Akal Takht

Originally known as Akal Bunga,[5] the building directly opposite the Harmandir Sahib was founded by sixth Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind, as a symbol of political sovereignty and where spiritual and temporal concerns of the Sikh people could be addressed.[2] Along with Baba Buddha and Bhai Gurdas, the sixth Sikh Guru built a 9-foot-high concrete slab. When Guru Hargobind revealed the platform on 15 June 1606, he put on two swords: one indicated his spiritual authority (piri) and the other, his temporal authority (miri).[6][7]

In the 18th century, Ahmed Shah Abdali and Massa Rangar led a series of attacks on the Akal Takht and Harmandir Sahib.[2] Takht which is on the first floor was rebuilt in brick between 1770 and 1780, under Sultan-ul-Qaum Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (1718–1783) – the leader of the Sikh Confederacy in Punjab.

Hari Singh Nalwa, a general of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, decorated the Akal Takht with gold.[8] On 4 June 1984, the Akal Takht was damaged when the Indian Army stormed Harmandir Sahib under the order of Indira Gandhi, then Prime minister of India, during Operation Blue Star.

The Akal Takht was built on a site where there existed only a high mound of earth across a wide-open space. It was a place where Guru Hargobind played as a child. The original Takht was a simple platform, 3.5 metres (11 ft) high, on which Guru Hargobind would sit in court to receive petitions and administer justice. He was surrounded by insignia of royalty such as the parasol and the flywhisk. Later, there was an open-air semi-circular structure built on marble pillars and a gilded interior section. There were also painted wall panels depicting Europeans.[9]

The modern building is a five-story structure with marble inlay and a gold-leafed dome. Three of the stories were added by Ranjit Singh in the 1700s. Contemporary restoration work found a layer of paint-decorated lime plaster that might have been part of the original structure but later than the time of Harminder.

Photograph of the Akal Takht in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star (1984)

In July 1983, the Sikh political party Akali Dal's President Harcharan Singh Longowal and the jathedar of the Akal Takht invited the fourteenth jathedar of Damdami taksal Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was on the run for radicalized militancy in Punjab, popular in much of rural Punjab,[10] to hide in the Golden Temple Complex, later moving to the Akal Takht to protect himself from getting arrested.[11] Between 3 June and 8 June 1984, the Indian army conducted a counter-insurgency operation, ordered by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to arrest Bhindranwale. The Akal Takht was heavily damaged during this operation by the Indian Army. Bhindranwale was killed in action during an exchange of fire between the armed Militants and the Indian Army.

After Operation Blue Star, the Akal Takht was rebuilt by the Jathedar of Budha Dal, Baba Santa Singh. Many institutions such as the Damdami Taksal felt that the Nihang Singhs should not have taken money from the government to rebuild the Takht.

A few years later, Bhindranwale's successor from Damdami Taksal, Baba Thakur Singh, had the Akal Takht demolished, and rebuilt after resolutions were passed by Sarbat Khalsa 1986.

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  Painting of the Akal Takht from 'Original sketches in the Punjaub by a Lady', circa 1854
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  Photograph of the Akal Takht in Amritsar, circa 1850's
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  Photograph of the Akal Takht in Amritsar from circa 1870
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  Photograph of a 'Panthic Morcha' held at the Akal Takht in Amritsar, circa 1900
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  Photograph of the Akal Takht in Amritsar from circa 1924
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  Interior of the pre-1984 Akal Takht
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  Fresco of floral motifs and the building structure from the walls of pre-1984 Akal Takht complex
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  Original platform of the Akal Bunga that was consecrated by Guru Hargobind unveiled during construction work on the Akal Takht in the late 20th century
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  Akal Takht illuminated on Gurpurb, Harmandir Sahib complex, Amritsar
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  Akal Takht and Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar, Punjab, India
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  Akal Takht illuminated, in Harmandir Sahib complex, Amritsar
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  Photograph of the Akal Takht in Amritsar

• Harjinder Singh Dilgeer The Akal Takht, Sikh University Press, 1980.
• Harjinder Singh Dilgeer Sikh Twareekh Vich Akal Takht Sahib Da Role, Sikh University Press 2005.
• Harjinder Singh Dilgeer Akal Takht Sahib, concept and role, Sikh University Press 2005.
• Harjinder Singh Dilgeer Sikh Twareekh, Sikh University Press 2008.
• Mohinder Singh Josh Akal Takht Tay is da Jathedar 2005.
• Darshi A. R. The Gallant Defender
• Singh P. The Golden Temple. South Asia Books 1989. ISBN 978-962-7375-01-2.
• Singh K. (ed.) New insights into Sikh art. Marg Publications. 2003. ISBN 978-81-85026-60-2.
• Nomination of Sri Harimandir Sahib for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List Vol.1 Nomination Dossier, India 2003.
• Macauliffe, M. A. The Sikh religion: Its gurus, sacred writings and authors Low Price Publications, 1903. ISBN 978-81-7536-132-4.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Akal Takht.

• WorldGurudwara.com Akal Takht, Amritsar established in 1606
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