It is one hundred and one years ago that Sikhs built their first Gurdwara in North America, Thus, year 1991 has specially Significance in the annals of Sikh history in North America. It is the year of 101th Anniversary of the first Sikh Gurdwara in North American continent.

According to the book, Kinbasker Country – The Story of Golden and the Columbia Valley, published in 1972 by the Golden and District Historical Society, a Sikh Temple was built in the city of Golden, B.C in 1890, The Golden Society extracted evidence for this Gurdwara from the annals Of Golden historical records available with many institutions. AS a result of this discovery, the Heritage Conservation Branch of British Columbia Ministry of (Cultures considering installing ahistorical plague in the city of Golden to commemorate the installation of first Gurdwara in North America. There is no other record of any Gurdwara building in North America before this date. The Ross Road Gurdwara in Vancouver is believed to have been built in 1908.

Both, my wife Amrita and I went to visit the city of Golden (population 3600) this year. The city is located on the Trans- Canada Highway at the confluence of the (Columbia and Kicking Horse rivers. It is a gateway to Glacier National Park that lead to Yoho, Banff and Jasper National Parks in the Canadian Rocky mountains, these are the most heavenly places that we ever visited and we were immediately reminded Of the Hem Kund valley described in Bachiter Natak of Guru Gobind Singh.

A few miles in from Golden is found a Jake of clear blue water surrounded by seven peaks of many glaciers. It is so beautiful that a painting of this lake was chosen as an emblem printed on $20 note of Canadian currency.

We found mention of Sikhs and the first Gurdwara in many records of Golden City In addition, the coming of Sikhs and in Spallation of the Gurdwara are vividly remembered by many old-timers living in this city. The last resident who personal! knew the first contingent of Sikhs coming 0 Golden died only a few years ago, Sikh are said to have come to this lumber mill town in 1880, Hari Singh who is recorded to have fought in Royal Canadian Amy in World War 1 came to this town in 1902. Hari Singh was noticed for his silk turban, The Golden Star newspaper often recorded Stories about Sikh old timers. On July 10, 1991, the Star published an article by Manmohan Singh Minhas in commemoration of the role played by Sikhs in development and economy of the City of Golden.

We were told that the original Gurdwara was built on the land given by The Columbia River Lumber Co. It was housed in a wooden building with Sikh emblem and Nishan Sahib installed on the exterior. The inside was lavishly decorated with plush carpets and rugs for the installation of Sri Guns Granth Sahib. In the beginning, the congregation or sangat was all male as the first Sikh woman entered Golden City i 1923. The Sunday service was open to everyone and the local residents often came to the service to join Sikhs Canadians in Prayer. The Canadian neighbors frequent met their Sikh friends for an afternoon cha at the community kitchen, langer. As misfortune would have it, massive fire broke out in 1927 and it burned the Columbia River Lumber Co to ashes. A few years earlier, Sikhs Canadians had built a cooperative sawmill to sustain their employment but the mill could not survive the competition and had to be closed, Thus, the Sikhs were forced to leave this town in search of employment elsewhere and took the Sri Guru Granth Sahib along with them. The Gurdwara land reverted to the city and the building without Guru Granth Sahib was ultimately demolished.

The current Sikh era in Golden began in 1962, when Gurdial Singh Dhami moved to Golden, He still lives in Golden among, 67 Sikh families in Golden City proper and other 8 families living in the surrounding areas. In 1978, Wixen, an old timer, coaxed local Sikhs to ether restore the historical Gurdwara or build another one to replace it. Within a short time, a sum nearly $100,000 was collected. The Government of British Columbia granted $15,000 for the Gurdwara building. The state funds were derived from the lottery account through the efforts of late Honorable Lames R. Chabot, Minister of Lands and Parks. Necessary lumber was given by the local lumber company in exchange for overtime work by Sikh employees. Entre labor was donated by local Sikhs and other Golden residents. The present Gurdwara building stands at 13th Street and 6th Avenue and is spotted easily for its tall Nishan Sahib. It consists of two stories, the upper one for the service and the lower one to house langer facilities and two residential units. The new Gurdwara building was opened in 1981 and Sardar Shiv Singh Jaswal began to perform duties of granthi at no remuneration. He continued to do the seva until in 1984, when the present granthi, Giani Daljit Singh, was installed. Now the main service is held every Sunday and for misservice is held daily. The Gurdwara is managed by Golden Sikh Cultural Society. This, year Sardar Balhar Singh of Evan Forest Products is serving as the president. The Society and the local Sikhs welcome every visitor and provide famous Sikh hospitality to those dropping in on their way to Calgary or Vancouver.

Dr. Harbans Lal

Arlington, Texas

Article extracted from this publication >> October 11, 1991