A Special Vaisakhi Mela to Inaugurate the New SNC Gurdwara
The Vaisakhi Mela brought together not only about 4,000 people on a beautiful, blue sky day with mild temps, it also offered a gastronomical festival from a dozen booths serving food cooked on the spot! Jalebis! Gol Gappe! Dahi bhalle! Pizza! Cotton Candy and ice cream!! And the new Gurdwara building was inaugurated.
By Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON: The saffron flag that was the first thing installed on this 20-acre site nearly 30 years ago has been raised higher, to almost 100 feet to be visible behind the gold painted domes of the gurdwara. But on this tenth Vaisakhi Mela in the huge open space on Saturday, April 26, the masses came together at the Sikh National Center north of Beltway 8 between Gessner and Fairbanks-North Houston to inaugurate the new, much anticipated Gurdwara and have fun too.
Members of the Sikh National Center Building (below)and Organizing Committees (above) at the Vaisakhi Mela this past Saturday.
For Sikhs, Vaisakhi has a special significance as the day in 1699 when Guru Gobind Singh laid down the foundation of the Panth Khalsa and the five K’s which are sacred tenets of the faith. But in the Punjab, it is also a harvest festival coinciding with the Spring equinox and is celebrated with much gusto, especially in villages across the Punjab and North India, with melas, dances and lots of food.
As in previous years, the completely free event was open to the public and was sponsored by the generosity of so many people who have worked hard to make the SNC a reality: Dr. Hardam S. Azad, Harjit S. Galhotra, Jitinderpal Singh, Gurbir S. Boparai, Jagmohan S. Kooner, Baljeet S. Purewal, Gurmeet S. Saini, Shamsher Singh, Gurcharan S. Dhaliwal, Tirath S. Khera, Amrik S. Banwait, Avtar Singh, Satbir K. Cheema, Sukhpal S. Dhaliwal, Gurlal Singh, Amrit Singh, Ruben Bains, Divjyot Singh, Rinku Sandhu, Preetinder Singh, Karamjit S. Virdi, Mohan S. Grewal, Harvinder (Harry) Boparai, Parupkar Singh and Happy Singh.
An estimated 4,000 people came to the SNC site under bright, blue skies and crisp weather to the completely free event to meet and greet each other, pray at the new Gurdwara and enjoy food and games. The large concrete parking lots were full but still could accommodate the stream of cars.
The wide expanse was the site of all the fun games for the younger children, like the tug-of-war; 50 meter race, 3-legged race, sack race, spoon race and basketball. On the far side of the racing field and volleyball court, a row of spectators watched as the young men and teenagers rushed from one goal post to the other; while others cooked hot jalebis, pakoras, gol gappe, chaat, dahi bhalla and fresh sugarcane juice for a unending line of people,
Off to the other side, a carnival atmosphere took care of the whims of the younger tykes with inflatable moon walks and slides and farm animals petting zoo. And a safe distance away, stalls served cotton candy at one end and ice cream.
All this within sight of the new Gurdwara that was inaugurated over a three-day event and awards that was sponsored by the Harjit S. Galhotra family, including all afternoon and evening langars. It featured local elected officials like Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales and Judge Manpreet Monica Singh, of Harris County Civil Court #4 among others. From the dual sweeping curved stairs leading upto the prayer hall which can accommodate 500 people on each side, there are clear views of the vast open areas beyond. The Granth Sahib is laid out on a dias with inlaid floral motifs. The architect of the Gurdwara, Mandeep Singh Kohli flew in from his studio in Jallandar, Punjab to attend the event.
A beautiful addition and a true slice of Punjab, if you could imagine it, in a corner of the Bayou City.