Gurdwara On Mexico Border

[AvnitK]

Waheguru ji ka khalsa Waheguru ji ki fateh ji

Guru pyari saadh sangat ji

well for the past few months i havent been living at home but have been traveling here and there around california living with friends and other members of the sangat, well the issue is that while during this time i stayed at a hotel down in el centro, CA owned by a dear uncle ji, this city is down 2 miles away frum the mexico - california border and this small city there is a gurdwara which has been made since 1948, this gurughar has been belived to be a historical monument just like stockton gurdwara because it is the 2nd gurughar to be build in this country. Its a small gurughar and is still unknown to our sangat.

The issue well is that in the area we have not much sangat to take care of the gurdwara, the sangat there does not know maryada at all, they bring shoes into langar hall, and in the langar hall instead of mats it is filled with tables and chairs. During my time there i noticed that the children do not know kirtan if they do its only the son and daughter of the gyani ji and them too do not know how to read gurmukhi. During my stay the gyani ji and his whole family had gone to india without telling the committee members so there was no one to do prakash and sukhasan of guru ji also no one to do kirtan di sewa on sundays, which is there only diwan and that too no one sits for more than an hour. I (such and ahankari)was lucky to be able to do kirtan di sewa on the 3 weekends i was there for. The funny part about the gurdwara having a committee was that, nothings done in the gurughar to help it be preserved, after the diwaans the committee members would just go into a room and sit there playing cards until everyone went home.

Me and uncle ji (who owned the hotel) we were given the sewa to do prakash and sukhasan of gurusahib while gyani ji was away. But yeah when i went the committe members were showing me rasaale of guru sahib and stuff frum gadhri baabe, and sum letters frum sum of the singhs during the lehar. Also they said they had proof that one of the singhs i think it was shaheed udham singh or bhagat singhs chacha im not quite sure had been to the gurughar. but hanji theres major beadbi going on there sangat ji. gyani ji is back, but supposedly he' does sukhasan of guru ji at 4 pm as per wat uncle ji has been telling me. This gurughar has had no publicity and due to that there has been lots of neglect. So i plz beg all of you to come and help us bring this gurughar into notice so we can educate the sangat there about sikhi, and make an end to the beadbi that is happening.

plz sangat ji, idk why i wait a whole month and half to post this but plz we need to act on this

[AvnitK]

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[West London Singh]

That gurdwara does though have absolutely fantastic historical significance to us, the sikh diaspora. People often talk about the sikh pioneers of northern California but it's often forgotten that back in the day it was in fact the Imperial Valley bordering Mexico that housed the largest sikh community. American laws at the time stated that one could only marry a person of the same skin colour as you so almost all the local sikhs there married Mexican women. The result, as can be seen with early photographs of such gurdwaras was a crazy mixture of Sikhism and Catholicism. The gurdwaras had pew type chairs that you find in churches as well as a hanging cross....but they were still gurdwaras. Sorry I've digressed a bit from the point of the thread but I do think it is important to see things from an historical perspective. Its always easier to understand why things are the way they are today if you understand what they were like yesterday.

[Kharkooartsy]

there is a gurudwara in Florida i believe in jacksonville where they do arti of guru granth sahib ji... :\ i know someone who said she was uncomfortable when she sat through it (people dont speak up even when they know beadbi is happening is another issue)

[Kharkooartsy]

most gurughars in east coast are messed up best one i have been to is SGNC Durham Gurudwara (but i heard they have a seperate gurudwara for people not too serious about sikhi in durham lol) dont know why sikhs have problem when proper rehit marayada is followed.. we always want to do our own mann marjii... i guess ego kicks in we think we know better than guru ji and everyone else

[Hau Apraadhi]

So what should be done??? Personally, obviously its more important to have mahaaraaj taken care of properly than the historical importance of the gurdwara, there is clearly no gursikhi sangat there that can take care of guroo jee, so i believe they should be moved to another gurdwara and just get rid of that gurdwara. Yes its unfortunate for the sangat there, but obviously that sangat isnt satsangat as they would be taking care of mahaaraaj, they clearly do not care... I say the closest available khalse go down to that gurdwara and take mahaaraaj...

[Guru_Da_Chella]

there is a gurudwara in Florida i believe in jacksonville where they do arti of guru granth sahib ji... :\

Dal Khalsa fauj still does that as well!