After 1965, 1971 wars, lights at Golden Temple switched off again for ‘blackout’ drill

Fifty-four years later, a situation arose again that lights in the Golden Temple complex had to be turned off as part of the ‘blackout’ directive given under the nation-wide civil defence mock drill in the wake of escalating tension between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Former SGPC secretary Kulwant Singh recalled that similar circumstances had erupted twice earlier—- during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars —- when lights of the Golden Temple complex were switched off on security grounds. Nonetheless, keeping in view the ‘rehat maryada’ (Sikh code of conduct), the sanctum sanctorum and other spots in the complex where the ‘parkash’ (illumination ceremony) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib was being initiated, were barred from this exercise.

“In 1965, I was deputy secretary. I remember that an Englishman, who had incidentally come to pay obeisance then, had approached me to inquire about it. When I apprised him about the compulsion of switching off the lights, his comments were: “Still, this spiritual place possesses such a mesmerising vista even in the dark that could not be described in words, unmatchable in the world,” he said.

Generally, the permanent illumination at After 1965, the Golden Temple, now studded with special high-tech lighting system, is admired worldwide and was never put off, except under exceptional conditions.

In Amritsar, the blackout order was implemented between 10.30-11 pm yesterday. This meant all lights, including those at the Golden Temple, were switched off.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) secretary Partap Singh said that this exercise had to be acknowledged keeping in view the importance of the civil defence drills undertaken as part of preparedness against hostile threats and was planned.

“In compliance, the whole complex, including parikrama, was plunged into darkness during the designated span. Observing the ‘maryada’, the lights were on at places where the ‘parkash’ of Sri Guru Granth Sahib was being held, but kept in dim mode,” he said.

Similarly, there were many spots in the complex where the ‘Akhand Path’ was being performed as per the routine practice. Partap Singh said that the lights were on at these places as the continuity of ‘path’ was to be maintained, but the doors of the rooms were closed. An Akhand Path is a continuous, uninterrupted reading of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhism, from beginning to end.

Amritsar