Sikhs upset over Golden Temple rival

Imitation is sometimes not the most acceptable form of flattery.

Similar to the controversy over Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh emulating the tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, a gurdwara committee in the Sangrur district is igniting another row —  over the construction of a Golden Temple replica.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, taking strong exception, directed the management of the Gurdwara Sachkhand Angitha Sahib to immediately stop work on the gurdwara, even as Akal Takht head priest Gurbachan Singh called it a sacrilege.
SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar said the Sangrur gurdwara must immediately stop operations in Mastuana village and tender an apology or they will be responsible for the consequences.

Makkar said no one would be allowed to copy the holy shrine, designed by the fifth Guru Arjan Dev.

A three-member committee inspected the shrine on Tuesday. In its report to the Akal Takht head priest, the committee called it “a blatant attempt to exactly copy the design of the Harmandar Sahib”.

Started in 1967, construction of the replica was banned by the Akal Takht in 1996.
The gurdwara committee resumed construction in the run-up to the recent Lok Sabha election.