An outline of Sikh architectureby S.S. BhattiSo little has been written about Sikh architecture that it is difficult for anyone to believe that such a style of architecture exists at all. It is ironic that whereas the Sikhs are known the world over for their characteristic vigor, valor, versatility, above

SAMMAN BURJ, also called Musamman Burj, an octagonal tower commanding a wide range of buildings within the Lahore Fort, was built by Emperor Akbar, who made the city his capital for some time. Within the Fort was situated the royal palace which was enlarged by Jahangir and,

SAROVAR, a tank, pool or lake, especially at a sacred place or by a holy shrine used for sacramental ablutions and other religious ceremonies. Sanskrit synonyms are sar, sarvar, tarag and vapl. Another word is puskar or puskarini which usually means a pond full of lotus

AKAL BUNGA, lit. the abode of the Timeless One, is the building that houses the Akal Takht in the precincts of the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar. The term is also used sometimes synonymously with Akal Takht. Strictly speaking, while Akal Takht is the institution possessing and exercising

GOBINDGARH FORT, raised in the lime of Maharaja Ranjit Singh on the ruins of an old fortress built at Amritsar by Guj[jar Singh (d. 1788) of the Bharigi clan, was named in honour of Guru Gobind Singh. The Fort took four years, 1805-09, to build. According to

HARIMANDAR (lit. the House of God; hari = Visnu, or God; mandar = temple, house), Golden Temple to the English speaking world, is the Sikhs` most famous sacred shrine. Also called Sri Darbar Sahib (the Exalted Holy Court), it lies in the heart of the city of

MUKHLISGARH FORT on the lower slopes of the Sivalak foothills in Sadhaura parganah of Sirhind sarkar was, established by Mukhlis Khan, a minor chief during the reign of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1628-58). Banda Smgh Bahadur (1670-1716), after the conquest of Sadhaura and Sirhind in 1710

QILA GUJJAR SINGH, a residential area within the limits of Lahore, was designated a "fort" when in April 1765 the city was parcelled out among the three Bharigi Sardars, Gujjar Singh, Lahina Singh and Sobha Singh. The area outside the walled city of Lahore, about five square miles,

RAM RAUNI, later known as Ramgarh Fort, was a small mud fortress built in April 1748 near Ramsar, in Amritsar, to provide shelter to scattered Sikh jathas, in Mughal Punjab. Sikh sardars, along with their bands, assembled at Amritsar on the Baisakhi day of 1748 and set

RAM SINGH, SARDAR BAHADUR (d. 1916), eminent architect, was born in a Ramgarhia family and started working in a woodcarver`s shop in Amritsar where he attracted the notice of Mr Kipling, the first principal of the Mayo School of Industrial Arts, Lahore. The Mayo School of Industrial

SIKH ARCHITECTURE, style and design of building conspicuously popular among the Sikhs, is owed primarily to their religious monuments. Their secular edifices such as fortresses, palaces, samadhs (mausoleums built over places of cremation), havelis (fortified houses), bungas (residential cum educational houses ), educational institutions, etc, are no different from the

WALI QANDHARl (lit. Saint of Qandahar) was, according to a tradition popularized by Bhai Bala Janam Sakhi and Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Nanak Prakash, a Muslim recluse putting up on top of a hill near Hasan Abdal, now in Campbellpore (Attock) district of Pakistan Punjab. Accompanied by Bhai Mardana,