Gurdwara Sahib of San Jose

The Sikh Gurdwara of San Jose is a gurdwara (a Sikh place of worship) located in the Evergreen district of San Jose, California. It was founded in 1984 by leaders of the then-rapidly growing community of Sikhs in the area.^[1] It is the largest Gurdwara in the world outside of India.^[2][3]

Gurdwara Sahib of San Jose
Front of Sikh Gurdwara - San Jose
Religion
Affiliation	Sikhism
Location
Location	San Jose, California, USA
Architecture
Style	Sikh architecture
Completed	April 2011
Website
Official website

History

The gurdwara's cascade fountain.

Initially, the community met in a rented community center, but soon bought a small building in east San Jose. After buying nearby land in 1995, they decided it would be too expensive to build in the city limits, so they sold that land and bought a larger property further east. The first phase of the project of almost 20,000 square feet (1,900 m²) was completed in 2004.

The second phase was completed in April 2011,^[4] making it the largest gurdwara in North America^[5] at 90,000 square feet (8,400 m²). The chief architect and designer of the project is the late Malkiat Singh Sidhu. The largest audience at the San Jose Gurdwara was on opening day when some 20,000 people were thought to have come.

Architecture

The gurdwara includes a prayer hall, called the "main Diwan Hall", that sees 10,000 in attendance every Sunday. It also includes a kitchen and accompanying hall to provide Langar service. Additionally, the grounds include a school wing that hosts about 700 students every Sunday for Punjabi, kirtan, and gurbani classes, basketball courts, and a free health clinic.^[6]

See also

• Gurdwaras in the United States