Beginning early in the morning and lasting until long past sunset, these hymns are chanted in the Golden Temple to the exquisite accompaniment of flutes, drums, and stringed instruments. Echoing across the peaceful lake, this enchantingly beautiful music creates a delicate yet powerful state of trance in the pilgrims strolling around the pool and temple. An underground spring feeds the sacred lake, and throughout the day and night pilgrims immerse themselves in the water, a symbolic cleansing of the soul rather than an actual bathing of the body, in the belief that the water contained in it, has a tremendous healing power. Next to the temple are enormous pilgrims' dormitories and dining halls where everyone, irrespective of race, religion, or gender, are lodged and fed for free.
Dukh Bhanjni Beri (a tree, which is considered to have a miraculous power to destroy incurable diseases), is situated on the northern side of the tank. A leper (the husband of Rajni, the daughter of a revenue collector in Amritsar) was healed after dipping into the pond. The Dukh Bhanjni Beri stands majestically until today, where the banks of the pond were in those times.
The structure of the shrine blends the rectangular form of the Hindu temple with the Muslim dome and minarets. According to the official list of buildings of interest, published by the Punjab Government in 1875, the design of the temple, as reconstructed by Ranjit Singh, was borrowed from the shrine of Saint Mian Mir, near Lahore. It was regarded as a handsome style of architecture combining Hindu and Muslim influences with elaborations that gave it an appearance of its own.
The path leading to the Harmandir Sahib, with the rectangular shaped walk around the pool was built to end at the gateway to emphasize the start of reality. Guru Ji had the Harmandir Sahib designed in such a way to allow the outside and the inside to combine, so that people could view its inner splendor while looking at the beauty of the outer house and body of God. The architecture of the temple is a blend of Muslim and Hindu artistic styles and is ornamented richly with marble structures, golden gilding and large quantities of precious stones.
The sacred pool of nectar is 150 metres square and in the centre the temple rises approached by a 60 metres long causeway. On the western side of the pool, an archway called the Darshani Diode opens to the causeway. It is bordered with ballustrades of fretted marble and at close intervals, great lanterns set on marble columns. The causeway leads to the 52 metre square based Harmandir, which stands on a 20 metre square platform. The upper parts are covered with plates of beaten Gold and lower areas are structured of white marble.