Nanaksar Gurdwara Gursikh Temple, Richmondਨਾਨਕਸਰ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਗੁਰਸਿੱਖ ਟੈਂਪਲ, ਰਿਚਮੰਡ

Nanaksar Gurdwara Gursikh Temple is the Sikh temple at 18691 Westminster Highway in Richmond, British Columbia, founded in 1979 by Sant Baba Mihan Singh Ji. Set on farmland between No. 8 Road and No. 9 Road, it follows the Nanaksar tradition of seva (selfless service), simran (meditation) and all night full moon kirtan, and its congregation numbers in the thousands. It is one of the entries in our guide to Gurdwaras in Canada.

What is Nanaksar Gurdwara, Richmond?

Nanaksar Gurdwara Gursikh Temple is a gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship: the word means the doorway to the Guru, and the prayer hall centres on the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture honoured as the eternal Guru, while the langar kitchen serves a free vegetarian meal to everyone who comes. The Richmond Hospital Foundation describes it simply: gurdwaras are a place of worship and gathering, this temple stands on Westminster Highway between No. 8 and No. 9 roads, its congregation numbers in the thousands, and members of the public, whatever their faith, are always welcomed.

History: founded in 1979 by Sant Baba Mihan Singh Ji

The temple was established in Richmond in 1979 by Sant Baba Mihan Singh Ji, a holy man from Doaba in Punjab. His path to Richmond ran through the region's older temples: after he arrived in Vancouver he was invited to the New Westminster Khalsa Diwan Society, which had employed one of his relatives as a priest, and in 1979 the Nanaksar Gurdwara was being established by his followers, drawing membership from the New Westminster society. From 1984, the record notes, the Nanaksar Gurdwara attracted Sikhs who were uninterested in gurdwara politics, a quiet, devotional identity it has kept ever since. Sant Baba Mihan Singh Ji was cared for at Richmond Hospital in his last days and left his body there in 1994, a bond with the city that the temple has never forgotten.

The Nanaksar tradition: seva, simran and the full moon

The Nanaksar movement was founded by Baba Nand Singh Ji (1869 or 1872 to 1943) at Nanaksar, near Kaleran village, five kilometres from Jagraon in Punjab. He practised severe austerities and long meditation, and taught his followers one command above all: recite the Name, and teach others to recite. In 1927 he was joined by his successor, Baba Isher Singh Ji, who from 1950 built the gurdwara at Kaleran where the Sukhmani Sahib, the pearl of peace composed by Guru Arjan Dev Ji, is recited constantly. Nanaksar devotion is strict and inward: strict vegetarianism, celibate sevadars, meditation with the rosary, white dress, and deep reverence for the Guru Granth Sahib, which is rested on a full sized bed with gifted coverings. Its signature gathering is the full moon, purnimasi: extended kirtan through the night, because the tradition holds that Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born on a full moon night, and his birthday is celebrated with special vigour on the nearest full moon. Richmond keeps that rhythm: the city's planning record lists lunar calendar events and full moon celebrations among the temple's regular life, alongside eight to fifteen special events a year.

A working farm and a growing temple

The Westminster Highway site is farmland as well as a temple. Richmond's planning committee heard in 2015 that the subject site was developed in 1979 and has been actively farmed, that the east property was acquired in 1989, and that the congregation, active in the farming community, produces approximately 10,000 pounds of produce a year. The temple is used for prayers as well as weddings, funerals and other special events, and demand is heavy: there was a two year waiting list to host weddings, and a temple addition of approximately 20,000 square feet was proposed to host prayers and dining and to let several events run at once. The Nelson Road interchange reshaped the land around it, taking one and a half acres of the east property, yet the farm and the temple continue side by side.

Why did the temple give $1.3 million to Richmond Hospital?

It gave the money because seva, selfless service, is the temple's reason for existing. In 2019 the Nanaksar Gurdwara Gursikh Temple donated $1.3 million to the Richmond Hospital Foundation toward a new Acute Care Tower to replace the hospital's original 1966 tower. Its spokesman Gary S. Berar put it plainly: a tenet of the Gursikh faith is selfless service to improve the community for the benefit and prosperity of all, and the temple hoped its gift would inspire others to join in improving local health care for everyone. The gift also carried a personal memory: Sant Baba Mihan Singh Ji, who founded the temple in 1979, was cared for at Richmond Hospital and died there in 1994. The foundation's president called the donors an inclusive community with deep roots in Richmond, committed to improving the health of all.

How do you visit Nanaksar Gurdwara, Richmond?

You visit at 18691 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC V6V 1B1, between No. 8 Road and No. 9 Road in the city's farming east side. Everyone is welcome, Sikh or not, and no booking or payment is needed. Cover your head, remove your shoes, sit quietly in the prayer hall for as long as you wish, and stay for langar, the free vegetarian meal served to all. A full moon evening, when the sangat gathers for the all night kirtan the Nanaksar tradition is known for, is the most atmospheric time to come.