Sikh Society of Michigan, Sterling Heightsਸਿੱਖ ਸੁਸਾਇਟੀ ਆਫ਼ ਮਿਸ਼ੀਗਨ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ, ਸਟਰਲਿੰਗ ਹਾਈਟਸ

The Sikh Society of Michigan is the Sikh congregation of Sterling Heights, Michigan, and the keeper of the first gurdwara in Metro Detroit. That first temple was established in Madison Heights in 1979, in an old church building bought and converted by the young community. The society's present purpose built gurdwara, at 33340 Dequindre Road in Sterling Heights, opened on 1 September 2012, and it is one of the entries in our guide to Gurdwaras in the USA.

What is the Sikh Society of Michigan?

The Sikh Society of Michigan, Inc. is the registered Sikh religious society that runs the Sterling Heights gurdwara, also called the Sterling Heights Gurdwara Sahib. Its constitution was signed and put into effect on 10 August 2003. A gurdwara is the Sikh place of worship: its main prayer hall, called the Darbar Sahib, centres on the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture honoured as the eternal Guru, and its Dining (Langar) Hall serves a free vegetarian meal to everyone who comes. Like every gurdwara, this one is open to people of all faiths and none, and flies the Nishan Sahib, the saffron Sikh flag.

When was the first gurdwara in Metro Detroit founded?

The first gurdwara in Metro Detroit was established in Madison Heights in 1979. The society's own history puts it plainly: in 1979 an old church building was purchased and converted into a gurdwara, the first established Gurdwara Sahib in Detroit, Michigan. A Detroit newspaper report carried by the World-wide Religious News service in October 2008 confirms the same fact independently: the first gurdwara in Metro Detroit was established in Madison Heights in 1979. The society's Madison Heights home stood at 990 East Lincoln Avenue, and the community grew through the significant Sikh immigration of the 1980s and 1990s, driven, as that 2008 report noted, by persecution in Punjab and by economic opportunity in Metro Detroit. By 2008 Sikh leaders put the area's Sikh population at about 5,000.

The move to Sterling Heights

By October 2008 the Madison Heights building was too small for the community it had created. That month the society broke ground on a 4.5 acre plot at Dequindre Road and 14 Mile in Sterling Heights, for a building reported at the time as 23,000 square feet, planned with a prayer hall, a community dining area, a library, offices and classrooms for children. Those figures are the plan as reported at the groundbreaking, and the finished temple opened a few years later: the society's history records that the new gurdwara building in Sterling Heights opened on 1 September 2012. The congregation had carried its worship from a converted church to a purpose built suburban temple in one generation.

Worship and programmes today

The Sterling Heights gurdwara runs a full daily and weekly round, and all of its programmes are streamed live on YouTube. Every day begins with Naam Simran from 6:00 to 7:00 in the morning and ends with Rehras Sahib from 6:00 to 7:00 in the evening. Sunday is the main day: the Kirtan Diwan opens with Asa Ki Var from 10:00 to 10:30, continues with kirtan by the Sangat, the congregation itself, from 10:30 to 11:00, and then kirtan by Bhai Sahib from 11:00 to 12:30. Langar, the free meal from the communal kitchen, is served after every Sunday Diwan. The building plan's classrooms for children reflect a long concern with the young: the Harvard Pluralism Project has recorded the society sponsoring a Sikh Youth Camp every summer at the Proud Lake Recreation Area.

Significance and community role

The society's importance is first of all historical: it gave Metro Detroit its first gurdwara in 1979 and has anchored Sikh life in the northern suburbs of Detroit ever since, a path shared by other American congregations in this Kosh, such as the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago at Palatine. Its standing among its neighbours showed in October 2008, when the five gurdwaras of Metro Detroit, in Brownstown Township, Canton Township, Plymouth, Rochester Hills and Madison Heights, held a joint programme together for the first time, gathering in Plymouth to mark the 300th anniversary of the Guruship of the Guru Granth Sahib, conferred on 20 October 1708, with about 2,000 Sikhs expected. Jasvir Singh of the Sikh Society of Michigan spoke for the organisers: it was, he said, all five gurdwaras coming together for the first time.

How to reach and visit

The gurdwara stands at 33340 Dequindre Road, Sterling Heights, MI 48310, at Dequindre and 14 Mile in the northern suburbs of Detroit, and most visitors arrive by car. The society's site text says the gurdwara is open every day from 5:00 in the morning to 9:30 in the evening, and its phone number is (248) 547-0927. Its visitor guidelines ask guests to dress so they can sit comfortably and decently on the carpeted floor, to remove their shoes and use the shoe racks before entering the Darbar Sahib and the Langar Hall, and to cover their heads in the main areas, where scarves are usually available. Kara Parshad is offered in the prayer hall and received in cupped hands, and everyone is welcome to stay for langar. The society's official website is michigangurdwara.com.

Correction

Correction, 19 October 2026: the first version of this page, published the same day, gave the wrong street address and placed the 1979 first temple in the wrong city, on the basis of research that conflated this society with another congregation. The gurdwara stands at 33340 Dequindre Road, Sterling Heights, and the first temple was in Madison Heights. The page has been rewritten from the society's own site and contemporary reporting, and we are sorry for the error.