Chaitra Krushna Panchami
By Rajan Zed
 New Reno Sikh Temple (Gurudwara), USA |
Reno (Nevada, USA): Area Sikhs today started the move to a newly built three million Dollar Sikh Temple (Gurudwara) with carrying their holy scripture Guru Granth Sahib in a decorated vehicle in a procession of devotees from old Temple on Second Street to the new one on 1380 Selmi Drive in Reno. The ground for this new two-storey Gurudwara spread over 2.4 acres was broken on August 16 last. It is topped with a golden dome on the pattern of traditional Sikh architecture.
Inaugural ceremonies include three-day Akhand Path (non-stop recital of the Sikh scripture) starting today. Well known religious singers, Bhai Manjit Singh, Bhai Dilbagh Singh, Bhai Harjit Singh, Bhai Joga Singh, etc., will participate in the ceremonies on Saturday, April 26. Besides the large main sanctuary, it also includes a community/dining hall for weddings, gatherings, lunches; and a full kitchen to prepare langar (community lunch). It also will have three large plasma screens, which will show the words written in English and Punjabi languages whatever the priest is reading out of the holy scripture.
According to Amolak Singh Powar, President of Reno Sikh Temple, the new Temple, located near Sutro/McCarran, will further add more accommodation for teaching Punjabi language and religious lessons. They had outgrown out of the existing Sikh Temple on 790 East Second Street, where they were having their service since 1996, Powar said and added that the earlier services before acquiring that building were held in the backroom of a convenience store.
Powar described the central theme of Sikh life as "earning livelihood with hard work, reciting God’s name, and sharing the blessings with the needy." Weekly services in the new Gurudwara will be held from ten to one pm every Sunday followed by vegetarian langar cooked by volunteer families. Powar says that public is welcome to attend any service and the only conditions are that they have to cover their heads and take off their shoes before entering the sanctuary.
This will be the only Sikh temple in northwestern Nevada. In the state, however, there is another Sikh Temple in Las Vegas. There are about 600 Sikhs in the area and over 20 million Sikhs worldwide. Jagat Singh Thandi is the chairman of the Gurudwara while Gurmail Singh Uppal is the treasurer.
Acclaimed Indo-American leader, Rajan Zed, has congratulated the Sikh community for this wonderful achievement and praised their hard work in raising the Gurudwara in such a short period. Sikhs have contributed a lot to this world, Zed added. Personal contact with Sikhs usually impresses the outsider with energetic hospitality. Its holy scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, brings the reader to a poetic vision of ordered harmony and unity and a spiritual discipline. Founded by Guru Nanak (1469-1539 CE), its place of worship is known as Gurudwara, and community is referred as Panth. Tenth Guru Gobind Singh initiated the Khalsa in 1699. First Gurudwara in the United States of America opened in 1912.
Sikhs believe in one immortal Being, ten Gurus from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh, the Guru Granth Sahib, the utterances and teachings of the ten Gurus and the baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru.
