BACKGROUND
When I was asked to speak about Harmandar Sahib I expressed very strongly that I am not in a position to make any judgments about the architecture of the complex. I will attempt to refer to things seen by me at different times and try to stay away from references and comments of historians and scholars of Sikh Religion, as I am not one of them.
My first memories of Harmandar Sahib are those of a young boy who walked from Lyallpur to Amritsar as a refugee in the last caravan during Partition. I saw thousands of people in the Harmandar Sahib Complex. For someone who has not stayed a single night in Guru Ramdas Sarai under those circumstances it will be hard to imagine the scene. The images are still intact in my mind and they have influenced my thoughts about Gurdwaras. If you are traveling for a month in the dust without any water to wash your face, on reaching Harmandar Sahib you drink from the holy tank. You wash your hair after a month and realize that your hair is so tangled — just like a sadhu’s ‘Jattan’. Then it becomes your mother’s job. As she remembers the days of reciting the daily Ardas before dinner, she reflects on the easy ways to solve the problem. Then she thinks of the daily Ardas again: “Sikhi sidak kesan swasan sung” and forgets all about the easy ways. Then the faith comes in and you spend days untangling one hair at a time. You raise a question and your conscience gives you the answer, and a cup of water from the Sarover at Harmandar Sahib becomes sacred.
Another trip to Harmandar sahib was in my final year at IIT. This was the time of Sant Fateh Singh’s hunger strike. I had chosen the topic, “The Sikh Religious Center for Babhaur Sahib Nangal” for my final thesis, and I used this opportunity to meet Sant Ji and some other Sikh leaders and gain more knowledge about Sikh Gurdwaras. I also visited several other historical
gurdwaras .
The Thesis was judged by the department as best thesis of 1961( along with an other thesis) It is believed to be the site where Tenth Guru Sahib meditated for 10 days. A small structure was on the site at the time of my visit. The model shows several buildings that are essential part of a Gurdwara complex. I wrote the building program and designed the complex with all architectural and technical details.
After completing my studies I met Bawa Hsrkrishan Singh our principal and showed him my Thesis. He wanted me to show it to SGPC leaders at Amritsar. I did so as suggested. The letter he gave me is shown below. A part of letter is typed for easy reading.
"his Thesis with his design and details is a new thing of great interest to us for planning and construction of our Gurdwaras in future. I have asked him to show his thesis to you and to Master ji. Master ji will be pleased to meet s.Amarjit singh as he is------- This is only a visit of 'praim' with no personal aim in view."
Bawa Harkrishan singh . A great sikh scholar and one of the pioneers who translated Gurbani in english language. The sikh national college lahore lost after partition was established at Qadian under his leadership as the principal.
After graduating from IIT, my first job was as an Assistant Architect in the Punjab Government, which I resigned after nine months on receiving a scholarship for graduate studies in Architecture and City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, I moved to Chicago. Along with some dedicated Sikhs, I had the opportunity to design the first Gurdwara in Palatine IL ( chicago suburb)That was the beginning of my increasing involvement with other Gurdwara projects in USA and Canada.
HISTORY
Let us talk about Harmandar Sahib. Let us understand what Guru Ji has given us and see where are we going from here. Harmandar Sahib was completed in 1604 AD. Location being a pool of nectar as mentioned by some historians, Guru Arjan himself is said to be the designer of the shrine. I have not seen any photographs or sketches of Harmandar Sahib as it existed in the times of the Fifth Guru. I wish I could see, but any such information is not available since Harmandar Sahib has been destroyed several times and rebuilt or renovated. I have read a few writers’ and scholars’ praise for the architecture of Harmandar Sahib. I also have great praise for the complex but I would have liked to know and separate the work done by the Gurus and that done afterward. That raises several questions about whether the latter changes conform to the original concept or intentions. I am going back to 1604 AD to feel the forces that shaped the space (or what may be called architecture). When designing a building program for a religious complex, an architect tries to capture the spirit of religious faith. In architectural terms, the design has to express the creation of a place of eternal peace and tranquility. Here, at Harmandar Sahib, Guru Ji himself is the writer of the program. His design program seems to be beyond bricks and mortar. Perhaps architecture satisfies some human senses such as sense of visual, environmental, etc. Guru Ji’s program for creating a ’space’ included the use of fine tools such as poetry, music, and humility in crafting this monument. The program seems to be a program for mankind that took a central space sheltered by bricks and mortar.
