New Westminster Sikh temple celebrates 100-year anniversary

A centennial is being marked in New Westminster this weekend.

The Gurdwara Sahib Sukh Sagaris one of the oldest Sikh temples in the country and its members are celebrating themilestone anniversary byreflecting on its historic significance to the local Sikh community.

The templewas actually founded more than100 years ago when a pioneering Sikh named Bhai Bishan Singh bought a house next door to where the building is now.

Singh paid $250 for the house, which served as a place of worship until the congregation grew too large. In 1919, Singh bought the neighbouring lot at 347 Wood Street and the Gurdwara Sahib Sukh Sagarwas born.

One hundred years later, membership is at 5,000 peopleand for some of those members, the gurdwarahas been an integral part of their life for decades.

Watch CBCreporter Belle Puri'sstory here:

Sikh's mark temple's 100th anniversary

6 years ago

Duration 4:20

One of the oldest Sikh temples in all of Canada happens to be in New Westminster Belle Puri looks at the remarkable and sometimes complicated history of the gurdwara, from its simple start in a tiny house to today's membership of 5,000 people.

A walk down memory lane

SukhiSandhu,nee Bhullar,spent her childhood going to the temple with her parents and siblings.

She remembers it as a place that always felt inclusive and where, Sandhu and her sisters,immigrants in the 1960s and 70s, felt like they belonged.

"It was a safe place to be where we felt a lot of joy and peace and compassion growing up," said Sandhu.

For Sandhu, the temple was a sanctuaryfilled with friends and family, where she remembers playing tag as communal meals were cookedin the temple kitchen.

KirinMallialso has fond memories of going to temple, until suddenly, in the mid-1980s, her family just stopped.

Turbulent times

The 1980s was a turbulent time as the fight for an independent Sikh state in India spilled into British Columbia. Amid heated debates and burstsof violence at the temple, there was also tension among members over who should be in charge of the temple.Descendents of the pioneers who actually founded the gurdwarasay they were alienated.

Malli's father served at the temple until that division.

For Malli, the 100-year mark is bittersweet because she recalls the 'warm fuzzy' feeling she had when she would visit as a child, but then also remembers the community conflict during thetense times.

But three decades have passed and the anniversary is an opportunity for the community to come together againboth temple members and the general public.

Sukhninder Singh Sangha is the director at theGurdwaraSahibSukhSagar. He said the gurdwaraoffers programs and camps for youth, seniors and the community at large. There are Punjabi classes and religious studies and a kitchen where members prepare meals for residents on Vancouver'sDowntown East Side every weekend.

Everyone welcome

During the centennial weekend, the temple opened its doors to the public to share their customs and some communal meals with the curious.

Sangha said he hopes this will give non-Sikhs a better understanding of what Sikhism is and for various communities to come together to better understand each other.

And there will be another opportunity in the fall for the public to learn more about the gurdwara's remarkable and complicated history when an exhibit about the Gurdwara Sahib Sukh Sagar opens at the New Westminster Museum.