History

Canadian Gurdwara Launches Centennial Celebrations

by ROCHELLE BAKER

 

 

Abbotsford, British Columbia. Canada 

Mayor George Peary and city council will be making an extraordinary proclamation Monday (January 10, 2011) afternoon to launch the 100th anniversary year-long celebration of Abbotsford's historic Gursikh Gurdwara.

A designated national historic monument, the gurdwara on South Fraser Way was completed in 1911 by struggling pioneers.

The oldest, and longest standing building of its kind in North America, it is the only gurdwara to have a national historic designation outside of India and Pakistan.

Satwinder Singh, director of the UFV Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, said the historic gurdwara, is a testament to the pride, vision and community commitment of early Sikh immigrants.

To honour the anniversary, the gurdwara's Khalsa Diwan Society is organizing one event a month for the entire year.

Kabul Singh, president of the Khalsa Diwan Society, said the year-long celebration has been in the works for a year and a half.

He said Prime minister Stephen Harper has been invited to attend the August festivities and organizers want to apply for a commemorative stamp.

The activities are designed to involve the entire community of Abbotsford, including members of other faiths, Kabul Singh said.

The celebration's kick-off takes place at city hall at 3 p.m. with a proclamation by Peary and the unveiling of a historical exhibit about the gurdwara.

Peary said he was looking forward to the centennial."I think the city has to join in this celebration. [The gurdwara] is our only national historical monument and one of which we can be extremely proud."

The gurdwara speaks to the perseverance of the early Sikh pioneers, he added.

"Early immigrants, especially those whose skin was a different colour [had much to endure], but today their descendants are a vibrant part of our community and economy and it's hard to image our city without them."

Sikhs first arrived in the area in 1905, working primarily on farms and in the forest industry.

Sikh-Canadian pioneers managed to purchase a one-acre property; then they, and other men who worked at the lumber mill on Mill Lake, carried timber, donated by the Trethewey family, on their backs from the lake up the hill to the temple site.

In addition to the launch event, readers, writers and film festivals are planned for the University of the Fraser Valley and a historical exhibit is being organized at the Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford.

The Khalsa Diwan Society will also hold a three-day prayer service, ending with a festival on the gurdwara grounds the last weekend of August.

For more information on the upcoming year's celebrations visit www.ufv.ca/cics/centennial or phone the Khalsa Diwan Society at 1.604.850.7338.

 

ABBOTSFORD GURDWARA NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE OF CANADA

Location:  Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada

Date designated: 2002

The designation:
The Abbotsford Gurdwara is the oldest surviving Sikh gurdwara in Canada.

In the decade after 1900, about 5,000 Sikhs, mostly young single men, came to Canada to work in the logging, farming and railway industries of British Columbia. Their arrival, which coincided with a recession, intensified anti-Asian feeling in the province and in 1907 Sikhs lost the right to vote. In 1908, the federal government severely restricted immigration from India. As a result, the Canadian Sikh community was composed primarily of men for mny years.

Several Sikhs worked in the sawmills of Abbotsford, and in 1911 they built the Abbotsford Sikh Gurdwara. Its exterior, a wood frame building with a false front and a gabled roof, is similar to many buildings in Canadian frontier towns. Its interior reflects Sikh traditions and religious beliefs.

Gurdwaras were social centres where Sikhs gathered in familiar and welcoming surroundings. For new arrivals, the Gurdwara provided meals, accommodation and contacts. Through the Khalsa Diwan Society, gurdwaras also became centres for human rights advocacy. This contributed to a slight loosening of the federal government's immigration regulations in 1919, to allow some family reunification.

The Society campaigned successfully to restore the vote to Sikhs in 1947 and opposed discriminatory immigration policy. In 1967, race and nationality based quotas were abandoned and Sikh immigration increased significantly.

The Abbotsford Gurdwara is a reminder of the religious, social and political role that gurdwaras played in pioneer Sikh-Canadian immigrant communities. It embodies their success in retaining their religious beliefs while adapting to Canadian conditions.

To explore this national historic site, visit Parks Canada 3-D Tours and This Week in History.

 

[Courtesy: Abbotsford-Mission Times and Parks Canada]

January 7, 2011

 

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