On completion of Harmandar Sahib, Guru Sahib is said to have written certain Shabads expressing happiness that are included in Durbar Sahib under Salok Mehla 5. It may be my ignorance that I always thought that Guru ji is referring to a different level of pool. It is beyond our human intelligence to understand the Creator and His Will or ‘ Hukam’.
If we try to describe the Design Process in a simple way, we would say here is a space created as a symbol of love for the Creator and His Creation. This space starts with a physical dimension of 41 square feet. One of the simplest forms of architecture is chosen to be the space enclosure. The center of this square is chosen to be the Place for His Shabad, and nothing is to be placed above the central 15'5"x15'5" space except the roof. The roof above this central theme is different from the rest of the roof. Now we can argue about the style of the dome — onion shape, inverted lotus, a Hindu kalas, or one with a Muslim influence. From the center two more squares emerge, one as open walkway around the building, and another defining the boundary of the pool. The sound waves of His Word emanate in a circle from the center and touch the first, the second, and the third square (Sarover), and beyond.
1960 photograph shows Parikarma area open to back streets.
it"Panthak"or community decisions.
Some authors question whether Guru Ji created Harmandar Sahib as a place of pilgrimage. I told the story of my first visit in 1947 AD just for someone to see how we look at a religious place. A place of pilgrimage is where people go for spiritual uplift or they believe it is a way to please God for salvation. That was an easy way. Here the Guru is showing you a path to the Center and you walk on the path listening to his Shabad or his hymns. One of the Shabad as translated means:-
“If you urge to play the game of love (for Him) then come to His Street prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice”.
DOME AT AXIAL GEOMETRY
Approaching from the main Deorhi and walkway the dome aligns with the main axis. The shrine is said to be symmetrical along this axis, however there is deviation from total symmetry. The shrine façade, as seen from the sides, is not symmetrical but to keep the Durbar Sahib at the center, the building platform is made symmetrical along this axis too. By doing so, it looks as if the main element of the architectural composition was the Durbar Sahib area. Secondary elements are an arcade separated in back and a different shape for the steps to the pool.
My main point of discussing these details is my curiosity about the shape and proportions of the dome, which is not dominating as compared to some of the domes built later such as at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Samadh or the Taj Mahal. Knowing that Guru Arjan emphasized to keep the shrine at a low spot and emphasized the value of humility perhaps a suppressed dome was chosen to convey that message. The Taj Mahal was expression of love of a mighty king for a woman. Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Samadh was to express the triumph of the Sikh reign. Harmandar Sahib, by contrast, was to express a human urge to meet Him and humility was one of the vehicles for the journey.
Akal Takhat area 1960 photograph
Another Architectural observation of Harmandar Sahib is about the location of Akal Takht in the Parikarma area and opposite to the main entrance Darting Deorhi. Guru Hargobind Ji built Akal Takht in -1608 AD. Guru Sahib wore two swords: Miri symbolizing temporal authority, and Piri, which symbolized spiritual authority. The function of this building is expressed with a high platform facing Parikarma to address the ‘Sangat’. The interesting point is that the building in plan is rotated toward the north from what I call the main east west axis passing through the center of the shrine. It will be foolish on my part to assume that it was arbitrarily placed like that, but by doing so, this building itself serves the two functions of Miri and Piri. The building is there at the door of the main Shrine and the person addressing the Sangat from its open balcony is turning at a slight angle to a larger plaza. In addition, the Sangat is not turning their back to the main shrine. By this arrangement, Akal Takht becomes part of the main shrine complex and at the same time it shows its detachment from the main architectural composition of Harmandar Sahib. I have not come across any explanation of this nature. But I find it
interesting. Its location and separation from the main Shrine by Darshani Deorhi allows it to compliment and not compete even with more height compared with Harmandar Sahib. Actually the domed entrance on the north side looks out of proportion.
Going beyond the Sarover, we need to address the space enclosure. An engraving of the golden temple by a European artist in 1833 AD shows no enclosing walls around the pool. It also does not show a paved walkway. It shows quite interesting architecture with arched facades on the side of the pool. Guru Arjan encouraged people to build homes around Harmandar Sahib. I have not seen any drawing or sketches of that period that will show us the intent of the original space organization. As the space went through so much destruction and rebuilding, it will be very hard to visualize the nature of surroundings as existed in 1604 AD. My curiosity is to find out if there were any controls set — such as areas that would not be built at the edge of the pool. That would tell us more about Parikarma or the arcade that developed later. Some of 1947 photographs show a lower height arcade with a good tree line beyond as seen from Parikarma. Current photographs do not show any such elements in the background. The unsightly height of buildings at the lot line that I have heard were difficult to acquire is highly undesirable. We have seen the marble arcade and a high enclosure being built around the Parikarma area. I have no idea what is contained in the space beyond the Parikarma area. I do have some concerns and thoughts about that space and architecture. We will discuss later about the need to set any visual controls.
