Golden Temple Timeline

At age 22, Maharaja Ranjit Singh took Amritsar from the Bhangi misl, paid homage at the Golden Temple and announced that he would renovate and rebuild it with marble and gold.

Image source: Ranjit Singh

The first gilded copper panel was placed on the shrine in 1803, beginning the golden adornment that gave the temple its famous name.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh, after founding the Sikh Empire, rebuilt the temple in marble and copper in 1809, and in 1830 donated gold to overlay the sanctum with gold leaf.

Ranjit Singh appointed Sardar Desa Singh Majithia (1768–1832) to manage the temple and made land grants whose collected revenue was assigned to pay for its maintenance and operation.

Image source: Majithia family

Ganda Singh Peshawari sent his donation for the Golden Temple's works in the year 1823.

Starting in 1846 after the first Anglo-Sikh war, the British Resident in Lahore began engaging with the management of the complex. Henry Lawrence signed an order regarding monetary allowances in November 1847, and after annexation in 1849 the complex was managed by mahants under British control until 1859.

Following controversy over direct British management and a meeting headed by Raja Teja Singh, an agreement was reached on 12 September 1859. A new document, the Dastur ul-Amal, was formulated to restructure administration, and its outline was followed until the Gurdwara Reform movement of the 1920s.

Construction of the clock tower at the Golden Temple started in 1862 and was completed in 1874.

Since 1866, the Amrit Sarovar of the Golden Temple complex has been fed water from the Jethuwal distributory of the Upper Bari Doab via a connection between the Kaulsar Sarovar and Amrit Sarovar.

The Golden Temple became a centre of the Singh Sabha Movement between 1883 and the 1920s. The late-19th-century movement sought to rejuvenate and reform Sikhism amid active proselytising by Christians, Hindus and Muslims, bringing Khalsa control back over gurdwara administration from the mahant class.

Image source: Singh Sabha movement

Before 1905, the Golden Temple had Brahmin priests, idols and images for at least a century. With the campaign of the Tat Khalsa in 1905, these idols and images were removed from the Golden Temple.

Image source: Tat Khalsa

Since the 1900s, the sarovar has been regularly cleaned through communal Kar Seva projects, with the first modern one held on 17 June 1923. The SGPC had come into power in 1921, ending the Giani family's exclusive right to perform Katha dating back to 1788.

The Golden Temple became a centre of the Punjabi Suba Movement between 1947 and 1966. The policy was first presented in April 1948 by the Shiromani Akali Dal, seeking a Punjabi-speaking state. Key events included the 1955 government raid and the Amritsar Convention of 1955. The movement culminated in setting Punjab's current borders in 1966.

Image source: Punjabi Suba movement

In December 1983, Harchand Singh Longowal, President of the Akali Dal, invited Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to take up residence in the Golden Temple Complex to evade arrest. Bhindranwale organised the armed militants present at the Harmandir Sahib in June 1984.

Image source: Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale

A few months after the government operation of 1984, major kar seva renovations were undertaken at the shrine complex, including a complete draining and cleaning of the temple tank by volunteers. The gurdwara complex was again rebuilt after the 1984 attack.

Image source: Sevā

After negotiations with militants failed, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to launch Operation Blue Star between 1 and 8 June 1984, attacking scores of gurudwaras across Punjab. Army units surrounded the complex on 3 June. Thousands of soldiers, militants and civilians died, the Akal Takht was destroyed, and the gurdwara suffered significant damage.

Image source: Operation Blue Star

Five months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated in revenge by her two Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. Public outcry led to the killings of more than 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi alone in the ensuing 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Image source: Assassination of Indira Gandhi

In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi ordered repairs to the Akal Takht Sahib. These repairs were rejected and removed, and Sikhs themselves rebuilt the Akal Takht Sahib in 1999.

Image source: Akal Takht

The area around the temple, including Bungas such as the Burj Gianian destroyed in 1988, was made into a public park which opened in June 1988.

In December 2021, a young man was allegedly beaten to death after disrupting the Rehras Sahib (evening prayer) at the sanctum of the temple.

The 2023 Golden Temple blasts occurred on 7 May and on 9 May 2023, shocking devotees and prompting investigations at the revered shrine.