Anandpur Sahib Museum

Anandpur Sahib Museum

khalsa Heritage Memorial

The Khalsa Heritage Memorial is a new museum of the Sikh people located on a 75-acre site in the holy city of Anandpur Sahib, near Chandigarh. The museum celebrates 500 years of Sikh history and the 300th anniversary of the Khalsa, the scriptures written by the 10th and last Guru, Gobind Singh, founder of the modern Sikh faith. In the project, two complexes straddle either side of a ravine and are connected by a ceremonial bridge. The smaller, western complex is organized around an entrance piazza and contains a 400-seat auditorium, two-story library, and temporary exhibition galleries. The eastern complex contains the cylindrical memorial building as well as extensive, permanent, interpretive exhibition space, consisting of two clusters of undulating galleries that evoke the fortress architecture of the region (most evident in a nearby temple) and form a dramatic silhouette against the surrounding cliff terrain. The gathering of the galleries in groups of five reflects the Five Virtues, a central tenet of the Sikh faith. The buildings are constructed of poured-in-place concrete; some beams and columns will remain exposed, while the bulk of the structures will be clad in a local honey-colored stone. The rooftops, to be clad in stainless steel, exhibit a double curvature; they effectively gather and reflect the sky while a series of dams in the ravine create pools that reflect the entire complex at night.