A Birthday, An Earthquake in BC and A Visit to the Khalsa Heritage Centre

First, Happy Birthday to my brother, Bruce, in Victoria, BC!  I don't think his event caused the 7.7 magnitude earthquake off the coast of British Columbia, but that event is a big reminder to those of us who live on the west coast of Canada.

Back here in India, we had another interesting day.

The Anand family invited us to join them for the 80 km journey north to Anandpur Sahib and a visit to the Khalsa Heritage Centre.

Along the route, we stopped at a Gurdwara that is visited by many Sikh travellers.

(Gurneet, Ninni, Satbir and Ishpreet)

Anandpur Sahib is important in the Sikh faith.  It is here that in 1699, the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, initiated the Khalsa, the nation of Sikhs, and began the modern Sikh faith.

This beautiful Gurdwara sits atop a hill overlooking the small village of about 13,000 people.

It is visited by many Sikhs and is considered to be a very holy place.

The wall is inscribed with the names of the first Khalsa members.

I believe the Gurdwara and surrounding buildings were built as a fort to protect the Sikhs.  This is one of five Gurdwaras in India which hold special significance, the Golden Temple in Amritsar being another.  It is a goal of many Sikhs to visit all five.

We joined the Sikh faithful inside to listen to music and readings.

It was another beautiful sunny day in the Punjab!

The boys are always willing to pose for a photo.

Mom and Dad Anand have raised two very fine sons, and family outings like this are important in their lives.  We were pleased to be a part of this one.

A portrait of Guru Gobind Singh overlooks the Langar (and the big pot of dal) where we joined hundreds of people for lunch.  

George is contemplating how he will eat the dal with his roti without dropping any on his trousers.

 From the Gurdwara we could see our next stop, the modern buildings housing the Khalsa Heritage Centre.  The project was designed by Moshe Safdie, an Israeli/Canadian Architect, and the unique shapes are representative of the Himalaya Mountains.

The centre took twelve years to complete and  was opened just one year ago.

 Photography is not allowed within the walls.  The displays are beautiful and very unique.  They depict the 500 year history of the Sikh religion, the 300 year history of the Khalsa, and the daily life of people in the Punjab.

This is done through three dimensional murals that are several storeys high and are viewed from a circular ramp, as well as paintings and very intricate embroidery work on fabric.

As you can see, the sun was setting before we finished exploring this amazing facility.