Sikh Gurdwara - San Jose
Encyclopedia
The Sikh Gurdwara or Sikh Gurdwara - San Jose (a Gurdwara
Gurdwara
A Gurdwara , meaning the Gateway to the Guru, is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib ....
is the Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
place of worship) was founded in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1985 by leaders of the then-rapidly growing Santa Clara Valley
Santa Clara Valley
The Santa Clara Valley is a valley just south of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California in the United States. Much of Santa Clara County and its county seat, San José, are in the Santa Clara Valley. The valley was originally known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight for its high concentration...
Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
community. Initially they met in a rented community center, but soon bought a small building in east San Jose. After buying nearby land in the early 1990s, 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 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²) was completed in 2004. The second phase was completed in April 2011, making it the largest Gurdwara in North America at 90000 square feet (8,361.3 m²). The chief architect and designer of the project is the late Malkiat Singh Sidhu.The largest at audience at the san jose gurdwara was on opening day when some 20,000 people were thought to have came.