‘Taller’ building coming up near Golden Temple; Sikh scholars upset
A multi-storey building being built to offer a state-of-the-art accommodation to Sikh Jathedars and priests immediately outside the Golden Temple complex has drawn criticism, with religious scholars saying it might end up being taller than the Akal Takht, overshadowing the temporal seat.
The structure is being constructed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
SGPC secretary Partap Singh said the Sikh body was committed to maintain religious ethics.
“This building would never surpass the height of the Akal Takht,” he said.
“The building, being built on a 600-yard plot, was planned exclusively to provide a good residential accommodation to ‘Singh sahibs’ associated with the Golden Temple and the Akal Takht. It had to be a site near the shrine complex,” the SGPC secretary added.
However, Dr Amarjit Singh, head of Guru Nanak Dev University’s Centre for Guru Granth Sahib Studies, termed it as a “major lapse” on the part of the SGPC to plan such a structure near the Golden Temple complex.
“It was an ill-conceived idea to erect such a high-rise, which would vitiate the ambience of the Golden Temple complex. Its visibility from the shrine complex would certainly be an eyesore. If it is a necessity, then the SGPC should limit its height,” he said.
“As per Sikh principles, no building can overshadow the Akal Takht — the highest temporal seat for the Sikhs — as the issue pertains to Sikh sentiments,” he added.
Dr Balwinder Singh, a conservation expert who had played a key role in Amritsar’s town planning, said he failed to comprehend what prompted the SGPC to raise such a building, “violating the original architecture of the sacred place and the walled city established by Guru Ram Das”.
“The SGPC should have hired consultants who could study the architecture and prepare plan,” he said.
Human rights activist Sarbjit Singh Verka, who had been continuously fighting legal a battle against inappropriate construction around the Golden Temple complex, said he would move the High Court if the structure violated the skyline of the walled city, also called the old city of Amritsar, which is surrounded by a massive wall with several gates dotting it.
“As a devotee, I found it to be an eyesore that tarnishes the shrine’s character,” he added.
