Harmandir Sahib |

Picture of the Day: “Ever blessed by God be the women of Amritsar”

March 16, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The blog GT1588 provides us with the above photo taken in 1906 of pilgrims entering and leaving Darbar Sahib (aka the Golden Temple): Although the viewpoint chosen by Ponting was a familiar one to photographers who came to the Golden Temple before him, no one in my opinion came as close as he did in capturing the mood that permeates that sacred space or the zestful energy of its devotees. The manner in which he captures the quiet rhythm of […]

Categories: Picture of the Day • Tags: Amritsar, Darbar Sahib, Golden Temple, Guru Tegh Bahadur, Harmandir Sahib, Sikh women

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Leno-gate, Sense, and Nonsense

January 26, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

I really wish we could move on from this story, but unfortunately, it is dominating Sikh-related news. The hysteria following Jay Leno’s bit that involved a depiction of Darbar Sahib (aka The Golden Temple) refuses to die. Now that a Sikh physician in California has initiated a lawsuit against Leno, and the SGPC (the authority that manages Darbar Sahib and many other Gurdwaras in India) has demanded action from the US Government, and even politicians in the United Kingdom are […]

Categories: News Bits, TV/Movies • Tags: Darbar Sahib, Golden Temple, Harmandir Sahib, Jay Leno, Mitt Romney, Sikhtoons, Sonny Singh Brooklynwala, T. Sher Singh, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The Golden Temple: where the rich live

January 20, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

US Sikh organization SALDEF alerts us to an excerpt of Jay Leno’s opening monologue on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where Darbar Sahib (aka the Golden Temple) is depicted as Republican candidate for US President Mitt Romney’s home. I’m not sure if SALDEF was highlighting this in a positive or negative light. Romney’s wealth and social status have been an issue in the campaign and he is often accused of being out of touch with much of America. I’m […]

Categories: Humor, Politics, TV/Movies • Tags: Darbar Sahib, Harmandir Sahib, Jay Leno, Mitt Romney, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The morning when the sun set: November 1, 1984

November 1, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Once more I am the silent one who came out of the distance wrapped in cold rain and bells: I owe to earth’s pure death the will to sprout. Pablo Neruda (1904 – 1973) One morning, 27 years ago, I – a young lad living in the west – was walking to school. It was seasonably cool morning. There was a dusting of frost on the grass and a slight chill in the air, but a warming sun was rising. […]

Categories: 1984, Reflections • Tags: 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Ensaaf, Harmandir Sahib, India, Indira Gandhi, Operation Blue Star, Operation Bluestar, Sikh genocide, Sikh Genocide Project, Sikhs for Justice

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Comparison of Amritsar and Bakersfield (sources: wikipedia.org, amritsarcorp.com)

Bakersfield, CA and Amritsar, Punjab to become sister cities

August 25, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The California city of Bakersfield, 100 miles north of Los Angeles, has announced that it will associate with Amritsar, Punjab, India as sister cities: Mayor Harvey Hall will welcome a new city to Bakersfield’s sisterhood at noon [next] Monday in the City Council chamber. Hall will sign an agreement with Mayor Swaith Malik of Amritsar, India, a city news release said. The relationship has been in the making since early 2007. The Sister City program provides opportunities for cultural, educational, […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Amritsar, Bakersfield, California, Golden Temple, Harmandir Sahib, Punjab, sister cities, Sister City Project

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A prelude to 1984

June 3, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

It was late 1983 when my family was staying in Chandigarh, India. As is common for Sikh families, we were planning a trip to Amritsar and Harmandir Sahib (Sikhism’s central Gurdwara, also known as the Golden Temple). I was nine years old at the time. Little did we know that only a few months later, my family would be glued to our TV, watching reports of the Indian government’s military attack upon the heart of Sikhism in Operation Bluestar. In […]

Categories: 1984, Reflections • Tags: 1984, Akal Takht, Amritsar, Golden Temple, Harchand Singh Longowal, Harmandir Sahib, Indian Government, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Operation Blue Star, Operation Bluestar

US court facilitates pursuit of justice on behalf of Sikh genocide victims

May 31, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

There is an interesting phenomenon currently going on in the United States whereby Sikhs in the US are seeking justice by way of a class action lawsuit for the targeted killings of several thousands of Sikhs across India during November of 1984 in response to the assassination of then-Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. How it has come to be that India’s ruling Congress Party could be sued in the United States by a group representing Sikhs for the killings that took place in […]

Categories: 1984, News Bits • Tags: Alien Tort Claims Act, Congress Party of India, Ensaaf, Golden Temple, Harmandir Sahib, Indira Gandhi, New York, Operation Bluestar, Sikh genocide, Sikhs for Justice, Torture Victim Protection Act

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Feeling the Power: A non-Sikh visits the Golden Temple

March 3, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Kristy Robinson, of the Yahoo! Contributor Network, describes her visit to Darbar Sahib (aka “the Golden Temple”, the heart of Sikhism) in Amritsar, India: Still uncertain of what the point was in coming to a place that none of us believed in I crept on with my host family surrounding me to keep unruly Indians from putting their hands where they need not be. It took about an hour to reach the inside of the temple and I was not prepared […]

Categories: Interfaith, Reflections • Tags: Amritsar, Darbar Sahib, Golden Temple, Harmandir Sahib, Kristy Robinson

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Harmandir Sahib

Picture of the Day: “Ever blessed by God be the women of Amritsar”

Leno-gate, Sense, and Nonsense

The Golden Temple: where the rich live

The morning when the sun set: November 1, 1984

Bakersfield, CA and Amritsar, Punjab to become sister cities

A prelude to 1984

US court facilitates pursuit of justice on behalf of Sikh genocide victims

Feeling the Power: A non-Sikh visits the Golden Temple

Top 5 Sikh American Stories of 2010