Amritsar bids for world heritage list

By Asit Jolly
BBC correspondent in Chandigarh

The Golden Temple in Amritsar

Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, is undergoing a UN survey that could lead to its listing as a world heritage site.

Professor Eman ul-Haq is carrying out the survey for the UN's education and cultural organisation, Unesco.

The survey comes as the temple in the north Indian state of Punjab prepares grand celebrations to observe the 400th anniversary of the Sikh Holy Book or Guru Granth Sahib.

Professor ul-Haq has spent the past two days closely examining the Golden Temple and its surroundings, including the buffer zone or corridor surrounding the religious complex.

His formal report on historical, cultural and architectural factors will be the basis on which the International Council on Monuments and Sites and Unesco decide whether it makes the world heritage list.

Celebrations

Both the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee - the Sikh committee that manages the affairs of the shrine - and the state government have promised to do everything possible to fulfil the requirements.

Punjab chief minister, Amarinder Singh, on Wednesday met Professor ul-Haq in Amritsar to assure him of the government's full support.

Every practising Sikh aspires to visit the temple at least once

The committee and the state government are particularly keen on seeing the temple declared a world heritage site ahead of or the series of celebrations planned to observe two important Sikh religious events.

The first will be the quadri-centennial of the formal installation of the Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, on 1 September.

This will be followed in December by the 300th anniversary of the martyrdom of the sons of the 10th Sikh Guru.

From 1 September, the Golden Temple and Amritsar will become the central focus of Sikhism amid a series of events to be attended by India's president, prime minister and more than two million devotees.

While the government is preparing to receive the huge rush of visitors in Amritsar, the Sikh committee is busy fine-tuning the religious side of things.

Work is on to complete a special gold palanquin, or paalki, to carry the Guru Granth Sahib scripture on the 400th anniversary of its installation.