AKAL TAKHT

(Punjabi: throne of the timeless one), primary seat of Sikh religious authority. The Akal Takht is located at Amritsar (Punjab) in the Darbar Sahib, opposite the Harimandir Sahib, or Golden Temple, the principal Sikh house of worship. Also based there is the headquarters of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Leading Akali Party), predominant among the Sikhs. Similar seats of authority (takhts) are located at Anandpur and Patiala (Punjab), Patna (Bihar), and Nanded (Maharashtra). The Akal Takht was badly damaged during Operation Bluestar in June 1984, when the Indian army routed Sikh separatist militants occupying the Golden Temple.

After he laid the foundation of the Takht, the title of "Guru" was conferred upon Hargobind in 1606. In 1708, when Guru Gobind Singh declared that the line of personal gurus (religious guides) had come to an end, the authority of the office of guru was considered to be embodied in the holy scripture, the Adi Granth (Guru Granth Sahib). Disputes in interpretation had to be settled by the entire Sikh community. Decisions were made at annual or semi-annual meetings in Amritsar (Sabat Khalsa assemblies), when groups would assemble behind their elected leaders in the open area in front of the Akal Takht. Resolutions had to be carried out unanimously; they then became gurumats (decisions of the guru) and were binding on all Sikhs. Both political and religious decisions were taken at Akal Takht meetings up until 1809, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the leader of the newly unified Sikh state, abolished political gurumats and began to seek counsel from both Sikhs and non-Sikhs. Since the twentieth century, the resolutions of local congregations on non-political matters relating to the interpretation of Sikh doctrine or rules of conduct can be appealed to the Akal Takht; decisions taken there are conveyed in the form of hukamnamas (orders). A hukamnama issued from the Akal Takht is considered mandatory for all Sikhs.