According to Post and Courier “ Though nothing on the building’s exterior indicates its purpose, the modest structure is home to a tiny, but faithful, religious community in the Lowcountry.
The edifice at 101 Jean Wells Drive in Goose Creek is the first permanent location for the region’s Sikh community, organizers said. Sikh adherents in the Charleston region said the new gurdwara, as Sikh worship spaces are called, is the third in the state.
For many years, observants either used their homes to host services or they traveled to the Midlands or the Upstate, where two other Sikh temples are located.
Now they have a place close to home.
“It’s a good feeling,” Randhir Makkar said. “We pray that COVID is gone soon and we are back to normal as we were two years ago so we can meet and have more people come there.”
The Sikh community held its first worship service in their new gurdwara in December, when they celebrated the 551st birthday of guru Nanak, founder of the religion.
Nanak, who was born in the Punjab region of India and established the monotheistic religion in the 1500s, preached that all people could have access to God without rituals and priests and rejected the caste system.
Attendance at the religious holiday celebration was limited to 25 people due to the pandemic.
A priest from Columbia joined the Lowcountry congregation, Makkar said.
The Goose Creek Sikh community doesn’t yet have a priest, so observants lead worship through songs and readings of holy texts. Services are 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays, when adherents also enjoy a meal together.
“Maybe in the future, we’ll have a full-time priest,” Makkar said.
A loan was obtained to secure the $120,000 building and members will chip in to help pay for the structure, Makkar said.
Rajinder Multani, who led efforts to find the building, said the house of worship is 15 minutes from her West Ashley home. She said having a permanent space is an important milestone for the Sikh community.
“We are so happy,” she said.
The property has some religious ties. The building formerly served as a church before becoming home to a different faith community.
Some minor interior work was done to the property.
On the outside, a wooden shed was installed to allow for outdoor cooking, Multani said. Inside work included painting and replacing the carpet with vinyl flooring.
A raised deck was also installed to hold Guru Granth Sahib, or the Sikh holy book. Curtains were also put in place to separate the guru when congregants begin eating after prayers.
The text is revered in the faith, requiring someone to care for it and conduct regular prayers and rituals. This requires a congregant at the Goose Creek temple to take it home after worship service to conduct religious practices.
“We consider it a living guru,” said Varinder Pal Singh, who worships at the temple.
The Sikh religion makes up a tiny portion of the population. The Association of Religion Data Archives noted just under 250 congregations nationwide in its 2010 report, the association’s most recent count.
In the Lowcountry, the number of Sikhs is small, with about 15 to 20 families, Makkar said.
Charleston-area Sikhs have a close relationship with other Asian religious communities.
For the past 13 years, the Sikh community has used the Hindu temple in West Ashley for large gatherings. Hindu observants also join Sikhs for worship services.
Pal said the faith embraces people of all religions and welcomed anyone for worship at the Goose Creek gurdwara.
For those who might not know much about Sikhism, Pal uplifted three main tenets: meditating on the name of God, earning a living by honest means and treating all people equally.
The meaning of “Sikh” is seeker of truth, and it’s a faith rooted in love, he said.
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