The Khalsa Diwan Society Vancouver (''Gurmukhi:'' ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ ਦਿਵਾਨ ਸੋਸਾਇਟੀ ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ ''Khālsā Divān Sosāiṭī Vainkūvar'') is a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

society based at a

gurdwara A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was the largest gurdwara in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. A ''gurdwara'' ( pa, ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ, ' or , '), meaning "the doorway to the Guru", is the

place of worship and may be referred to as a Sikh temple. It is the oldest Sikh society in Greater Vancouver.Pang, Guek-cheng. ''Culture Shock! Vancouver''.

Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd Marshall Cavendish is a subsidiary company of Times Publishing Group, the printing and publishing subsidiary of Singapore-based conglomerate Fraser and Neave (which in turn currently owned by ThaiBev, the beverage company in Thailand), and at pre ...

, August 15, 2010. , 9789814484800. p
31
The current gurdwara is at the intersection of Southwest Marine Drive and Ross Street,Nayar, "The Making of Sikh Space," p
46
in South Vancouver.Nayar, "The Making of Sikh Space," p
48

History

The Khalsa Diwan Society was founded on July 22, 1906 and was registered on March 13, 1909. The corporate name was "The Khalsa Diwan Society". Their first site and

was built in 1908 at 1866 West 2nd Avenue. It was inaugurated on January 19, 1908. The financial situation of the society depended on the number of

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

living in

. Donations rose considerably as more Sikhs came to British Columbia. The population of Sikhs rose in the period of 1904–1908, the population being 5,185. It fell to 2,342 in 1911. The Sikh population dwindled even more, to 1,099, as the year 1918 approached. Verne A. Dusenbery, the author of "Canadian Ideology and Public Policy: The Impact on Vancouver Sikh Ethnic and Religious Adaptation," wrote that the gurdwara served as "truly a religious, social, political, cultural, and social service center for the entire South-Asian immigrant population of the lower mainland" during its early history. In the 1940s the KDS served in a leadership role as Indo-Canadians asked for voting rights, and it did so in a secular capacity. The KDS had a secular role as a community centre and also served Hindus and Muslims among the Indo-Canadians. Raj Hans Kumar, author of "Gurdwara as a Cultural Site of Punjabi Community in British Columbia, 1905 – 1965," stated that in political affairs the KDS represented all "Hindus", which at the time meant all people of East Indian origin. In the early 1950s, a serious split occurred in the Canadian Sikh community, when the Khalsa Diwan Society elected a clean-shaven Sikh to serve on its management committee. Although most of the early Sikh immigrants to Canada were non-Khalsa, and a majority of the members of the society were clean-shaven non-Khalsa Sikhs, a faction objected to the election of a non-Khalsa to the management committee. The factions in Vancouver and Victoria broke away from the Khalsa Diwan Society, and established their own gurdwara society called Akali Singh. The Akali Singh Society opened in 1952.Johnston, Hugh, p. 6. By the late 1950s there were plans to establish Punjabi language students for Canadian-born children and to collect funds for a new community centre. In 1963 the society began planning for a new gurdwara and community centre. The society decided to build a new gurdwara in 1969. The society purchased of city land in 1968. Construction was completed in the first week of April 1970 for a price of $6,060. Sri Guru Granth Sahib was moved from the 2nd Avenue gurdwara to the Ross Street gurdwara on

Vasakhi Vaisakhi ( Punjabi: ), also pronounced Baisakhi, marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated annually on 13 April and sometimes 14 April as a celebration of spring harvest primarily in Northern India. Further, o ...

Day 1970. The initial plans asked for a library and community centre, but these aspects were eliminated from the plans. Construction happened from winter 1969,Johnston, Hugh, p. 7. to April 1970. The celebration for Guru Nanak's 500th birthday was held prior to the grand opening in 1970.Johnston, Hugh, p. 18. The building is intended to look like a lotus rising from water. To get inspiration for the style, the architect, Arthur Erickson, traveled to

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

and

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

. In 1979 the annual income of the KDS was $300,000.Johnston, Hugh, p. 19. That year the leadership of the gurdwara changed.Johnston, Hugh, p. 8-9. Previously the KDS was controlled by Marxist Sikhs who did not practice Sikhism.Nayar, "Misunderstood in the Diaspora," p. 22-23. "For instance, the World Sikh Organization (WSO) gained control over the Khalsa Diwan Society in South Vancouver, which had previously been run by non-practising ‘comrade’ Sikhs (that is, those who have a Marxist orientation)." The membership had been around 5,000 prior to 1979, as there was a $12 membership fee. Membership increased after the elimination of the fee. According to Kamala Elizabeth Nayar, in 1984 the pro- Khalistan organization World Sikh Organization (WSO) began controlling the gurdwara. According to Hugh Johnston, Vancouver Sikhs stated that the political bloc that took charge of the KDS Gurdwara network by 1979 consisted of about 10-15 families.

Vancouver Gurdwara

The original Vancouver gurdwara had a homeless shelter and a ''langar'' or kitchen. It served as a social centre for the community.

Khalsa Diwan Road

As part of an initiative by Vancouver City Council to commemorate prominent members of the community, Ross Street was alternatively named Khalsa Diwan Road in 2018. Additional street signs marking it as Khalsa Diwan Road were added at from the Gurdwara at SW Marine Drive to 57th Avenue in 2019.

Branches

In the 1960s, the main gurdwara was in Vancouver and the branch gurdwaras were in New Westminster, Abbotsford, Victoria, and Port Alberni. By 1973, the cities with KDS temples were Abbotsford,

Mesachie Lake Mesachie Lake is an unincorporated community in the Cowichan Valley region of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It lies on the south shore of Cowichan Lake, British Columbia. The name is from the Chinook Jargon for "bad, evil, naughty". ...

, New Westminster,

Paldi Paldi is an area located in South Western Ahmedabad, India. Corporate offices and city centres of many national and international companies like ICICI Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Religare, Claris, Gujarat Gas are located within Paldi. It ...

Port Alberni Port Alberni () is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. It is the location of the head offices o ...

, and Vancouver.Ames, and Inglis,
Conflict and Change in British Columbia Sikh Family Life
" p. 20. However the New Westminster Khalsa Diwan became its own Sikh society the following year.Johnston, Hugh, p. 18. In 1975 the Khalsa Diwan Society of Abbotsford also separated, as the title of the Abbotsford gurdwara was transferred to the separated entity. The Abbotsford Sikhs wanted to have local control over their gurdwara, the

Gur Sikh Temple The Gur Sikh Temple (Gurdwara) ( pa, ਗੁਰ ਸਿੱਖ਼ ਗੁਰਦੁਵਾਰਾ) of Abbotsford in British Columbia is the oldest existing Sikh temple in North America and a National Historic Site Canada. It is the only Sikh temple o ...

Events

Every March, a celebration of the martyrdom of

Mewa Singh Lopoke Mewa Singh Lopoke ( Punjabi: ਮੇਵਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਲੋਪੋਕੇ) was a Sikh activist in Canada who was a member of the Vancouver branch of the Ghadar Party, which called for the overthrow of British rule in India. On October 21, 1914, Me ...

is held. Sikhs from California go to the KDS to celebrate the event.Haar, Kristen and Sewa Singh Kalsi. ''Sikhism'' (Religions of the World Series).

Infobase Publishing Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, includin ...

, January 1, 2009. , 9781438106472. p
86

First executive committee

The first executive committee of the Khalsa Diwan Society were members from 1907–1909. They included:

References

* Dusenbery, Verne A. 1981. "Canadian Ideology and Public Policy: The Impact on Vancouver Sikh Ethnic and Religious Adaptation". In '' Canadian Ethnic Studies'', Vol. 13: 3, Winter. * Hans, Raj Kumar. 2003. "Gurdwara as a Cultural Site of Punjabi Community in British Columbia, 1905 – 1965." In ''Fractured Identity: The Indian Diaspora in Canada'', Sushma J. Varma & Radhika Seshan (eds.). Jaipur: Rawat Publications. * Johnston, Hugh. 1988. "The Development of Punjabi Community in Vancouver since 1961". In '' Canadian Ethnic Studies'', Vol. 20:2. * Nayar, Kamala Elizabeth, "Misunderstood in the Diaspora: The Experience of Orthodox Sikhs in Vancouver." ''

Sikh Formations Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

'' 4, No. 1 2008), p. 17-32. - * Nayar, Kamala Elizabeth. "The Making of Sikh Space: The Role of the Gurdwara" (Chapter 2). In: DeVries, Larry, Don Baker, and Dan Overmyer. ''Asian Religions in British Columbia'' (Asian Religions and Society Series). UBC Press, January 1, 2011. , 9780774859424. Start: p
43

External links

Khalsa Diwan Society
official website

Notes

{{Sikhism Gurdwaras in Canada Sikh places Organizations based in Vancouver Sikh organisations 1906 establishments in British Columbia