Photograph of the Golden Temple

This photograph shows one of the doorways into the interior of the Golden Temple. It shows the decorative details in the marble inlay on the bottom half of the temple as well as the details in the top gold covered part of the temple. You can see into the interior and the worshippers gathered and seated on the floor. A guard stands outside the doorway. There is an inscription above the doorway which reads: ' The great Guru in His wisdom looked upon Maharaja Ranjit Singh as his chief servitor and Sikh, and his benevolence, bestowed on him the privilege of serving the temple'.

This image was used by James Fergusson in 'Illustrations of Various styles of Indian Architecture'. He wrote 'It shows great splendour, but a marked decline in taste from the temple erected in India proper, either contemporaneously, or at an earlier date' (pl. 15).
The photograph corresponds to Beato's negative number U8 though the number itself does not appear on the print.

After the Indian army 'mutinied' in 1857 Felice Beato travelled through India photographing the sites connected with it. Although there had been incidents in Amritsar, it was not a 'Mutiny' site such as Lucknow and Delhi. In all, Beato took eleven photographs of the Golden Temple from different view points. The photographs were offered for sale to the public, ten of the 17 views of Amritsar listed in the sales catalogue were displayed in the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1867. The V&A has 11 of the 17 views, three of which were displayed in Paris and retain their original 1867 mounts marked with their 1867 catalogue numbers.

Beato took many photographs of the Golden Temple from many viewpoints. This one shows the doorway leading to the interior. The incription on the doorway reads: 'The great Guru in His wisdom looked upon Maharaja Ranjit Singh as his chief servitor and Sikh, and his benevolence, bestowed on him the privilege of serving the temple'.

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