Khalsa Diwan Society Vancouver

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.

Contents

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 (11,100 m2) 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.

In the early 1950s, a serious split occurred in the Canadian Sikh community, when the Khalsa Diwan Society elected a clean-shaven Sikh to serve on its management committee.[1] Although most of the early Sikh immigrants to Canada were non-Khalsa, and a majority of the members of the society were clean-shaven non-Khalsa Sikhs, a faction objected to the election of a non-Khalsa to the management committee. The factions in Vancouver and Victorial broke away from the Khalsa Diwan Society, and established their own gurdwara society called Akali Singh.[1]

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

References

  1. ^ a b Paul Robert Magocsi, ed (1999) [1998]. Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples. University of Toronto Press. pp. 1157. ISBN 978-0802029386. OCLC 56300149. 

External links