Khalsa Diwan Society Vancouver

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The Khalsa Diwan Society Vancouver is a Sikh society based at a gurdwara in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The current site is located at 8000 Ross St, Vancouver, BC. It was the largest gurdwara in North America.

[edit] History

The Khalsa Diwan Society was founded on July 22, 1906 and was registered on March 13, 1909. The corporate name was “The Khalsa Diwan Society”. Their first site and gurdwara was built in 1908 at 1866 West 2nd Avenue. It was inaugurated on January 19, 1908. The financial situation of the society depended on the number of Sikhs living in British Columbia. Donations rose considerably as more Sikhs came to British Columbia. The population of Sikhs rose in the period of 1904–1908, the population being 5,185. It fell to 2,342 in 1911. The Sikh population dwindled even more, to 1,099, as the year 1918 approached. The society decided to build a new gurdwara in 1969. The society purchased 2.75 acres of city land in 1968. Construction was completed in the first week of April 1970 for a price of $6,060. Sri Guru Granth Sahib was moved from the 2nd Avenue gurdwara to the Ross Street gurdwara on Vasakhi Day 1970.

Official website for the Khalsa Diwan Society is [http://www.kdsvancouver.com/. Visit the site to get more information.

[edit] First Executive Committee

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

Title	Person
President	Bhai Sewa Singh
Vice President	Bhai Bhola Singh (Narinder Singh)
Treasurer	Bhai Arjan Singh
Member	Bhai Bhag Singh
Member	Bhai Balwant Singh
Member	Bhai Bhola Singh