AKAL
TAKHT is the primary seat of Sikh religious authority and central
altar for Sikh political assembly. Through hukamnamas edicts or writs,
it may issue decretals providing guidance or clarification on any point
of Sikh doctrine or practice referred to it, may lay under penance
personages charged with violation of religious discipline or with
activity prejudicial to Sikh interests or solidarity and may place
on record its appreciation of outstanding services rendered or
acrifices made by individuals espousing the cause of Sikhism or of
the Sikhs. The edifice stands in the Darbar sahib precincts in
Amritsar facing Harimandar, now famous as the Golden Temple. The
word Akal, a negative of kal(time), is the equivalent of timeless,
beyond time, everlasting, and takht, in Persian, that of royal
throne or chair of state. Akal Takht would thus mean "timeless
or everlasting throne" or throne of the Timeless One, i.e. God."
In the Sikh system, God is postulated as Formless (Nirankar),
yet to proclaim His sovereignty over His creation, He is sometimes
referred to as sultan, patshah, sacha Patshah, or the True King;
His seat is referred to as sachcha Takht. the True Throne, sitting
on which he dispenses sachcha niao, true justice (cc 84, 1087).
it also became common for Sikhs, at least by the time of Guru
Arjan (1563-1606), to refer to the Guru as sachcha patshah and
to his gaddi or spiritual seat as Takht and the congregation he
led as darbar or court. Panegyrizing the Gurus,
The bards, Nalya and Mathura, in their verses included in the Guru
Granth Sahib, use the word takht in this very sense. Formally, to
proclaim Sikh faith's common concern for the spiritual and the
worldly, synthesis of miri and piri, Guru Hargobind (1595-1644),
son and successor of Guru Arjan adopted royal style. For the
ceremonies of succession, he had a platform constructed opposite
the Harimandar, naming it Akal Takht. According to Gurbilas Chhevan
Patshah, a detailed versified and, going by the year of
composition recorded in the text/colophon, the oldest account
of Guru Hargobind's life, the structure was raised on 5, 1663
sk/I5 June 1606. The Guru laid the cornerstone and Bhai Buddha
and Bhai Gurdas completed the construction, no third person being
allowed to lend a helping hand.
Guru Hargobind used the takht for the accession ceremonies
which, according to the source quoted, took place on 26 Har
suds 10, 1663 sk/24 June 1606. From here, he conducted the
secular affairs of the community. From here he is said to have
issued the first hukamnama (q.v.) to far flung sangats or Sikh
centers announcing the creation of Akal Takht and asking them
to include in their offerings thenceforth gifts of weapons and
horses. Bhai Gurdas was named of officiant in charge of the
Akal Takht. A building subsequently raised over the Takht was
called Akal Bunga (house) so that the Takht is now officially
known as Takht Sri Akal Bunga although its popular name Akal
Takht is more in common use.
The
Sikhs recognize four other holy places as takhts, namely Takht
Sri Kesgarh Sahib, Anandpur; Takht Sri Harimandar Sahib, Patna;
Takht Sachkhand Hazur Sahib, Abchalnagar, Nanded; and Takht Sri
Damdama Sahib, Talvandi Sabo. All four are connected with the life
of Guru Gobind Singh (1666 - 1708). All five Takhts are equally
venerated, but the Akal Takht at Amritsar enjoys a special status.
Historically, this is the oldest of the takhts and along with
Harimandar, across the yard, constitutes the capital of Sikhism.
Meetings of the Sarbatt Khalsa or general assembly represent
native of the entire Panth are
traditionally summoned at Akal Takht and it is only there
that cases connected with serious religious offenses committed by
prominent Sikhs are heard and decided. Hukamnamas or decrees issued
by the Akal Takht are universally applicable to
all Sikhs and all institutions.
After
Guru Hargobind's migration to Kiratpur early in 1635, the shrines
at Amritsar, including the Akal Takht fell in the hands of the
descendants of Prithi Chand, elder brother of Guru Arjan, his
grandson, Hariji (d. 1696), remaining in charge for over fifty-five
years. Soon after the creation of the Khalsa in March 1699, Guru
Gobind Singh sent Bhai Mani Singh to Amritsar to assume control
of the Harimandar and the Akal Takht. Later, After Guru Gobind
Singh's death, his wife Mata Sundari ji, sent Bhai Mani Singh
again to Amritsar on behalf of the Khalsa panth During the troublous
period following the martyrdom of Banda Singh Bahadur.
