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COMMUNITY
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HISTORIC ABBOTSFORD GUR SIKH TEMPLE RE-OPENS SUNDAY AFTER RESTORATION |
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Back in July 2002, The VOICE broke the story that then Prime Minister Jean Chretien would declare the old Khalsa Diwan Society temple at 33089 South Fraser Way in Abbotsford as a national historic site on the last day of the month (July 31). That caught everyone by surprise because the Queen was expected to do that later that year during her Golden Jubilee visit to Canada.
Now, almost five years later, the restored gurdwara will be re-opened officially on Sunday, April 1.
Head of the reconstruction committee Norm Sangha, who was the temple president in 2002, told The VOICE this week that among those who will be attending the ceremony are Premier Gordon Campbell, federal Parliamentary Secretary for Canadian Heritage Jim Abbott and Punjab minister Hira Singh Gabria.
Sangha said the Nagar Kirtan (ceremonial religious parade) will start at 10 a.m. from the new Gurdwara and will take about 45 minutes to arrive at the old temple.
There will be a public function outside the gurdwara from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. when representatives of various Sikh societies and VIPs will address the congregation. From 1 to 2:30 p.m. various political dignitaries, including Campbell, Abbott and Gabria will give speeches after which the ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place.
Sangha said the restoration has cost about $2.5 million, which includes a government grant of $550,000 and $600,000 from fundraising. Sangha said the community was continuing to donate generously and he was confident that they would be able to pay back the rest of the loan.
The Gur Sikh Temple was built in 1911 by Sikh pioneers who worked in the nearby sawmill owned by the Trethewey family. The owners generously donated lumber for its construction.
According to a write-up by the gurdwara, the project was spearheaded by Sunder Singh Thandi who worked for the Abbotsford Lumber Company. Together with Arjan Singh he purchased the one-acre property, located on a prominent hilltop outside the Abbotsford village and close to the mill, for $3000. They donated the land to the Khalsa Diwan Society and raised some funds from the community. It is the only temple from the pioneer phase of Sikh settlement that has survived intact.
The first Sikhs arrived in Abbotsford in 1905 and within a few years they grew to about 50 people, many of them employed at the Trethewey family's Abbotsford Lumber Company on Mill Lake.
It's interesting to note that the Gurdwara reflects the architectural adaptation of Sikh tradition to Canadian culture because at that early stage of immigration, the Sikhs preferred to blend in rather than emphasize their differences.
The wood-frame gable-roofed building with a flase front facing the street followed a popular building form. This was adapted to accommodate the various ritual requirements of the gurdwara: a prayer hall located on the upper floor, a community kitchen of langar on the ground floor and doors on all four elevations. A staircase at the south entrance façade leads to the prayer hall and to the upper floor balconies along the east and west sides.
Another important feature of the site is the Nishan Sahib - a tall, distinctive flagpole which heralds the presence of a gurdwara - and the base of the original Nishan Sahib, which was made from a 70-foot-high tree.
The temple was enlarged at the back in 1932 to extend the prayer hall and a second addition was built in the late 1960s Though a number of changes have been made inside and outside the building, yet overall it retains much of its original features.
Although the historic gurdwara is no longer used for regular worship, it remains an important community resource. Senior members of the community get together here during the day. Some of them read the Sikh holy scriptures, the Guru Granth Sahib. They also discuss their religious and social affairs.
In the end, one must remember Jean Chretien's contributions to the Indo-Canadian community.
As then federal minister Herb Dhaliwal told The VOICE back in 2002: "If we look at the prime minister, he appointed the first Indo-Canadian to the bench - Wally Oppal (now a B.C. Supreme Court judge). It was under his leadership that we got the first Indo-Canadians in Parliament, the first Indo-Canadian Cabinet minister, and if you go beyond that, the first member of the Chinese Canadian community to become governor-general in this country. These were all breaking new grounds.
"More women have been appointed to the Senate than ever before, more women appointed to political patronage positions, and contrary to what some people are saying, many appointments from our community - Canada Place, the Export Development Corporation, the Prime Minister's Round Table on the Economy and the Environment, Canada Pension Plan Review Board, Immigration and Refugee Board, Farm Credit Corporation. I can you give you lists and lists of people across the country from our community who have been appointed to boards and commissions and Crown corporations.
"The stamp on 100 years of Sikhs in Canada - the prime minister was there to unveil it himself."
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