ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਬ੍ਰੈਡਫੋਰਡਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਬ੍ਰੈਡਫੋਰਡ

Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara stands on Gobind Marg, just off Leeds Road in Bradford, and is the largest gurdwara in the city. Its purpose built stone building, formally opened in 1972, grew out of Bradford's first gurdwara, founded in a converted warehouse in Garnett Street in 1964, and it remains the senior temple among the six gurdwaras in Bradford today. It is an entry in our guide to ਯੂਕੇ ਦੇ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ.

What is Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara, Bradford?

It is a gurdwara, the Sikh place of worship, whose name means the house of God. It is named for Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, born in Patna in 1666, a warrior, horseman, poet and philosopher who founded the Khalsa, the order of initiated Sikhs. The prayer hall centres on the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the Sikh scripture treated as the living Guru, and the gurdwara is open to everyone: in Sikhism all are equal, and that equality is shown by everyone sitting down together on the carpeted floor of the diwan hall.

History: from Garnett Street to Gobind Marg

Until 1964 there was no gurdwara in Bradford at all, and the city's Sikhs travelled to the Chapeltown gurdwara in Leeds for services; older worshippers remember the Guru Granth Sahib Ji being brought from Leeds only twice a year, with halls such as St George's Hall and Queen's Hall on Morley Street hired for the occasion. In 1964 the first Bradford gurdwara was founded at 16 Garnett Street, in an old carpet warehouse, and a management committee from the sangat was elected to run it. A year later the committee decided to build a new, larger gurdwara and bought a plot on Malvern Street and Ventor Street, although others in the community favoured buying Prospect Hall on Wakefield Road instead.

The disagreement lasted five years. In 1970 it was settled by dividing the work between two new associations: the United Sikh Association continued with the purpose built gurdwara on Malvern Street, while the Bradford Sikh Association bought Prospect Hall and renamed it the Gurdwara Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Construction on Malvern Street began in 1970, and Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara was formally opened in 1972, with the Lord Mayor of Bradford, the Indian High Commissioner, local MPs and the sangat at the opening ceremony. More land was bought in 1975 for a car park, with a small building that now houses the Punjabi language school. A new diwan hall followed in 1985, and an extensive rebuilding in 1999 added a second diwan hall and a larger langar hall. The same year, to celebrate 300 years of the Khalsa, Malvern Street was renamed Gobind Marg and a monument to the Khalsa was built beside the gurdwara on Leeds Road.

Architecture: Yorkshire stone and golden domes

Unlike Bradford's first gurdwaras, which were converted warehouses, chapels and halls, Gobind Marg is a purpose built temple, and its stone facade, tall arched windows and golden domes make it a landmark on the Leeds Road corridor, where three of Bradford's six gurdwaras stand. Dedication stones record its building and its extensions, and the Khalsa monument beside Leeds Road marks the tercentenary of 1999. Purpose built temples like this one are landmarks in two senses, physical and historical: they show a community that has settled for good, bringing its faith and customs into the life of the city.

Langar: the kitchen where nobody goes away hungry

The langar, the free community kitchen, is the beating heart of Gobind Marg. Volunteers arrive at about half past six in the morning, and langar is served seven days a week, from about 7 in the morning until 7 in the evening, every day of the year. The food is all vegetarian, cooked and served by volunteers, and no one who comes through the door goes away hungry. On weekdays some 300 to 400 worshippers come; from Friday to Sunday the number rises to about 2,000, and on festival days there are many thousands, with long queues. As the langar's co-managers put it, a millionaire and a beggar have the right to sit anywhere, with anyone: everybody is equal.

Worship, learning and community life

Alongside daily worship and the main services on weekends and festival days, the gurdwara runs a Punjabi school and a creche, music and kirtan classes, a Sikhism class, an elderly day centre, keep fit classes, a matrimonial service, and passport and police surgeries for the local community. Evening diwans are streamed online for those who cannot attend. Each spring the Bradford sangat celebrates ਵੈਸਾਖੀ, the founding of the Khalsa, with a nagar kirtan procession that travels from gurdwara to gurdwara across the city.

How do you reach Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara?

The gurdwara stands on Gobind Marg, off Leeds Road in Bradford, postcode BD3 9JN, in the Leeds Road area east of the city centre. It is open every day of the year and visitors are welcome: dress modestly, cover your head, remove your shoes, and be ready to sit on the floor of the diwan hall. Weekends and festival days, above all Vaisakhi in April, are the fullest times to visit.