Garden State Sikh Association Gurdwara, Basking Ridgeਗਾਰਡਨ ਸਟੇਟ ਸਿੱਖ ਐਸੋਸੀਏਸ਼ਨ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ, ਬਾਸਕਿੰਗ ਰਿਜ

The Garden State Sikh Association Gurdwara stands at 977 Washington Valley Road, Basking Ridge, New Jersey, on a thirteen acre campus the association bought in 1979. Long known as the Bridgewater gurdwara, it is one of New Jersey's major Sikh temples: the association was incorporated in 1974, its first Darbar hall was completed in 1986, and a larger new Darbar hall, kitchen and langar hall followed in 2008, with the old hall becoming the Khalsa School and library. It is one of the entries in our guide to Gurdwaras in the USA.

What is the Garden State Sikh Association?

The Garden State Sikh Association, usually shortened to GSSA, is the Sikh religious non profit that owns and runs this gurdwara. It was incorporated in 1974 as a Sikh association with its own charter, by laws and tax exempt status as a religious non profit organisation, after a few New Jersey Sikh families who wanted a gurdwara near their own towns began meeting in 1973. Its official site still calls the temple the GSSA Bridgewater gurdwara, the name the congregation has used for the Washington Valley Road site for decades, even though its postal address is Basking Ridge.

History: home gatherings and the 1979 purchase

The small founding group started, in the association's own history, with path and kirtan, the reading and singing of hymns, in members' homes. In 1979 it bought the present thirteen acre property, then with only a small house on it. That purchase changed the work from gatherings to building: in 1984 construction started on a Darbar hall, the prayer hall where the Guru Granth Sahib Ji is seated. Construction was completed in 1986, and the first kirtan in the new Darbar hall was performed for the Vaisakhi celebrations in April 1986, a fitting opening, since Vaisakhi marks the founding of the Khalsa in 1699.

The 2008 expansion: a new hall, and a school in the old one

Over the next decades the congregation grew, and the single hall was no longer enough. In July 2002 GSSA received township approval to start construction, and in 2008 construction was complete for a new Darbar hall, a kitchen, a new langar hall, restrooms and several rooms. The old Darbar hall was not demolished: it was converted into the Khalsa School and the library, so the building in which the congregation first sang Vaisakhi kirtan in 1986 now teaches its children. That pattern, new worship space beside reused old space, is common in diaspora gurdwaras, where land is precious and every hall carries memory.

Architecture and the campus

The setting is the architecture here. Thirteen acres of New Jersey ground give this gurdwara what city temples in New York or Chicago cannot have: lawns, trees and room to grow in stages, from the small house of 1979 to the first Darbar hall of 1986 to the larger complex of 2008. The buildings follow the standard order of a gurdwara: a Darbar hall centred on the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, a langar hall and kitchen serving the free vegetarian meal to all, classrooms and a library in the converted old hall, and the Nishan Sahib, the saffron flag that marks a gurdwara from the road. Visitors who cannot sit on the floor are given chairs at the other end of the hall, as the association's own visitor guidance notes.

Khalsa School, langar and community life

The Khalsa School is the gurdwara's programme for children. Its stated mission is to instil love for the Sikh religion, its beliefs, values and customs, by teaching the Punjabi language and the Gurmukhi script, giving children the ability to read and understand the Sikh scriptures, and teaching Sikh history and kirtan. The school also offers SAT classes for high school students. Children present in front of the whole sangat during major gurpurab celebrations, and the school says its time tested curriculum is shared by more than forty gurdwaras. Teaching is done by dedicated volunteers, many of them full time professionals. Langar, served from the 2008 kitchen and langar hall, remains the other daily lesson: everyone eats the same food, sitting together, without distinction.

How do you reach the Basking Ridge gurdwara?

The gurdwara stands at 977 Washington Valley Road, Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920, in Somerset County, reached by road from across central New Jersey; most visitors drive, and the campus has room to park. The association's own guidance for visitors is the guidance of every gurdwara: tobacco, liquor and narcotics are strictly forbidden on the premises; before entering the hall, remove your shoes, wash your hands and cover your head, a scarf or handkerchief serves if you are not Sikh; bow respectfully before the Guru Granth Sahib Ji if you wish, then sit quietly with the congregation, and join the langar afterwards.