Founding of Amritsar and the Golden Temple

The fourth Sikh Guru, Ram Das, founded Amritsar around its sacred pool in 1577, and his son Guru Arjan built the Harmandir Sahib in the centre, installing the first edition of the Sikh scripture there in 1604. Rebuilt after Afghan attacks and later covered in gilded copper under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, it is Sikhism's holiest shrine and feeds tens of thousands of visitors free each day.