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Sikh community’s history runs deep in Golden
 The Sikh temple in Golden was the first
Sikh temple to be built in the entire North America. Many of the
Sikh people built their homes close to this temple and the community
flourished
During the early 1890s a number of Sikhs moved to work in the newly
developed Columbia River Lumber Company (C.R.L.) mill. In the early
1890s transportation to Canada from the USA was limited to walking
or riding a horse across the border, or in the case of Surjan Singh
and Dr. Hari Singh, by steam ship.
There were about 45 Sikh people in Golden at the time. The Sikh
Temple in Golden was the first Sikh Temple to be built in North
America.
They built a Sikh Temple not far from where the school board office
is located today. The first Sikh temple was beautiful inside. There
was a gorgeous carpet on the floor which the people sat on to
worship. Many of the Sikh people built their homes close to this
temple and were of the Sikh religion. They would take their shoes
off before entering the temple and services began with the Lord’s
Prayer in their native tongue,Punjabi.
They were very friendly, hardworking and well respected as shown in
Golden’s history from interviews with some of Golden’s oldtimers
like Norman King, Jack Anderson, Billy Wenman and Blackie Curveon.
There were a few Sikh people who were well known like Surjan Singh
and Dr. Hari Singh, Hardit Singh, Kartar Singh and Batan Singh.
Hospital records from 1893 to 1930 were searched and in all those
years only 30 entries were found with about 25 Sikhs being admitted.
There has been property recorded in the land title records under the
names of Bakhtawar Singh, Inder Singh, Hira Singh, Attar Singh.
Telegraph records show one telegram sent about Bakhtawar Singh from
his father Inder Singh on Sept. 23, 1911 reporting that a Hindoo
(Sikh) was killed accidently at the CRL mill.
Hardit Singh and a few others brought their wives to Golden in 1923,
when Canadian Immigration finally allowed the women to come.
 Hardit Singh had a son named Piara Singh born on Aug. 26, 1924, the
first Sikh born in Golden. In 1926 a massive forest fire tore
through the timber limits of the CRL and the sawmill had to be
closed in 1927. The 40 or 50, Sikh people living in Golden moved to
the West Coast to work. The Sikh people took the Guru Granth Sahib
(The Holy Scriptures) with them, and abandoned the building, and
carpet. Some of the other items were given to the King family.
The wooden structure was sold and moved to a dairy farm on 12th
Street. One Sikh man lived here until 1930 and was married to
a local Canadian girl.
In 1955 Gurdial Singh Dhami moved to Golden and stayed for two or
three years. He left and returned again in 1962 with a few other
Sikhs. Gurdial Singh Dhami was instrumental in establishing the Sikh
community as it flourishes to this day in Golden.
Mrs. Wixon told Shiv Singh Jaswal in 1979 of the existence of the
Sikh people of the earlier era and this sparked the interest of
several people. People attended the funeral of a young Sikh woman,
Jaswant Kaur in the United Church. Everyone realized that we had no
place to
worship and had no Guru Granth Sahib (Holy Book) which is very
important to the Sikh religion.
People interested in building a temple in Golden set about gathering
together and those interested each put in $15 to begin a building
fund.
The first meeting was held in the basement where Raminder Singh
Hundle lived on 14th Street. The first letter was written by Shiv
Singh Jaswal to announce to the whole East Indian community that
they should come together for building temple in Golden. Their first
general meeting was held in February 1980 in the Snow Kings Castle,
a community hall that was located near 14th Street. Everyone was in
agreement that a new Gurudwara should be built.
Surain Singh Manhas quickly made a deal with Hari Singh Olleck of
Kamloops to buy the property for $39,800. Another man who had a
special role to play in the construction of the new Sikh Temple was Raminder Singh Hundle. He wrote all the letters and grants and met
with the proper authorities in both Golden and Victoria, to see the
speedy construction of the new Temple.
Raminder Singh Hundle’s wife Parkash Kaur, made arrangements to get
Guru Granth Sahib in Vancouver. Then Raminder Singh Hundle, Shiv
Singh Jaswal and Balhar Singh Khrod organized and arranged for the
Guru Granth Sahib to be brought to Golden from Vancouver in the
start of 1980.
The Sikh community were very happy to have a holy book for their
future temple. The $100,000 needed to build the Temple was raised in
two years.
The current Golden Sikh Temple (Gurudwara) in Golden had its Grand
Opening on Oct. 9, 1981.
(Courtesy: TheGoldenStar.net)
1 November, 2006
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