Saturday, June 26, 2010

First 'official' gurdwara in Dubai

Coming up at a cost of $20 million, the Guru Nanak Darbar at Jebel Ali, Dubai, will be the first official Sikh gurdwara in the entire Gulf, catering to religious needs of a 50,000-strong Sikh community. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Makhtoum, vice-president and prime minister of UAE and ruler of Dubai, who granted permission for building the gurdwara, has given 25,400 sq ft land free.

Surender Singh Kandhari, businessman and Captain of Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, had approached authorities with his dream project and though it took him some time to convince them about the concepts of sangat and langar, while even translating excerpts from the Guru Grant Sahib, it was approved.

"Sikhs don’t worship idols like in Islam and once authorities were convinced that setting up a gurdwara was not anti-Islamic, things quickly started falling in place. My dream is to make Guru Nanak Durbar the best, second only to the Golden Temple in Amritsar," adds Kandhari.

DETAILED NEWS CAN BE VIEWED FROM THE LINK IN HEADLINE ABOVE.

With thanks : Source : Times of India

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