Virasat-e-Khalsa, Anandpur Sahib, Punjab Images

Built to commemorate 300 years of the founding of the ‘Khalsa Panth‘ by the 10th Master, Guru Gobind Singh, the ‘Virasat-e-Khalsa’ museum in the Sikh holy town of Anandpur Sahib in Punjab has emerged as the museum with the highest footfall in the country.

Just over seven years after it was inaugurated in November 2011, the museum has been seen by over 9.7 million (97 lakh) visitors so far.

On average over 5,000 visitors visit the museum daily, tourism department officials said.

Located close to Takht Keshgarh Sahib, the second most important Sikh shrine (after the Golden Temple complex) in Anandpur Sahib, 85 km from Chandigarh, where the Khalsa Panth — a kind of Praetorian Guard — was founded by Guru Gobind Singh on April 13, 1699.

Spread across 6,500-square metres, the ‘Virasat-e-Khalsa’ museum narrates the story of Punjab and Sikhism using hand-crafted artefacts and the latest technology in an interactive manner.

Designed by acclaimed Israeli architect Moshe Safdie, an urban planner with a celebrated 50-year career in designing structures worldwide, the museum is a story-telling repository — the first on this scale in the world.

“The museum has been envisioned as the world’s largest cultural and historical museum dedicated to a single community.

Virasat-e-Khalsa, Anandpur Sahib, Punjab Images