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Sikhism - An Introduction: Gurdwaras

by Owen Cole

Strictly speaking a gurdwara is any place where a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib has been formally installed. It may be a room in a private house, often described as Babaji’s room. It may be a large ornate building in Delhi or Southall, England. It may even be a place such as a school room that is used temporarily for worship at times convenient to the community; in such circumstances screens or curtains may be used to seal off objects that might distract the congregation and so challenge the focal position of the scripture. In diasporas gurdwaras are social centres, while in a Punjabi village the building may be small and have only one room. So called historic gurdwaras are places usually associated with some event in the life of a particular Guru, for example, the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh at Patna or the martyrdom of his father at Chandni Chauk in Delhi.

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