Friday, April 4, 2014
New Sikh Institute plugs into Valley community's needs
According to the Fresno Bee "A new high-tech center in northwest Fresno is ready to connect Sikhs with each other and the community. The grand opening of the Sikh Institute of Fresno, a three-story, 38,000-square-foot building at 4827 N. Parkway Dr., is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. It comes with with flat-screen televisions, WiFi and lots of security cameras. Completing the center has been a long-time coming. Officials estimate the planning took about six years -- and the construction an equal number of years. At a cost of more than $10 million, the Institute was well worth the money and energy spent, officials say. "This is a major milestone achievement for the Sikh diaspora," says Gurpreet S. Mann, executive committee secretary with the Institute. The Sikh Institute of Fresno was founded to unite Sikhs with each other as well as their communities in ways different than many other gurdwaras (Sikh temples). About 35,000 Sikhs live in the central San Joaquin Valley, worshipping at 10 gurdwaras. Many are simple centers without the frills.The Sikh Institute of Fresno is geared to the changing face of Sikhs, including many youth who are immersed in American culture and don't speak Punjabi. The new Darbar Hall worship room, which can accommodate 800 people, has flat-screen monitors that can translate priest talks -- from Punjabi to English -- in a blink.The entire grounds also provide free WiFi for Sikhs with smartphones and laptops. "It is a place not only for worship, but for learning, for gathering, and for celebration," Mann says. "The building stands as a symbol of a constantly evolving community, which expects to play an important role in the larger Fresno community and unite with the Sikh sangat everywhere."The Institute also replaces Gurdwara Singh Sahib, the temple on East Dakota Avenue, where a congregation gathered since 1986 and outgrew the facility. Around 1,100 to 1,400 worshippers are expected now to gather at the Institute.The building features 10 classrooms, mainly used for Sunday school classes, that are equipped with TV monitors, the Internet and WiFi.The classrooms are open to the community. They already have been used for driving-education classes as well as SAT testing sites.The Institute also wants to invite speakers to address topics that are important to Sikhs and others, including alcohol awareness and domestic violence."As the community brings needs, they can use the facilities here," says Raj Beasla, board chairman at the Institute.The facility also features a large langar hall, with a cook, Guriqbal Singh, available seven days a week to provide meals for the needy.Sikhism teaches that God created all people equally and they can sit down for a meal together -- contrary to India's caste system that adheres to separatism.Gurdwaras display an orange flag as a symbol that anyone is welcome for a meal. The Institute is near Highway City, an impoverished neighborhood, near Highway 99 and Shaw Avenue.Already, non-Sikhs in the neighborhood are coming to the langar hall for meals.The langar hall also is providing meals for Sikhs coming to the Institute on Sundays. The hall has 50 round tables, capable of serving 271 people.A wall in langar hall features a picture of Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, a prominent Sikh gurdwara in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, north of India. In the hall, worshippers also can watch the service in Darbar Hall on flat-screen TVs.Phase-two plans for the Institute call for building a medical clinic -- open to everyone. There are also plans to start a charter school, kindergarten through sixth grade. The langar hall will serve as the cafeteria for those students.The Institute also is reaching out to elderly Sikhs, wanting to provide them with a safe place to socialize."Our elderly don't have a lot of places to go," Beasla says. "They don't go to bars; they don't play golf. We wanted to create a place for them to sit down and enjoy each other -- and it'll be a cool place for them. Water fountains are designed as misters for people to cool down.The building also can be used as a community shelter in the event of a disaster. It is anchored 90 feet into the ground to meet earthquake standards and raised to a level that meets 100-year flood plans.Valley Sikhs can worship at other gurdwaras -- and still come to the Sikh Institute of Fresno."It's open to everyone, and this is not a place where you have to be Sikh to come here," Beasla says. "People can do many things here in one stop.""
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