THE LOWDOWN: How the Golden Temple defied invaders from the north

India Today

22-05-2025

News: The Indian Army has denied deploying air defence systems inside the Golden Temple in Punjab's Amritsar during the hostilities with Pakistan amid Operation Sindoor after reports claimed rare coordination with shrine authorities.Perspective: The Sikh gurus built the Harmandar Sahib as a citadel of faith in the middle of a pond of immortality (ambar sar). Its four gates opened out in four directions like outstretched arms, inviting people of all faiths, ready to embrace anyone drawn to its spiritual message.advertisementHistory: Despite its message of harmony, the temple was targeted by invaders who desecrated and destroyed it. But the Sikhs rebuilt it many times, portraying their indomitable spirit and Chardi Kala - the positive and buoyant attitude of the community towards life.
The Legend of Bhai Mehtab SinghIn 1740, the Muslim governor of Lahore made Massa Ranghar, a Rajput-Muslim from Mandiali village, the kotwal of Amritsar. A bigot who derived pleasure from insulting the faith of others, Ranghar turned the shrine into a place of entertainment and debauchery.Upon hearing the news of the dishonour to the shrine, Mehtab Singh, a Bhangu Sikh who was camping in Jaipur, the capital of the Kachawaha Rajput rulers of Amber, galloped to Amritsar with the vow of beheading Ranghar. Bhai Sukha Singh, another Sikh warrior, joined him on the way.advertisementDisguised as Mughal tax collectors and carrying two sacks of broken pieces of earthen pots, which they passed off as coins, the Sikhs entered the shrine by duping the guards.Ranghar was in a room along the courtyard, intoxicated to the point of insanity by drink and opium. Before his addled brain could perceive the threat, Mehtab Singh beheaded Ranghar with one swift motion of his sword and rode out with his head on a pike, thus turning into a legend for the Sikhs.The act is immortalised in the writings of Sikh historian Ratan Singh, the grandson of Mehtab Singh:Both the Singhs finally reached the central spot,Where the musicians were playing on the music.Pulling out his sword from its sheath beneath his dress,Mehtab Singh lunged it courageously at Mass Ranghar's head.He chopped off Massa Ranghar's head as easily,As one plucks a pumpkin from a creeper.(Prachin Panth Prakash: Ratan Singh Bhangu)Later, Mehtab Singh presented himself voluntarily before the Nawab of Lahore and embraced martyrdom.Invaders from AfghanistanIn 1755-56, bands of Sikhs waylaid the retreating caravans of the Afghan marauder Ahmed Shah Abdali. The Sikh jathas plundered their loot from Delhi and Mathura and retreated into the countryside of Punjab. In retaliation, Abdali's son Prince Taimur attacked Amritsar, razed Ram Rauni, a Sikh fort, and occupied the Harmandar Sahib. On Taimur's instructions, the Afghans emptied the holy sarovar of the sacred water and filled it with rubble.advertisementEnraged by the desecration of the holy shrine, a band of Sikh warriors of the Shaheedan Misl attacked the Afghan army and fought valiantly. One of the legends of the battle, Baba Deep Singh, fought the Afghans with a sword in one hand and his severed head in the other.The GhulugharaHistorians argue Abdali was a great commander but incapable of building an empire. He seemed to exist "for the sake of losing and recovering provinces," writes Joseph Davey Cunningham (A History of the Sikhs).At the end of 1762, Abdali. In a rapid march from Lahore through Ludhiana, he attacked the Sikhs and defeated them decisively. The Sikhs are said to have lost 10,000-30,000 men in this battle, called the Vadda Ghulughara (the great massacre).The Afghans attacked the Harmandar Sahib again. He filled up the complex with gunpowder and blew it up, symbolically having destroyed the entire faith."The Sikhs were not cast down; they received daily accessions to their numbers; a vague feeling that they were a people had arisen among them; all were bent on revenge, and their leaders were ambitious of dominion and of fame. Their first efforts were directed against the Pathan colony of Kasur... They next marched towards Sirhind... Zain Khan, the Afghan governor, gave battle to the true or probable number of 40,000 Sikhs in the month of December 1763, but he was defeated and slain, and the plains of Sirhind, from the Sutlej to the Jumna, were occupied by the victors without further opposition," writes Cunnigham.advertisementHaving repulsed Abdali once and for all, the Sikhs rebuilt the temple. It reached the pinnacle of its glory when Maharaja Ranjit Singh decorated its walls with gold leaf, giving it the current identity and fame as the Golden Temple.In 1984, the temple witnessed another battle, this time between Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's fighters and the Indian Army.Yet again, the Sikhs rallied to restore the temple, reviving its glory that continues to inspire the brave and the pious.Trending Reel