The sacred samovars or holy tank, at Amritsar, the Harimandar
and the
Akal Takht continued a source of inspiration and Spirit and
veneration for the Sikhs when circumstances permitted, and
usually on Baisakhi and Divali, their
scattered bands defying all hazards converged upon Akal Takht to
hold sarbatt khalsa assemblies and discuss matters of policy and
strategy, For instance, through a gurmata, sarbatt Khalsa at the
Akal Takht resolved on 14 October 1745 to reorganize their
scattered fighting force into 25 jathas or bands of about
100 warriors each. By another gurmata on Baisakhi, 29 March 1748
the sarbatt khalsa meeting, again, at Akal Takht, formed the Dal
Khalsa or the army
of the Khalsa consisting of 11 mists or divisions. On Divali,
7 November 1760, the sarbatt khalsa resolved to attack and occupy
Lahore (till then Sikhs had not occupied any territory, their only
possession being the small fortress of Ram Rauni or Ramgarh they
had built at Amritsar in 1746). Akal Takht was again the
venue of the sarbatt khalsa on Baisakhi day, 10 April 1763, when
through gurmata it was decided to go out to the help of a Brahman
who had brought the complaint that his wife had been forcibly
abducted by the Afghan chief of Kasur.
Even
after the Punjab had been parceled into Several Sikh independencies
or kingdoms. Amritsar remained the common capital where all
sardars or chiefs had built their bungas and stationed their
vamps or agents. But as the need for a
common strategy and action decreased and rivalries among the mist chiefs
raised their head, sarbatt khalsa and correspondingly the Akal Takht lost
their political pre-eminence. Maharaja Ranjit Singh felt little need
for sarbatt khalsa assemblies after 1805 when it was summoned to
consider the question whether or not the fugitive Maratha prince
Jasvant Rao Holkar be assisted against the British. The religious
authority of the Akal Takht, however, remained intact and the State
never challenged it in any manner.
There
are in fact instances of the State showing subservience as in the case
of Maharaja Ranjit Singh himself responding to the summons from
the Akal Takht and accepting for a moral misdemeanor penalty imposed
by its custodian, Akal Phula Singh, who had fought as a loyal
soldier in several of the Maharaja's military campaigns. In spite
of its supremacy in the matter of enforcing religious discipline,
Akal Takht discharges no divine dispensation. It remits no
sins, nor does it invoke God's wrath upon anyone.
On
several occasions during the eighteenth century, Akal Takht shared
with the Harimandar desecration and destruction at the hands of
Mughal satraps and Afghan invaders. Ahmad Shah Durrani, who had
razed the Harimandar in 1762, again attacked Amritsar in December
1764. On this occasion a small band of 30 Sikhs under their leader,
Nihang Gurbakhsh Singh stationed there to serve and protect the
Akal Takht, came out to dare the invading horde and fell fighting
to the last man. Ahmad Shah had the Akal Bunga completely
demolished. Sikhs, however, continued to hold the sarbatt khalsa
in front of the ruins and decided at one
such gathering on Baisakhi, 10 April 1765, to rebuild the Akal
Bunga as well as the Harimandar. Funds for this purpose had
already been set apart from the pillage of Sirhind in
January 1764. The work was entrusted to Bhai Des Raj, who was
also furnished with Guru ki Mohar or the Guru's seal to
enable him to raise more funds. The construction of the ground
floor of the Akal Bunga was completed by 1774. The rest of
the five - storeyed domed edifice was completed during the reign
of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The gilded dome atop the building was built
by Hari Singh Nalva at his own expense. The facade of the first
four storeys including the basement (originally ground floor
but rendered partly below ground level because of the
raising of the level of the circumambulatory terrace in
front) had a semi-circular orientation. The ground door was
a large hall
With an attached pillared marble portico. The facades of the
next two floors had projected eaves supported on decorative
brackets. The facade of the third floor, a large hall
with galleries on the sides, had cupped arched openings, nine
in number. The exterior of the fourth floor, covering the central
hall of the
lower floor, was decorated with projected ornamental eaves
and a domed kiosk at each corner. The Guru Granth Sahib was
seated on the first floor, where the jathedar of the Akal Takht
also took his seat. The second floor was used for important meetings
and also for amrit prachar, administration of the initiation of
the Khalsa. The hall on the third floor was used especially for
the meetings
of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee until a
separate office block, called Teja Singh Samundari Hall,
was constructed for the purpose during the 1930's.
