The Gurdwara
Guru = The Guru (The spiritual teacher, which is the
Guru Granth Sahib)
Dwaar = House
Gurdwara = The Guru’s home
The Sikhs believe that the Guru Granth Sahib is their
spiritual teacher.
1. The Guru Granth Sahib
2. The Langar
This Gurdwara is in Southall. Outside of India, it is one of the
busiest Gurdwaras in the world
You always have the Guru Granth
Sahib as the focal point. The ladies
will sit on one side, and men on the
other. Sometimes there are musicians
singing hymns from the holy scriptures.
In western countries, or countries
outside of India, there will sometimes
be a big screen to translate the
hymns and show the congregation.
Langar is a big kitchen, where free, vegetarian food is served 24
hours a day. Anyone is allowed to come and eat.
Originally, Langar
was started to feed
the poor and needy.
Anyone is allowed to come to a Gurdwara. In fact, here are
pictures of some famous people who have visited the Golden
Temple (the most popular Gurdwara) in Amritsar, India:
The Golden Temple (also known as the Harmandar Sahib, which
means God’s home) is the most famous of all.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
It has 4 doors on each side of the complex. This is to show that people
from all ‘4 corners of the world’ are welcome
It is surrounded by a tank of Holy Water, where some people come to
bathe.
It serves Langar for free to over 100,000 people a day! (click here for
more info)
The gold on the temple was donated by a very rich Sikh King who lived
over 150 years ago.
The Sikh Guru at the time asked a Muslim Saint to lay the foundation stone
to show love and equality to people of all faiths.
You will work in pairs to make a model of the Golden Temple!!!
You can have a look at this video on youtube for guidance on how
to make it: