The Khalsa Diwan Society Vancouver (KDS; ) is a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a 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 ''Si ...

gurdwara A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...

organization in

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 cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Founded in 1906, it is the oldest Sikh society in

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term ''Greater Vancouver'' describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the r ...

,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, a Thai beverage company), and at present ...

, August 15, 2010. , 9789814484800. p
31
and its original location was the largest gurdwara in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. The current gurdwara is located at the intersection of Southwest Marine Drive and Ross Street,Nayar, "The Making of Sikh Space," p
46
in

South Vancouver South Vancouver was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It first appeared on the hustings in the general election of 1916 (South Vancouver then was incorporated separately from the City of Vancouver). Fo ...

.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. Their first site and

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

Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a 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 ''Sikh'' ...

living in

, and donations rose considerably as more Sikhs came to the province. The population of Sikhs rose in the period of 1904–1908 to 5,185, but fell to 2,342 in 1911. The Sikh population dwindled even more, to 1,099, as the year 1918 approached. Verne A. Dusenbery, Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Global Studies Program at

Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, 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 The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...

" during its early history.Dusenbery, Verne A. 1981."Canadian Ideology and Public Policy: The Impact on Vancouver Sikh Ethnic and Religious Adaptation." ''Canadian Ethnic Studies'' 13(3):104-105. Winter. In the 1940s, the KDS served in a leadership role as Indo-Canadians demanded for voting rights, and it did so in a secular capacity. The gurdwara had a homeless shelter and a ''langar'' or kitchen. The KDS had a secular social role as a community centre and also served

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

among the Indo-Canadian community. Raj Hans Kumar 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 The term ''Khalsa'' refers to both a community that follows Sikhism as its religion,Khalsa: Sikhism< ...

, 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 Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

broke away from the Khalsa Diwan Society, and established their own gurdwara society called the Akali Singh Society, which opened in 1952.Johnston, Hugh. 1988. "The Development of Punjabi Community in Vancouver since 1961." ''Canadian Ethnic Studies'' 20(2).

Relocation

By the late 1950s, there were plans to establish

Punjabi-language Punjabi, sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is one of the most widely spoken native languages in the world, with approximately 150 million native speakers. Punjabi is th ...

schools 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 purchased of city land in 1968 at the intersection of Southwest Marine Drive and Ross Street, in

. Construction began in winter 1969,Johnston, Hugh, p. 7. and was completed in the first week of April 1970 for a price of $6,060. Sri

Guru Granth Sahib The Guru Granth Sahib (, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru following the lineage of the ten human gurus of the religion. The Adi Granth (), its first rendition, w ...

was moved from the 2nd Avenue gurdwara to the Ross Street gurdwara on the day of

Vasakhi Vaisakhi, also known as Baisakhi or Mesadi, marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated annually on 13 April or sometimes 14 April. It is seen as a spring harvest celebration primarily in Punjab and Northern Ind ...

1970. The initial plans asked for a library and community centre, but these aspects were eliminated from the plans. The celebration for

Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also known as ('Father Nanak'), was an Indian spiritual teacher, mystic and poet, who is regarded as the founder of Sikhism and is t ...

's 500th birthday was held prior to the grand opening in 1970.Johnston, Hugh, p. 18. The building was intended to look like a

lotus Lotus or LOTUS may refer to: Plants * List of plants known as lotus, a list of various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: **''Nelumbonaceae'', a single-genus family of aquatic flowering plants, consisting of just two species; ...

rising from water. To get inspiration for the style, the architect,

Arthur Erickson Arthur Charles Erickson (June 14, 1924 – May 20, 2009) was a Canadian architect and urban planning, urban planner. He studied at the University of British Columbia and, in 1950, received his B.Arch. (Honours) from McGill University. He is kn ...

, 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 Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

and

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

. In 1979, the annual income of the KDS was $300,000.Johnston, Hugh, p. 19. The membership, which came with a $12 membership fee, had been around 5,000 prior to 1979. After the elimination of the fee, membership increased. 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)." According to Kamala Elizabeth Nayar, in 1984, the pro- Khalistan 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.

Khalsa Diwan Road

As part of an initiative by

Vancouver City Council Vancouver City Council is the governing body of Vancouver, British Columbia. The council consists of a mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city ...

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 New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

, Abbotsford,

, 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 may refer to: *Paldi (Ahmedabad) 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, ...

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. Port Alberni currently has a total popu ...

, 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. 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 (; also known as Abbotsford Sikh Temple), in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Abbotsford, British Columbia, is the oldest existing Sikh gurdwara in North America and a National Historic Sites of Canada, National Historic Site o ...

Events

Every March, a celebration of the martyrdom of

Mewa Singh Lopoke Mewa Singh Lopoke (1881 - January 11, 1915) was a Sikh activist in Canada who was a member of the Vancouver branch of the Ghadar Movement, Ghadar Party, which called for the overthrow of British Raj, 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 is an American publisher of databases, 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, including ...

, January 1, 2009. , 9781438106472. p
86

First executive committee

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

References

Sources

* Dusenbery, Verne A. 1981. "Canadian Ideology and Public Policy: The Impact on Vancouver Sikh Ethnic and Religious Adaptation". In ''

Canadian Ethnic Studies Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

'', 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 ''

'', Vol. 20:2. * Nayar, Kamala Elizabeth, "Misunderstood in the Diaspora: The Experience of Orthodox Sikhs in Vancouver." '' Sikh Formations'' 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 The University of British Columbia Press (UBC Press) is a university press that is part of the University of British Columbia. It is a mid-sized scholarly publisher, and the largest in Western Canada. The press is based in Vancouver, British Col ...

, January 1, 2011. , 9780774859424. Start: p
43

External links

Khalsa Diwan Society
official website {{Sikhism Gurdwaras in British Columbia Sikh places Organizations based in Vancouver Sikh organizations based in British Columbia Religious buildings and structures in Vancouver 1906 establishments in British Columbia