July 5, 2013: Thousands of people came to the city to celebrate the memory and life of Sikh guru Arjan Sahib Ji at the seventh annual Nagar Kirtan (a religious procession) hosted by New Westminster's Khalsa Diwan Society in Queensborough this past weekend.
Both Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike attended the day-long event on June 30.
The celebration began with a parade leading from the Sukh Sagar Sikh Temple to Ryall Park, behind the Queensborough Community Centre.
According to the Khalsa Diwan Society, each year Queensborough's Gurdwara Sahib (Sikh Temple) organizes a parade and religious procession, or Nagar Kirtan, to commemorate the life and death of their "fifth spiritual master, guru Arjan Sahib Ji."
The annual event features entertainment, free food, martial arts demonstrations and children's activities.
The gurdwara has been at its current location since 1975.
According to the society, in 1919, a local Sikh known as Bishan Singh donated land to the Khalsa Diwan Society of Vancouver to build a gurdwara in New Westminster.
Singh lived in a house on Boyne Street, which he also donated to the society.
As the Sikh population in the city grew, it was decided the gurdwara was in
poor condition, which is when the Wood Street property was purchased.
Since 1975, the gurdwara has been a hub of activity for Lower Mainland Sikhs, with thousands of members. © Copyright (c) New West Record