SAN JOSE -- One of the most spectacular views of Silicon Valley is from the nation's largest Sikh temple, whose golden dome and peaceful manicured gardens rise from the hills east of this city's downtown. Gov. Jerry Brown, then-Mayor Chuck Reed, faith leaders and thousands of Sikhs from all over Northern California celebrated its April 2011 grand opening, a statement of the community's growing stature.
But Sikh Gurdwara San Jose is also a house divided, with a nasty power struggle that has pitted its leadership against critics. It has filled the courts with a series of lawsuits involving the temple's steering committtee, prominent elders and a Sikh community newspaper. And it has spilled into the political arena, where a temple leader recently saw his hopes of becoming San Jose's first Sikh city councilman dashed after a campaign in which Sikh protestors called him a villain at candidate forums.
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