REVIEW: SIKH GOLDEN TEMPLE [HARIMANDIR] ABODE OF GOD

THE GLIMPSES OF THE HARIMANDIR THE ABODE OF GOD by Sarup Singh Alag

Hardcover; 224 pages; this is one of only 1,000 copies printed of the “Fourth Revised Deluxe Edition”, July, 2000.  This book is an English translation of the Panjabi original, and the translation is atrocious, with at least five grammatical errors or spelling mistakes on each and every page of the book.  Even the title of the book has an punctuation error.  The book also requires an editor --- about 70% of the book is excess verbiage – unnecessary flowery language which displays the author’s vanity and detracts from the substantive content of the book.  This chest-thumping includes many passages repeating the inane remarks of insignificant tourists, giving the impression that the author is using the book to re-pay social obligations by naming all of these people, rather than carrying on with his stated intent:  explaining, in a logical and coherent manner, the religious and theological meaning of the building.  In this respect, the book becomes an unconscious sociological and economic exposition of the reasons that the underlying culture of the religion’s proponents has always failed to provide economic prosperity.  If the reader can surmount these most irritating hurdles, he will find the hidden gems [not more than 40 pages of the book] which do provide a most useful exposition of the meaning of the Golden Temple to the adherents of the Sikh religion.  The book could also use more illustrations – it has only one photograph of the Temple’s interior, showing about two dozen sleepy gadabouts lounging amongst dusty carpets in an extremely cluttered and disorderly bed chamber [probably bored by the author].  Two electric fans are visible, demonstrating that modern conveniences are necessary to replace a faith which isn’t working, and that the architecture cannot meet the cooling abilities of true sacred geometry.

ITEM YG73 in the Nebiru Crossing bookstore

reviewed by Natt Morris