What is the name of the golden Sikh temple in Amritsar, India?

The golden Sikh temple in Amritsar, India, is the Golden Temple, also known as Harmandir Sahib or Darbar Sahib.

The shrine stands in the middle of the Amrit Sarovar, a sacred pool in the gurdwara complex. Guru Ram Das developed the pool in 1577, and Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh Guru, helped establish the temple as a major spiritual center. In 1604, Guru Arjan placed the Adi Granth there, an important predecessor to the present Guru Granth Sahib.

The building has been rebuilt several times after attacks by Mughal and Afghan forces. Its famous golden appearance dates especially to the early 19th century, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh supported renovations in marble and copper; gold leaf was applied to the sanctum in the 1830s.

A common mix-up is treating “Golden Temple” as the formal name. Harmandir Sahib is the shrine’s principal name, while “Golden Temple” is the widely used English nickname. It is a gurdwara, not a Hindu temple, and it is Sikhism’s most important pilgrimage site.