The Golden Temple of Amritsar

One of my ten favorite holy sites on earth. The primary sacred shrine of the Sikhs. The lake around the Temple was enlarged and structurally contained during the leadership of the fourth Sikh Guru (Ram Dass, 1574-1581), and during the leadership of the fifth Guru (Arjan, 1581-1606), the Hari Mandir, or Temple of God was built. From the early 1600s to the mid 1700s the sixth through tenth Sikh Gurus were constantly involved in defending both their religion and their temple against Muslim armies. The Temple was repeatedly destroyed by Muslims, and each time was rebuilt more beautifully by the Sikhs. The temple's architecture draws on both Hindu and Moslem artistic styles yet represents a unique coevolution of the two.