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Dream comes true
for Sikh community with new gurdwara in Lemington Spa
WSN Network
 WARWICKSHIRE: A
dream of the Sikh community has finally come true after a very long
wait of a Gurudwara, which can accommodate the needs of the growing
Sikh community in
Leamington
and
Warwick.
Over 2000
members of the Sikh congregation joined in the Nagar Keertan on 25
October to celebrate the occasion of consecration of Sikh Gurudwara
in Lemington Spa, Warwickshire
county of
Shakespeare.
The remarkable
building of this Gurudwara is built by AC Lloyd. The stone was laid
by no political or elite body but our own Head Priest Charanjit
Singh who has been working as a Head priest for some years.
Every part of
this project has been a real challenge, for the architects, for the
community and the committee members who were especially selected to
work on this project. Now the magnificent building of Sikh Gurudwara
Sahib will be the spiritual and social inspiration of our coming
generations. We hope that it is not just a piece of brick and mortar
but will become the core of the community and give the community new
heights in the Sikh history. The committee is working hard to
involve the children and younger people so they learn about our
history, culture and Sikh religion and set some examples before
other communities. The committee is running Punjabi classes, music
classes, Yoga classes, martial arts, Gurbani recitation, Kirtan and
also run Sikh camps during the school holidays. They have also
introduced holiday activities clubs where children join in a number
of activities to learn about Gurmat.
Sunday 25th
October 2009 was the auspicious day to mark the beginning of prayers
at the New Gurdwara Sahib. The local Sikh congregation was joined by
Sikhs from all over the UK to celebrate this truly remarkable
occasion.
To mark this
historical occasion 10 days celebration took place with final sum up
on Guru Nanak dev ji birthday. A live telecast of Kirtan was
broadcast on Sikh channel.
The first
Gurudwara in Leamington/Warwick was formed in 1960s when few
families started meeting every Wednesday at Coten End in
Warwick. It was
the first small Gurudwara. As the community grew the congeregation
numbers rose and by 1967 Gurudwara was moved to
New Street,
Leamington. Unfortunately, a tragedy happened in 1974 as the
building was completely destroyed by a fire. By 1980, work on new
Gurudwara Sahib at New Street was completed. By 1990s, the Sikh
congregation numbers had increased significantly and there was a
clear need for a bigger Gurudwara to meet the needs of the growing
community. To meet these needs a three-acre factory was purchased on
Queensway Trading Estate and a temporary building was converted into
Gurudwara. Same time the big project was being planned, and the
stone was laid on November 25, 2007. Work began on this project in
March 2008 and just in 19 months; the project was complete with
magnificent building the future Grurdawra for
Leamington
and
Warwick. Although the Gurudwara is for two towns, it also attracts
members from surrounding villages and towns being the most communal,
elegant, beautiful Gurudwara in Warwickshire, the county of
Shakespeare.
The success of
this project is due to the dedicated work of members of the
committee and immense support from community. The credit also goes
to the integration of the Sikh community in the area, which always
stood together and promised to have only one Gurudwara in the area.
No wonder the community could afford a £11 million pound project in
the age of recession.
Another success
for the Leamington Sikh community is new coming project to build a
Sikh museum next to our new Gurudwara where all the jewels such as
Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s throne and other historical artifacts and
jewels will be held and it will give
Leamington
historical importance on the Sikh history pages.
13
January 2010
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