, or in the parikrama area or in the rooms of the sarais around the temple the devotees hear the Word and are awaken to higher level of consciousness until they hear what is truly the final spiritual experience, the Anahad Shabad (the soundless Word).

All the time you are there, the sight of Temple is like the vision of a Devine Mansion, shining in the mist of morning, or disappearing in the twilight, that is truly unforgettable. Many a times in the Gurubani, there is such a Mansion of God where there is sacred music all the time and a great peace (So Dar Keha..)*

The real Golden temple is very much like a Mansion. The mystical experience is something that takes place in the innermost being but the outward view of the Temple is so perfect as an aesthetic statement that is it truly leads you from the outer to the inner experience. What you see is the preparation for what you will see and experience within yourself.

Every night Sohila which is a ‘Hymn of Praise’ and is the finale to the evening prayer. Sohila consists of five hymns. Third hymn is: Upon that cosmic plate of the sky, the Sun and the Moon are the lamps. The stars and their orbs are the studded pearls. The fragrance of the sandalwood in the air is the Temple incense and wind is the fan. All the plants of the world are alter flowers in the offering to you, O Luminous Lord.

What a beautiful Aarti (a lamp lit worship service) O ! Destroyer of Fear. After the Ardas Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji is carried to rest in a room in the temple complex some distance away from the Harimandir.

– Continued

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