Janelly Mora
Mr. Peeke
AP Human Geography
December 18, 2017
Sacred Sites There are millions of religions in the world and with that there are millions of sites that are sacred to the religions. Religion is a particular system of belief with faith and worship. A sacred site is a place with significant meaning.
The site I will be focusing on is the Sri Harmandir Sahib, or better known as the Golden Temple in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. I chose to research this site because I was fascinated by the temple being surrounded by a man-made pool of water, the structure is made out of real gold, the temple's kitchen feeds about 40,000 people for free per day (100,000 on weekends or holidays), and it was completed in 1604 which was a very …show more content…
Two thousand years after Buddha, another philosopher came to live and meditate by the lake. He was Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion. The temple is important to the religion because on numerous occasions the temple was destroyed by muslims and each time Sikhs came together to rebuild the structure more beautifully each time and soon the peace returned. There are a few requirements to enter the temple. The temple complex is open for almost 20 hours, from 6am to 2 a.m. .Also, heads must be covered and shoes must be removed when entering the temple because sikhs believe that covering your head puts you in control of your Agya Chakra, in other words it is your third eye and is the center of clarity and wisdom and taking off your shoes is a sign of respect. Sikhs are actually supposed to keep their heads covered everywhere, but non-Sikhs must cover their head in Gurdwara or they can't …show more content…
In early 1980s, the temple became a center of conflict. The Indian government who was led by a man name Indira Gandhi and a militant movement who was led by a man named Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In 1984, Gandhi sent the Indian Army which was called Operation Blue Star into the temple causing the deaths of over 1,000 militants, civilians and soldiers. There was damage towards the temple and the complex was rebuilt again. The temple as well as other rich temples were depended on in 2015 when the indian government started asking for the temples to part with their gold to help the economy. Helping the government would boost the economy when the gold is blessed by their lord because it is worth so much more. A man stated, “This is not a regular gold coin that you would buy from a gold shop — it contains the Lord’s blessing,” and the value is 4x what it regularly is. In other words it benefits the economy and community. The Golden Temple is very important to the Sikh religion and the community. Through its hard times everyone contributes to keep it together and perfect it more each time. As years go by and more temples are built, the peacefulness and beauty will always be
Mr. Peeke
AP Human Geography
December 18, 2017
Sacred Sites There are millions of religions in the world and with that there are millions of sites that are sacred to the religions. Religion is a particular system of belief with faith and worship. A sacred site is a place with significant meaning.
The site I will be focusing on is the Sri Harmandir Sahib, or better known as the Golden Temple in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. I chose to research this site because I was fascinated by the temple being surrounded by a man-made pool of water, the structure is made out of real gold, the temple's kitchen feeds about 40,000 people for free per day (100,000 on weekends or holidays), and it was completed in 1604 which was a very …show more content…
Two thousand years after Buddha, another philosopher came to live and meditate by the lake. He was Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion. The temple is important to the religion because on numerous occasions the temple was destroyed by muslims and each time Sikhs came together to rebuild the structure more beautifully each time and soon the peace returned. There are a few requirements to enter the temple. The temple complex is open for almost 20 hours, from 6am to 2 a.m. .Also, heads must be covered and shoes must be removed when entering the temple because sikhs believe that covering your head puts you in control of your Agya Chakra, in other words it is your third eye and is the center of clarity and wisdom and taking off your shoes is a sign of respect. Sikhs are actually supposed to keep their heads covered everywhere, but non-Sikhs must cover their head in Gurdwara or they can't …show more content…
In early 1980s, the temple became a center of conflict. The Indian government who was led by a man name Indira Gandhi and a militant movement who was led by a man named Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In 1984, Gandhi sent the Indian Army which was called Operation Blue Star into the temple causing the deaths of over 1,000 militants, civilians and soldiers. There was damage towards the temple and the complex was rebuilt again. The temple as well as other rich temples were depended on in 2015 when the indian government started asking for the temples to part with their gold to help the economy. Helping the government would boost the economy when the gold is blessed by their lord because it is worth so much more. A man stated, “This is not a regular gold coin that you would buy from a gold shop — it contains the Lord’s blessing,” and the value is 4x what it regularly is. In other words it benefits the economy and community. The Golden Temple is very important to the Sikh religion and the community. Through its hard times everyone contributes to keep it together and perfect it more each time. As years go by and more temples are built, the peacefulness and beauty will always be