In a sad development, the one and only Gurdwara of Washington DC is closing down. The National Gurdwara in Washington DC, situated at one of the most prime locations in the USA is at the verge of closure for good.
A gloomy and depressing wave is fast overtaking the local Sangat. If this happens to the Gurdwara, which lies in the vicinity of both the White House and the Indian Consulate, close to the US Capitol, it will leave permanent scar on the pride of the Sikhs. The Gurdwara Sahib is situated onMassachusetts Avenue, a thoroughfare which houses major embassies in Washington
Said Sardar Bakhshish Singh, President of the Gurdwar,a in a communique, “I want to inform the Sikh sangat all over the United States of some very sad news that the National Gurdwara, DC has been closed since last week by the gurdwara board of trustees and the chola sahib from Nishan Sahib has also been removed against the will of the sangat.” Virtually giving an SOS call, Bakhshish Singh Ji has reiterated that the Sangat beseeched and begged the Trustees to keep the Gurdwara opened but in vain.
Two months ago the nishan Sahib chola of the Gurdwara was removed and pilfered by unknown vandals and the culprits are yet to be apprehended, but this time the nishan sahib has been removed and the Gurdwara Sahib locked by the Board of Trustees themselves.
This Gurdwara Sahib was the only place for devotees to assemble. Requests were made to the Trustees to keep the Gurdwara opened for Sunday diwans and Sardar Bakhshish Singh had even offered to personally give 4,000 Dollars a month.
Sardar Shamsher Singh heading the Trustees had said that Sardar Bakhshish being the President can issue appeal to the Sikhs of USA and World to come forward to salvage the Gurdwara. It is yet to be seen how the Gurdwara can be saved from this catastrophic situation.
For details on how to help, contact Gurcharanjit Singh Lamba: [email protected], [email protected]
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Related story:
The National Gurudwara in Washington to be auctioned
Pakhi HussainSource
The Gurudwara that was facing financial crisis in Washington is sure to go under the hammer as they are unable to pay off a loan of $2 million. Appeals have been made but nothing concrete has come forward.
THE NATIONAL Gurudwara in Washington DC, which stands close to the White House may be auctioned off if its management is not able to pay off a loan of $2 million. The National Gurudwara in America was facing a lot of financial crisis for a long time now. To get the Gurudwara out of trouble the management has offered the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to take control of the Gurdwara after paying off the loan but they are yet to do that.
The representative speaker of the Gurudwara says that due to the low turn up of the devotees in the State is the real reason why this $8 million Gurudwara is facing problems. The Gurudwara was built in 2005 and in America people hardly come down to pray here. To quote the spokesperson, Gurmeet Singh, “Due to low turnout of devotees, the income of gurdwara is not enough to pay back the loan and so the management offered it to SGPC.”
Various measures have been tried out by people to save the Gurudwara. The official website of the National Gurudwara has also appealed to the people living in America to do something for the welfare of the god’s home. The postings in the website read that the National Gurudwara is in urgent need of money and if the place id auctioned off then it would be shameful for the Sikh community. However, no appeal worked and it seems that the prayer house would be auctioned off soon.