Abstract
Today the Sikh diaspora encompasses much of the world, having spread from India and Southeast Asia to the Pacific Rim, the Middle East, East Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Sikhism is a monotheistic world religion founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak. His successors continued his teachings and provided a distinct shape to the Sikh community with a written language, a religious scripture and many institutions. The paper examines the significance of sacred place and the role of pilgrimage according to Sikh scripture. It also explores Sikh attitudes and practices towards pilgrimage through a questionnaire based survey. Finally, the paper investigates how the Golden Temple of Amritsar emerged as a sacred place for Sikhs and how it evolved into a major place of pilgrimage.
Department(s)
Geography, Geology, and Planning
Document Type
Article
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3934/geosci.2016.3.259
Rights Information
© 2016 The author; licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
Keywords
Golden Temple, Harimandir Sahib, Amritsar, Sikhism, sacred place, pilgrimage, cultural identity, diaspora
Publication Date
2016
Recommended Citation
Jutla, Rajinder S. "The Evolution of the Golden Temple of Amritsar into a Major Sikh Pilgrimage Center." AIMS Geosciences 2, no. 3 (2016): 259-272.
Journal Title
AIMS Geosciences
