Sacred
Sikh Places

Sri Akal Takht Sahib

📍 Amritsar, Punjab, India

Built by Guru Hargobind Ji (1606)

The first and highest of the five Takhts (Thrones of Authority). Akal Takht is the seat of temporal authority for the Sikh community — where major decisions affecting all Sikhs worldwide are made.

Built by Guru Hargobind Ji in 1606, directly across from Harmandir Sahib, Akal Takht was built to be deliberately taller than any other structure in the area. Where Harmandir Sahib represents spiritual devotion (Piri), Akal Takht represents worldly justice and authority (Miri). T…

Takht Sri Patna Sahib

📍 Patna, Bihar, India

The birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Sikh Guru. One of the five holiest sites (Takhts) in Sikhism.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji was born here on December 22, 1666, in the city of Patna (then the Mughal-controlled city of Azimabad). His father, Guru Teg Bahadur Ji, was away on a missionary journey. The young Gobind Rai spent the first four years of his life here, surrounded by devoted …

Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib

📍 Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, India

Built by Guru Gobind Singh Ji

The birthplace of the Khalsa. It was here, on Baisakhi Day, April 13, 1699, that Guru Gobind Singh Ji created the Khalsa Panth and gave Sikhs their eternal identity with the five Ks.

Anandpur Sahib (City of Bliss) was founded by Guru Teg Bahadur Ji and developed by Guru Gobind Singh Ji into the spiritual and military capital of the Sikhs. On Baisakhi 1699, Guru Gobind Singh Ji called all Sikhs to gather here. He emerged from his tent with a drawn sword and as…

Takht Sri Hazur Sahib

📍 Nanded, Maharashtra, India

The site where Guru Gobind Singh Ji passed from this world in 1708 and where he declared the Guru Granth Sahib Ji as the eternal Guru. One of the most sacred Takhts.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji came to Nanded (then called Nander) in 1708 while traveling south to meet the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah. In Nanded, he met the Hindu ascetic Madho Das, who became his devoted Sikh — Banda Singh Bahadur — and was sent to liberate Punjab. In October 1708, Gur…

Takht Sri Damdama Sahib

📍 Talwandi Sabo, Punjab, India

The 'breathing place' of Guru Gobind Singh Ji — where he rested after the battles of 1704-1705 and where he compiled the final version of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

After the devastating events of 1704-1705 — the battles, the loss of all four sons, the hardships — Guru Gobind Singh Ji came to rest at Talwandi Sabo, calling it his Damdama (breathing place, a place of rest). Here, dictating from memory to Bhai Mani Singh Ji, he compiled the fi…

Sri Harmandir Sahib

📍 Amritsar, Punjab, India

The most sacred Sikh shrine in the world. Also known as the Golden Temple, it is covered in gold and surrounded by the sacred Amrit Sarovar (Pool of Nectar). It is the spiritual and cultural heart of Sikhism.

Guru Ram Das Ji purchased the land and dug the sacred pool (Amrit Sarovar). His son, Guru Arjan Dev Ji, built the Harmandir Sahib in the center of the pool between 1588 and 1604. In a powerful act of equality and humility, Guru Arjan Dev Ji placed the temple l…

Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib

📍 Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, India

The site of the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur Ji, the ninth Sikh Guru, who was publicly beheaded here in 1675 for defending the religious freedom of Kashmiri Hindus.

On November 11, 1675, Guru Teg Bahadur Ji was publicly beheaded at Chandni Chowk by order of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. His three companions — Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das, and Bhai Dyal Das — were tortured and killed in the days preceding the Guru's martyrdom,…

Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib

📍 Sirhind, Punjab, India

The site where the two younger Sahibzadas — Zorawar Singh (age 8) and Fateh Singh (age 5) — were bricked alive by the Mughal governor Wazir Khan for refusing to convert to Islam.

In December 1704, Sahibzada Zorawar Singh Ji and Sahibzada Fateh Singh Ji were betrayed and captured near Sirhind along with their grandmother Mata Gujri Ji. They were imprisoned in the cold Thanda Burj (cold tower). When brought before the governor Wazir Khan…

Gurdwara Hemkund Sahib

📍 Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India (altitude 4,633 m)

One of the highest Gurudwaras in the world, set beside a glacial lake in the Himalayas. Guru Gobind Singh Ji described in his autobiography (Bachittar Natak) meditating here in a previous life.

In the Bachittar Natak (Wondrous Drama), Guru Gobind Singh Ji wrote that in a previous existence, he meditated for a very long time at a place with seven mountains around a lake, where he achieved union with God before being sent back to the world for his divi…

Gurdwara Janam Asthan — Nankana Sahib

📍 Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Pakistan

The birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev Ji — the founder of Sikhism. One of the holiest sites in the Sikh world, located in what is now Pakistan.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born on April 15, 1469, in the village of Rai Bhoi Ki Talwandi — now called Nankana Sahib (named after the Guru). The Gurudwara marks the exact spot of his birth. Before the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, Nankana Sahib was the m…