The
beautiful and sacred edifice was destroyed in the army action,
called Operation Blue Star, in early June 1984. The Government
of India got the building reconstructed in order to assuage the
injured feelings of the Sikhs, but this was not acceptable to
them. The reconstructed building was demolished in early 1986
to be replaced by one raised through kar-seva, voluntary free
service of the Panth and by money accruing from voluntary
donations.
After
the death of Guru Gobind Singh with whom ceased the line of living
Gurus, hukamnamas were issued in the name of the Khalsa Panth from
the different takhts, especially Akal Takht at Amritsar. Any
Sikh transgressing the religious code could be summoned, asked
to explain his conduct and punished. Disobedience amounted to social
ostracism of an individual or the group concerned. Maharaja
Ranjit Singh, 19th century ruler of the Punjab, was summoned by
Akali Phula Singh, the then jathedar of Akal Takht, for violating
established norms of
Sikh behavior. Among instances from recent
history a striking one is that of Teja Singh of Bhasaur who was censured
for the liberties, he was taking with the Sikh canon. A hukamnama issued
from the Akal Takht on 26 Savan 1985 sk/9 August 1928 read:
"The Panch Khalsa Diwan (Panch Khand. ), Bhasaur, has published books
called Gurmukhi courses in which the bani of Sri Guru Granth Sahib has
been garbled and its order changed, changes have been made
in gurmantra, the ardas and the ceremonies for administering amrit.
These are anti-Sikh proceedings. Hence Babu Teja Singh and Bibi Niranjan
Kaur [his wife] are hereby excommunicated from the Panth.
Other members of the panth Khalsa Diwan are debarred from having
ardas offered on their behalf at Sri Akal Takht Sahib or at any
other Gurdwara. No Sikh should purchase Gurmukhi courses published
by the Panch Khalsa Diwan, nor keep them in his possession. The
Panch khalsa Diwan or whoever else has copies of these should
send them to Sri Akal Takht Sahib."
An
example of an individual penalized for disobeying the Akal Takht
edict was that of Bhai Santa Singh, the Nihang, who for the charge
brought against him was excommunicated from the Panth (Hukamnama,
8 Savan 515 Nanak Shahl/22 July 1984). Hukamnamas have also been
issued to settle points of religious and political disputation;
also for commending the services to the Panth of individuals and
for adding passages to Sikh ardas, the daily prayer of
supplication, as a particular historical situation might
demand. On 26 Jeth 1984 sk/8June 1927, the Akal Takht eulogized
in a hukamnama Bhai Sahib Sardar Kharak Singh for his qualities
of determination and steadfastness and for his sacrifices in the
cause of the Panth; likewise, on 30 Bhadon 1988 sk/15 September
1931, Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh was honoured for his outstanding
services to the Panth. On 20 Asuj 1970 sk/4 October 1913, Takht
Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib promulgated a hukamnama fixing the length
of kirpan or sword a Sikh will carry slung from across his shoulder
at a minimum of one foot. On 12 Magh 483 Nanak Shahi/25 January
1952, Akal Takht enjoined upon the entire Khalsa and all
Gurdwara ministers" to add these lines to the ardas:
" O Timeless Lord, the Benevolent One, ever the succourer of
Thy Panth, we pray grant the Khalsa ji the privilege of unhindered
access to and control and maintenance of Sri Nankana Sahib and
other holy shrines and sites from which the Panth has been parted "
[after the partition of the Punjab in 1947]."
Such
writs promulgated under the seal of a Takht carry sanction for
the entire Sikh people.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Copyright © Kapur Singh "Akal Takht"
