Akal Takht
The Akal Takht (Punjabi: ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ ਸਾਹਿਬ; lit. ‘Throne of the Timeless’), also spelt as Akal Takhat and historically known as Akal Bunga, is the most prominent of the five takhts (seats of authority) of the Sikhs. Located within the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, Punjab, India, it was established by Guru Hargobind in 1606 as a place to uphold justice and address temporal matters.
The Akal Takht represents the highest seat of earthly authority for the Khalsa, the collective body of initiated Sikhs and serves as the official seat of the jathedar, the supreme spokesperson and head of the Sikhs worldwide. The position of the jathedar is currently disputed between two factions. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) appointed Giani Kuldip Singh Gargaj as the acting jathedar in 2025. However, the Sarbat Khalsa, organised by several Sikh organisations in 2015, had earlier declared Jagtar Singh Hawara as the jathedar.
Due to Hawara’s political imprisonment, the Sarbat Khalsa appointed Dhian Singh Mand as the acting jathedar in his stead. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, however, has refused to recognise the authority of the 2015 Sarbat Khalsa and does not accept its appointments.
