The Fraser Valley in Canada is also known as the Canadian bible belt. Naturally many local sites of worship could be visited, however the most prominent and interesting one to me was the local Sikh temple. Altogether Abbotsford houses four gurdwaras, when counting the historical Gur Sikh Temple as a seperate one. The Gurdwara I visited was the one on the picture in this entry. It is the Gurdwara on South Fraser way, directly opposite the historical Gur Sikh Temple.
Outside the temple is a high flag pole the Nishan Sahib. It is dressed in bright orange cloth and bound up with a long strap of fabric (see picture). On top is an orange flag carrying the Sikh symbol. The flag pole will be taken down once a year on Vaisakhi, the Sikh new year usually on April 13th which celebrates the forming of the Khalsa in 1699 by the 10th Guru Gobind Singh. The cloth will then be removed and replaced by a new one as will the flag if it is torn and needs replacing.
Walking up the broad stairs to the main prayer hall I always got a sense of peace and calm. Entering the prayer hall, which was completely covered in blue carpet, and after having removed my shoes and covered my head I would walk up to the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book containing the Gurus' writings, which was laid out on the big central alter. Comparing this prayer hall to a traditional catholic church, as we have many of them in Münster, it was much more colorful and comforting. The alter is decorated with colorful lights and brigth colored cloth as well as elaborate gold decorations.
The rest of the hall was kept rather plain. There are various citations from the Guru Granth Sahib along the walls, other than that two big screens hang from the ceiling to transmit Sunday prayer and sometimes even offer English subtitles. The main floor is divided by the middle aisle so that the women will sit on the left and the men on the right. There are no chairs or benches in the prayer hall since everyone would sit on the floor. The arrangement of seating is not important, one should just never turn their back toward the Guru Granth Sahib.
As is traditional in a Sikh Temple a Langar Hall is in the same building as the prayer hall, often located in under the main prayer hall so that there will be nothing above the Guru Granth Sahib. In that hall people would sit together, drink Chai, eat the food provided by the temple and talk about politics and what is going on in the community. This part of the temple I found to be of huge significance for the community. This would be where, usually the men, would meet and discuss everything that has happened. It was a way to exchange news from within the community but also from home. This was where the strong sense of community within the South Asian diaspora was always most apparent to me.
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