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By the year
1911, many Sikh families had settled in Thailand. Bangkok was
indeed the centre of migrant Sikhs. During that time there was
no Gurdwara, so religious prayers were held in the homes of the
Sikhs in rotation on every Sunday, Sangran and all the Gurpurab
days.
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The population
of the Sikh community was on the rise, therefore in the year 1912,
the Sikhs decided to establish a Gurdwara. A wooden house was
rented in the vicinity of Baan Moh, a well known business area.
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Thereafter,
the place was decorated so that prayers could commence at this
new Gurdwara. However, due to certain inconveniences, prayers
and other religious duties were conducted only once a week.
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In the year
1913 (or the year 2456 according to the Buddhist calendar), with
the increasing rise of the Sikh community in Bangkok, a new larger
wooden house was leased for a long term at the corner of Phaurat
and Chakraphet road. After considerable renovation and decoration,
the Guru Granth Sahib was installed and religious prayers were
conducted on a daily basis.
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Later in the
year 1932 (the year 2475 according to the Buddhist calendar),
the Sikhs community gathered some funds and purchased a piece
of land for 16,200 baht and paid and additional 25,000 baht for
the three and a half storey building plan. The new permanent Gurdwara
was completed in the year 1933 was named "Gurdwara Siri Guru
Singh Sabha". It took about five and a half months to construct
it. On completion this Gurdwara became the centre for the Sikh
devotees and the Thai people who followed the Sikh faith.
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A few years
later, during the World War II, the Allied Air Forces targeted
to knock out the metropolitan powerhouse and the memorial bridge
(Saphan Phut), which are quite adjacent to the Gurdwara. The Allied
forces dropped 2 bombs, each weighing about 1,000 pounds, which
went off target and fell upon the roof top of the Gurdwara. The
bombs, being really heavy penetrated the roof and fell right through
the building till the ground floor. At that time several hundreds
of Sikhs were taking shelter at the Gurdwara under the Holy grace
of Guru Granth Sahib and to everyone's surprise both the bombs
(fallen on the ground) didn't explode. Miraculously no one was
injured.
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However, due
to the vibrations caused by one of the bombs that had exploded
in the vicinity area behind the metropolitan powerhouse, made
many cracks to the building and damaged part of the Gurdwara;
thus making it impossible to continue the prayers at the Gurdwara.
Prayers were stopped, while arrangements were being made to move
the Gurdwara to a new location. A temporary wooden house was constructed
and used as a Gurdwara. Shortly, the Gurdwara was repaired and
prayers continued.
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As time passed,
in the year 1979, decision was made to renovate the Gurdwara and
make it bigger to accommodate the increasing number of Sikhs.
Together the committee of Siri Guru Singh Sabha and the other
Thai-Sikhs asked for the blessing and permission from the Guru
Granth Sahib to construct a new Gurdwara at the same location.
The foundation stone was laid down by the Panj Piare, the Five
Beloved Ones. The new Gurdwara was completed after two years in
the year 1981.
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The Gurdwara
now technically had five floors plus a matinee floor. But however,
people refer to the matinee floor as the third floor, thus making
the Gurdwara having 6 floors. It was now a concrete building and
was constructed on an area of total 1,440 square meters (360 "tarang
wah"). Below are the details of each floor plan.
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The ground floor
is entrance hall which is width enough. There are three ways to
enter the Gurdwara. The first way is a walk through a 3 meter
wide lane, straight from the Chakraphet road. The second way is
an entry from the door facing the Italian lane on Phaurat road.
The third way is through the Jindamanee lane, allowing motorbikes
to park at the entrance of the main gate of the Gurdwara. A fourth
entrance could not be made because it was stuck to a department
store, namely ATM. (Usually a Gurdwara will have entry doors on
all four sides).
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Towards the
left side of the entrance hall, is a room, where religious books,
tapes, CDs and cloth to cover the Guru Granth Sahib are sold.
Any Sikh is permitted to either borrow or buy these items. Towards
the right, is the clinic, namely "Sukshala Nanak Mission".
