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Detroit gurdwara sangat gathers for
Gurta Gaddi celebrations
WSN Network
DETROIT: Hail
the spirit of unity at the 300th celebrations of the Gurta Gaddi.
Thousands of Sikhs from the five gurdwaras in Metro Detroit gathered
at a single event for the first time here in a meeting that was the
largest assembly of members of the faith ever in southeastern
Michigan. And what brought them together was the Gurta Gaddi
celebrations.
The occasion, in
Plymouth,
commemorated the seminal event in 1708 when the tenth Sikh Master,
Guru Gobind Singh Ji, ensured the Sikhs become a people of the Book,
and have an eternal Guru to seek guidance from.
The scriptures
have been respected by all Sikhs as the ultimate wisdom of their
faith, along with the teachings of the 10 gurus, and no human guru
has followed.
Jasvir Singh of
the Sikh Society of Michigan said the program were planned over a
period of two months. Sikhs first came to the
United States in
the late 1800s, mostly as agricultural workers who gathered in
California.
The first
gurduara in Metro Detroit was established in
Madison Heights
in 1979. Significant immigration occurred -- based on persecution in
the Punjab, in India, and economic opportunity in Metro Detroit --
throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
There are now
about 5,000 Sikhs in the area, according to Sikh leaders. There are
about 150,000 Sikhs in the
United States
and 24 million worldwide.
Earlier this
month, the Sikh Society of Michigan, in
Madison Heights,
broke ground on a 4.5-acre plot at Dequindre and 14 Mile in
Sterling Heights
for a 23,000-square-foot building that will include a prayer hall,
community dining area, library, offices and classrooms for children.
The other
gurdwaras from which Sikhs gathered are in Brownstown Township,
Canton Township, Plymouth and Rochester Hills.
5 November
2008
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