1. One of the most fascinating
cities of northern India,
Amritsar is also one of the
most ancient and legendary
sites in the Punjab.
According to popular belief
– which is doubtless of
local origin – Valmiki wrote
his celebrated epic, the
Ramayana, near around
this hallowed site of the
"Pool of Nectar". It was
here, too, that Sita stayed
during the period of her
vanavasa (banishment).
Here again, the twin sons
of Lord Rama, were taught
the Ramayana. Yet another
legend identifies the site of
this pool with the place where the whole of Lord Rama's army was destroyed by his sons, Lava
and Kusa, and relates how at that time a jug of nectar descended from heaven to restore the
soldiers to life.
Valmiki's ashram, it is said, lay within a short distance of the renowned "Pool of Nectar". In
Valmiki's time, the area was a thick forest. There were
around Valmiki's ashram some more tanks with
historical associations. One such hexagonal tank, Ram
Tirth, is at a distance of around 1.1 kilometres from
Amritsar; the others are Ramsar, Santokhsar, Ram Talai
and Durgiana.
Guru Ram Das must have known-the legendary
importance of the place when he sanctified the pool of
nectar in the sixteenth century. The Sikh faith founded
by the saint Nanak, of which Ram Das was the fourth
Guru, was, in essence, a catholic and all-embracing
faith. It took in its stride the egalitarian traditions of Islam
and blended them with the transcendental wisdom of
Hindu thought.
Actually, it was in 1574 A.D., that Guru Ram Das made
his home by the side of the pool, which was regarded as
blessed with miraculous powers of healing. The place
where the Guru lived was known as Guru-ka-Mahal.
In 1577, Guru Ram Das, finding the air and water of his abode health-giving, purchased the pool
and some surrounding land from its owners, the neighbouring Jats. Several times, Emperor Akbar
had himself offered the grant of twelve villages to the pool, but the Guru had, on every occasion,
declined the gift. One of the first acts of Guru Ram Das was to excavate the tank further, to
construct a shrine at the centre.
( PICTURE 2: Painting of Guru Ram Das by Sewa Singh Khalsa.)

2. On the first day of Magh Sankranti Vikrami Samvat 1645 (1588 A.D.), the foundation stone of this
temple was laid by the renowned Muslim Sufi divine, Hazrat Mian Mir of Lahore, at the specific
request of Guru Arjan Dev. The followers of the Guru built their houses in the neighbourhood.
And thus there speedily came into existence a small town called Ramdaspur. The town derived
its later name, Amritsar, from the holy tank or the Pool of Immortality, ig the centre of which now
stands the Hari Mandir or Darbar Sahib – nowadays more commonly known as the Golden
Temple.
The sacred building was completed by the son and successor of Guru Ram Das, Arjan Dev. In
the lifetime of the fifth Guru, a flourishing town had begun to grow around the holy site. As the
followers of Sikhism increased in number, the town grew in stature.
This holy site became the religious resort not only of the Sikhs but also of members of various
communities seeking asylum from Imperial oppression. The Sikh Gurus encouraged all,
irrespective of caste and creed, to come to reside in Amritsar. Thus an atmosphere of religious
tolerance prevailed. And the city became a kind of refuge not only for holy men but for fighters of
freedom.