Akal Takht
Akal Takht (also Akal Takhat ; Punjabi : ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ, akāl ta kh at ) is a building in the complex of the Golden Temple of the Sikhs in the north Indian city of Amritsar . The name means "seat (throne) of the timeless one". What is meant is the seat of God.
The Akal Takht is one of the "five Takht" (throne or seat of authority). The Jathedar (religious leader) of the Akal Takht and the four other Jathedat of the remaining Takhts are together the physical religious leaders of the Sikhs.
The building was originally built by the sixth guru, Guru Hargobind , as a symbol of the Sikhs' political sovereignty. It also symbolized the political and military resistance against the Mughal Empire in the 17th and 18th centuries . Ahmed Shah Abdali carried out a series of attacks on Akal Takht and the Golden Temple in the 18th century, with the entire complex being completely destroyed once. On June 4, 1984, it was severely damaged during Operation Blue Star , which was supposed to be used by the Indian army to drive out militant Sikhs .
The current building was completely rebuilt in 1986 and is larger than the original.
Web links
- Sri Akal Takht Sahib. ( Memento of August 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, Punjab
Coordinates: 31 ° 37 ′ 14.2 ″ N , 74 ° 52 ′ 31.2 ″ E