Clad with local sandstone and evoking the fortress cities of Rajasthan, Gwalior and Punjab, the Khalsa Heritage Centre acknowledges the Sikhs’ history as celebrated warriors. The upwardly curving roofs of the museum’s tower-like galleries are covered in stainless steel, designed in counterpoint to the rich tradition of gold domes that crown sacred Sikh buildings such as the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

The Khalsa Heritage Centre is a museum of the Sikh people located in the holy town of Anandpur Sahib, near Chandigarh in the Punjab state. The museum celebrates 500 years of Sikh history and the 300th anniversary of Khalsa, the scriptures written by the 10th and last Guru, Gobind Singh, founder of the modern Sikh faith.

Located on a 75-acre site overlooking the town, the Centre is divided into two functionally integrated sets of buildings, which straddle either side of a ravine and are connected by a bridge. The western complex, connected to the town of Anandpur Sahib, is organized around an entrance piazza and contains a 400-seat auditorium, a two-story library, and temporary exhibition galleries. A 540-foot long bridge from the western complex crosses a seven-acre network of reflecting pools, providing access to the eastern complex, which houses permanent exhibition spaces. The eastern complex consists of two clusters of undulating galleries that evoke the fortress architecture of the region and form a dramatic skyline against the surrounding sand cliff terrain and Himalayan foothills in the distance.

• Collaborators

  Ashok Dhawan: Associate Architects
  Amardeep Behl, Design Habit, Exhibition Designer
  Tandon Consultants PVT. LTD. Structural Consultant
  Ener Save Consultants PVT. LTD. HVAC Consultant
  R. K. Gupta & Associates Plumbing and Fire Fighting Systems Consultant
  Kanwar Krishen Associates PVT. LTD. Electrical Consultant
  Satish Khanna Landscape Consultant

• Clients

  Anandpur Sahib Foundation

• Cost

  $38.3 million