Blessed Are The Cheesemakers: Sikh-Italians Establish New Gurdwara
NEWS REPORTS
Several thousand Sikh-Italians attended the inauguration ceremony on Sunday, August 21, 2011, of a major new gurdwara in Italy’s farming heartland in the Po River Valley, where many members of the community work as livestock farmers and cheese-makers.
A helicopter dropped flower petals on the celebrations in Pessina Cremonese, which was attended by Sikhs from across northern Italy as well as Mayor Dalido Malaggi who thanked the Sikh community for reviving the region’s declining farming sector.
The town website describes it as “a municipality free of racial prejudice.”The new gurdwara is located about 100 kilometres southeast of Milan. It can hold 600 people and is one of the biggest in Italy.
August 23, 2011