Needy patients are given free treatment irrespective of caster,
creed or religion. This clinic was setup under the patronage of
Siri Guru Singh Sabha and has been in service for more than 45
years. Right next to the clinic is the dining hall for the Granthi
and Ragis of the Gurdwara and also for pilgrims who come from
abroad and stay temporarily at the Gurdwara. Next to are the toilets
for both men and women. As there is a strict rule in every Gurdwara,
disallowing any person from wearing shoes to the upper floors,
there is service provide on the ground floor for keeping your
shoes. Left hand side for men and the right hand side for women.
On the extreme left, there is the office of the Siri Guru Singh
Sabha committee. A small meeting room is also present on the matinee
floor above the office.
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Facing the front
but towards the end of the entrance hall, there are three elevators,
leading to various floors of the Gurdwara. At the same time on
either side of the elevators are the staircases, about 3 meters
wide each and has to total of 84 steps from the ground floor to
the main prayer hall where the Guru Granth Sahib is installed.
Surprising the number of staircases here is exactly equal to the
number of staircases in the Baoli Gurdwara, located at Goindwal.
Gurdwara Baoli Sahib, which was constructed by Guru Amar Das Ji
(the third Sikh Guru), is the first Sikh centre pilgrimage. Moreover,
the number, 84, also indicates the total amount of re-incarnations
(8.4 million births and deaths), which a human being has to go
through. This is to remind us to only do good deeds and mediate
in the name of Waheguru as well as provide service to the community
and help the needy people. Life as a human being is considered
the last step before realizing God.
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On the second
floor, is a big hall used as the Langar Hall (Guru-Ka-Langar)
and many other kinds of different activities, such as arranging
a dinner party during the wedding ceremony. This hall is also
often used as a lecture hall by different people invited by the
committee. During religious days and weekends, this hall is usually
converted into a Langar Hall.
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Next is the
matinee floor. Although this floor is just half the size of other
floors, it is now considered as the third floor. In the middle
of this floor is a large room, which is often used for meetings
or other religious activities.
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The fourth floor,
which is accessible either through the stairs or the elevators,
is simply a big hall. This hall, excluding the side walkways,
is about 15 meters in width and 37 meters in length.
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There is pathway
in the middle of this hall, leading to the Guru Granth Sahib.
The floor is carpeted with a beautiful design and is used as a
sitting place for all the Sikh devotees.
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Ladies sit on
the left hand side of the hall, while the men sit on the right
hand side, facing the platform, on which the Guru Granth Sahib
is installed. The reason for sitting separately is to maintain
order and to maintain concentration in listening to the religious
prayers.
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In the middle
of the hall is a raised platform, about one meter above the floor,
with carved gold-plated pillars on all fours sides. Above the
platform is gold-plated dome, in the shape of a lotus, with petals
around it. The top most is covered with a piece of cloth having
a gold lace at the edge around it, giving a royal symbol. Placed
on the platform, is the Guru Granth Sahib.
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Sitting at the
platform is the Granthi or the Giani, who wihile reading from
the Holy Granth also uses a Chaur or Chauri (Yak hair or manmade
fiber embedded in a metal placed in a wooden handle) and waves
it over the Guru Granth Sahib Ji as a symbol of respect.
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Towards the
right of this platform, is a slightly raised platform used for
Kirtan singings and giving religious lectures.
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Daily at 4:30
a.m., the Granthi brings out the Guru Granth Sahib and places
it on the designated platform and begins reading the Hukam Nama
for the day and then covers the still opened Guru Granth Sahib
with a piece of cloth. At around 6:30 p.m. daily, after reciting
the Rehras prayer, the Granthi performs the Sukh Asan ceremony
(formally closing of the Guru Granth Sahib for the day) and retires
the Guru Granth Sahib.
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On the fifth
floor is the Thai Sikh International School. This campus provides
education for children up to Kindergarten 2, so that small kids
need not travel far to the other campus, located at Bangna, which
is for higher education. However, when a student passes from here,
he/she can continue his/her education at the other campus.
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The top floor, that is, the sixth floor, is divided into two sections. Half of the floor is converted into rooms used by the Thai Sikh students for various activities or as meeting rooms. The other half is converted into rooms, used to keep the Guru Granth Sahib during the night. There are two more rooms in this section which are used by the Granthi or other Sikh devotees for self-learning and understanding the Holy Granth.
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