We can close the chapter of Harmandar Sahib in guru’s time 1604 AD and not go in the details of planning. We know very little detail that we can address with city planning terminology. Creating of work and living areas, creating a market or trade for sale of goods produced, creating open spaces (bagh), are several planning consideration that Guru Sahib applied to create a community. All these plans are spelled out in a poetic form in Guru Ji’s writing. The emphasis on hard honest work, living in the family, keeping the body and mind clean, and sharing with others all lead to a way of life. This way of life wants you to create work and living spaces. Only a few years later was a fort added to the general plan. For me, the interesting thing is that Harmandar Sahib never had a fort-like wall around the Sarover and it was open to everyone as intended. The planning that people learned was to stick to the central idea of the Guru’s teaching and leave all the worldly possessions and life of comfort and go on the horseback to defend their faith protect those values when the need arose.
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER 1604 A.D.
There was a period of destruction followed by reconstruction from 1764 AD – 1776 AD. Renovation by Maharaja Ranjit Singh was commissioned from 1802 AD to 1839 AD, and later on the work continued under the management of the SGPC. 1947 partition and 1984 conflict gave a great set back.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED AND WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO.
We have discussed that Guru Arjan has given us something that is beyond the scope of architectural description. Over a period of four centuries we have made changes that we thought were necessary. Individuals may have taken certain decisions and the Khalsa Panth could have implemented others. Harmandar Sahib and other historical Gurdwaras have played a great Architectural influence on the design of new Gurdwaras. We love it so much that these forms have almost become our symbols. We forget to understand the intent and without knowing, we do something that we think is a religious requirement. We also need to address certain details that seem to be meaningless but have a lasting impact. I consider Nishan Sahib is the most important symbol ( if we call it a symbol or Sikh Nishan) that should be properly placed in the Gurdwara complex. Any other elements features such as domes arches to identify a Gurdwara are meaningless. Recently driving in california I saw a golden dome from a distance.On reaching the place the arched entry under the dome had a sign calling it a motel. In a similar way, I see two khandas on letterheads of many Gurdwaras organizations. Again, they use it for symmetry and the meaning is lost.
BEYOND THE SACRED POOL
There is a need to look beyond the Sarover and Parikarma area. That is what you call short as well as long range planning. I have quite often expressed that our devotion is maximum in a small circle around durbar sahib. As the circle increases the devotion decreases. The photograph shown above was taken by me from Baba Atal sahib tower. I showed this to chicago community in 1976 in connection with design and site selection for Chicago Gurdwara. This photo has impacted my thought process. The 1960 photo shows a herd of buffalos in a yard adjoining Harmandar complex. In the same period chandigarh ( a planned city) building codes did not allow such activity in residential areas.In 1947 there was no modern toilet facilities. But there was plenty of gold for gold plating domes I have no reason to criticize Maharaja Ranjit Singh for gold plating the domes. I know he had French general to train his army. I am sure they would have talked about cities of France. I also know that Sikhs were building forts on the border of Afghanistan to fight the invaders. Any community needs resources for many needs. But careful allocation of resources and general planning is a must for anyone to survive.
Looking at the past photographs one can see the loss of landscape over a period of time. The roof top of structure around Parikarma area can be used to integrate landscape with architecture.
Some visual concerns such as views or sight lines of surrounding areas especially from Parikarma area can be accomplished with city zoning regulations. It needs general public participation of the residents of the city to make a comprehensive general master plan. These issues can be addressed, and recorded as zoning regulations.
There are many other such questions to be considered in our planning and devotion for Harmandar Sahib and preserve the original intent: to make a place that is open to mankind, a place that brings together the human race, a place created to stir the imagination of helpless people, a place to lose ourselves and go for spiritual uplift or to follow a path to please Him. Most importantly, how do we protect and preserve this symbol of love for the Creator and His Creation.
This paper was prepared by me for International Conference held at San Jose State University California to commemorate 400th Anniversary of Martyrdom of 5th Guru Sahib by the World Sikh Council-America Region (WSC-AR) on July 28-29 , 2006. and presented by Hardip Singh Pannu.
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