Book Review: A spiritual journey to the Golden Temple

Written by Vibhor Mohan,Tribune News Service

Saturday, 25 August 2007

Amritsar. A book titled ‘A Spiritual Sanctuary of Humanity -- Sri Harimandar Sahib’ by Rupinder Khullar and Roop Singh gives a vivid description of the Golden Temple, with some rare pictures complementing the text in Punjabi, which has its English translation running alongside. The book traces the complete story of the Golden Temple, right from the concept and doctrine of Harimandar Sahib, construction of the Amrit Sarovar, the Dukh Bhanjan Beri, the dome of Harimandar Sahib and installation of the Shabad Guru there. Beginning with the front cover, the colourful pictures of the Golden Temple and devotees paying obeisance there leave the reader spellbound. To add to the effect, couplets from Guru Granth Sahib, which have been given as captions, aptly sum up the views captured by the camera. For instance, the beauty of the interiors is described as: “The palace of the Lord God is so beautiful. Within it, there are gems, rubies, pearls and flawless diamonds.” The inside front cover says, “While most religious temples are constructed to be elevated high above the ground level, this celestial temple was constructed close to the earth, even below the level of the surrounding grounds, with its entrance virtually at the level of water. Usually, one ascends steps to enter religious temples, but at Harimandar Sahib one descends down…” Roop Singh has worked as editor of SGPC’s monthly magazine “Gurmat Prakash” for more than a decade. Honoured by many panthic institutions, he is an editor completely dedicated to the study and ideology of Sikh religion. On the other hand, clicking pictures since childhood, Rupinder Khullar loves to capture Indian art, architecture, life and nature. Comments (2) >> Show/Hide comments Harpal Singh said:   It is belived that so called Golden Temple was build duirng the times of Guru Arjan Dev ji. Which means/implies that there has to be some referenes of this so called 'Golden Temple' - if at all it is referenced, is it called Golden Temple!!!. Please note that the word 'Harimander' is mentioned within SGGS - but is it at least mentioned by 2nd and 4th Gurus and that reference is not referernng to 'Harimander Sahib/ Golden Temple' - but ' the place where a Sikh need to install his Guru/God within him/her self'. The word 'Harimander' has been misquoted by many in place of 'Golden Temple'. Is there any reference in SGGS, where it references about pressense of Amrit in so called Amrit Sarovar or any reference to the fact of the Dukh Bhanjan Beri. Is the name 'Golden Temple' appropriate within the contex to Sikh religion - what does the name convey or reflects. Any responsible person within SGPC needs to revisit these questions. The reference ' The palace of the Lord God is so beautiful. Within it, there are gems, rubies, pearls and flawless diamonds' - does this expression matches with Sikh way of thinking. Why God needs a man made palace - where God can make and destroy endless temples of this kind. We need to revisit on our thoughts - what we are doing, what we are writing, the kind of life we are living - does it in sync with the the life our Gurujis live and would approve of living. It was a great thought of a father for his son - to be a Sikh - are we the kind of Sikh which our Gurus laid their lives for us. Thank you. Kind regards. Harpal September 28, 2007 Harpal Singh said:   In my previous comments - please read 1st paragraph as It is belived that so called Golden Temple was build duirng the times of Guru Arjan Dev ji. Which means/implies that there has to be some referenes of this so called 'Golden Temple' within SGGS - if at all if it is referenced, is it called Golden Temple!!!. September 28, 2007 Write comment You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.

 

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