Gurudwaras

Gurudwaras

Spiritual & Pilgrimage

Sikh shrines and the langar that runs at all of them, around the clock, for anyone.

11 places

Anandpur Sahib
Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib
One of the five Takhts, on the rise where the Khalsa was instituted in 1699. Guru Gobind Singh's weapons are kept here and brought out for viewing.
Hemkund Sahib
Ghangaria Gurudwara
The gurudwara six kilometres below Hemkund, where almost everyone sleeps before the final climb. Free langar and dormitory space. The village has little else and closes completely in winter.
Damdama Sahib (Talwandi Sabo)
Takht Sri Damdama Sahib
The Takht gurdwara where the final Guru Granth Sahib was compiled.
Patna
Takht Sri Patna Sahib
A sacred Sikh Takht marking the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh.
Nanded (Hazur Sahib)
Takht Sri Hazur Sahib
The golden-domed Takht gurdwara on the banks of the Godavari.
Punjab
Amritsar (Golden Temple)
The Golden Temple sits lower than the ground around it, and you walk down steps to reach the water. That is deliberate: nearly every other temple in India makes you climb up to it. It has four doors, one on each side, for the same reason — the building is meant to be entered from any direction, by anyone. Head covered, shoes off, feet through the water channel at the entrance, and nobody will ask you anything else. The langar behind the complex feeds on the order of a hundred thousand people a day, more at weekends, on donated food and volunteer labour. The dish hall takes anyone who turns up to help, and half an hour in it tells you more about the place than any guidebook. The Akal Takht faces the sanctum across the water. It is the seat of temporal authority in Sikhism, and those two buildings looking at each other across a pool is the whole argument of the faith in one view.
Punjab
Anandpur Sahib
Anandpur Sahib, translating to the 'Holy City of Bliss', matters as much as anywhere in the Sikh faith outside Amritsar. It sits at the foothills of the scenic Shivalik mountain range along the Sutlej River loop in Punjab, the town is structurally dominated by white-stone fortress-style Gurdwaras. It serves as a center for theological studies and martial heritage curation. The spiritual nucleus of the city is the Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, one of the five supreme temporal seats (Takhts) of Sikh authority. The city architecture is backdropped by the Virasat-e-Khalsa museum, an architectural marvel designed by Israeli architect Moshe Safdie that meticulously brings out 500 years of rich Sikh history and regional cultural traditions.
Punjab
Damdama Sahib (Talwandi Sabo)
Takht Sri Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo is one of the five Takhts of Sikhism, the place where Guru Gobind Singh prepared the definitive recension of the Guru Granth Sahib. Known as the 'Guru's Kashi' (seat of learning), it is a major centre during Baisakhi.
Punjab
Fatehgarh Sahib
Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib rises in white marble over the site of Sikhism's most heart-rending sacrifice — where in 1704 the two youngest sons of Guru Gobind Singh, aged just seven and nine, were bricked alive by the Sirhind governor for refusing to abandon their faith. The underground Bhora Sahib preserves the wall's site; nearby stand Mata Gujri's tower prison and the shrine of Todar Mal, who bought the cremation ground with gold coins laid edge to edge.
Uttarakhand
Hemkund Sahib
One of the highest and most revered Sikh shrines in the world, next to a glacial lake surrounded by seven mountain peaks. Gurdwara Sri Hemkund Sahib is a renowned pilgrimage center located at an astounding altitude of 4,572 metres (15,000 feet) in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. It is sacred to both the Sikh community and Hindu devotees.
Maharashtra
Nanded (Hazur Sahib)
Takht Sri Hazur Sahib at Nanded is one of the five Takhts (seats of temporal authority) of Sikhism, marking the place where Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, passed away and declared the Guru Granth Sahib the eternal Guru. Its golden-domed gurdwara on the Godavari draws Sikh pilgrims from across the world.