Fire at Sacramento Dera
The details are still very sketchy, but it seems that a dera associated with the highly controversial Maan Singh Pehowa was burned down in Sacramento this past weekend. Maan Singh has been accused of rape.
I write this post partially to clarify that it was not at a Gurdwara in Sacramento, as well as to give a place for discussion and thoughts. The police seem to have some indication that the fire was not an accident, although very few details are being provided. Could it be an arson against immigrants? Could it be an accident? Could it involve frictions within the Sikh community in Sacramento? I do not know. I would be interested to hear thoughts, especially from those readers in Sacramento.
A video from the local news about the fire can be viewed here.
13 Responses to “Fire at Sacramento Dera”
can u please explain to me wat is a gurdwara? and could u please explain why is the house of guru granth sahib ji not?
Sorry
is a dera where guru granth sahib ji is given the up most respect to the king all kings not a gurdwara?
can u please explain to me wat is a gurdwara? and could u please explain why is the house of guru granth sahib ji not?
Sorry
is a dera where guru granth sahib ji is given the up most respect to the king all kings not a gurdwara?
dera = gurdwara + other organizational stuff, which may be any social, political setup by any religious individual etc.. ..any dera owner which gives up his authority and let his fall under sikh sangat or more bluntly SGPC as it a democratically elected organisation, may be called gurdwara….
doesnt mean i m a sgpc fan.. it was just an attempt to answer Manmukhs question!!
dera = gurdwara + other organizational stuff, which may be any social, political setup by any religious individual etc.. ..any dera owner which gives up his authority and let his fall under sikh sangat or more bluntly SGPC as it a democratically elected organisation, may be called gurdwara….
doesnt mean i m a sgpc fan.. it was just an attempt to answer Manmukhs question!!
Sure easy question to answer…
A Gurdwara is the "door to the Guru." It is at the Gurdwara where we see the meeting of the Guru Granth and the Guru Khalsa Panth, served through Sangat, Seva, and Simran. The Gurdwara brings these points together (as clear in the writings of Kahn Singh Nabha), not merely a place where the Guru Granth Sahib is kept. There are unitarian establishments and even mandirs that also house the Guru Granth Sahib. These are not Gurdwaras.
The Dera serves not to bring to the "door to the Guru", but rather the aggrandizement of the Dera head. Such phenomenon is not new in Punjab, although the extreme proliferation is.
An easy way for lay followers to know that they are in a Dera:
Look for a Baba that receives his/her followers to bow before them, often in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib.
There will not be a Nishan Sahib.
Look for pictures of other Babas to be placed along side the Guru Granth Sahib.
All these are to aggrandize individuals and are marks that one is NOT in a Gurdwara.
I have written about a facet of this earlier:
http://thelangarhall.com/sikhi/no-nishan-sahib-no…
Sure easy question to answer…
A Gurdwara is the "door to the Guru." It is at the Gurdwara where we see the meeting of the Guru Granth and the Guru Khalsa Panth, served through Sangat, Seva, and Simran. The Gurdwara brings these points together (as clear in the writings of Kahn Singh Nabha), not merely a place where the Guru Granth Sahib is kept. There are unitarian establishments and even mandirs that also house the Guru Granth Sahib. These are not Gurdwaras.
The Dera serves not to bring to the "door to the Guru", but rather the aggrandizement of the Dera head. Such phenomenon is not new in Punjab, although the extreme proliferation is.
An easy way for lay followers to know that they are in a Dera:
Look for a Baba that receives his/her followers to bow before them, often in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib.
There will not be a Nishan Sahib.
Look for pictures of other Babas to be placed along side the Guru Granth Sahib.
All these are to aggrandize individuals and are marks that one is NOT in a Gurdwara.
I have written about a facet of this earlier:
http://thelangarhall.com/sikhi/no-nishan-sahib-no…
I live in Sacramento and have been to this Gurdwara a few times. I even visited when Maan Singh was there himself two years ago. I generally dislike sants that try to create their own little cult with followers and then go on to erect Gurdwaras in various areas under their name. I also hate when these Sants names are said every time during Ardas at these Gurdwaras. Every time I have been to this Gurdwara, they include Sant Maan Singh and Baba Isher Singh in their ardas along with Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and Guru Gobind Singh Ji. It's like they are putting them in the same category with our Gurus. They are NOT our Gurus.. so why is there a need to mention their names during ardas?
Some of the giani ji's at this gurdwara are wonderful. They are filled with great knowledge and a respect for our religion. One in particular being Bhai Sukhdev Singh. I have heard him preach to ONLY follow our Gurus and the Sikhi way of life, and to NOT follow behind the wrong people. He is a great man that has a love for Sikhi that is so vibrant and admirable.
But overall, even before I learned about the scandal and rumors behind Sant Maan Singh (I only learned about this after the fire) I always had a bad feeling about him.
I live in Sacramento and have been to this Gurdwara a few times. I even visited when Maan Singh was there himself two years ago. I generally dislike sants that try to create their own little cult with followers and then go on to erect Gurdwaras in various areas under their name. I also hate when these Sants names are said every time during Ardas at these Gurdwaras. Every time I have been to this Gurdwara, they include Sant Maan Singh and Baba Isher Singh in their ardas along with Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and Guru Gobind Singh Ji. It's like they are putting them in the same category with our Gurus. They are NOT our Gurus.. so why is there a need to mention their names during ardas?
Some of the giani ji's at this gurdwara are wonderful. They are filled with great knowledge and a respect for our religion. One in particular being Bhai Sukhdev Singh. I have heard him preach to ONLY follow our Gurus and the Sikhi way of life, and to NOT follow behind the wrong people. He is a great man that has a love for Sikhi that is so vibrant and admirable.
But overall, even before I learned about the scandal and rumors behind Sant Maan Singh (I only learned about this after the fire) I always had a bad feeling about him.
Government must come forward to own the children of the areas where there is hardly any access to the proper schools. It is the prime responsibility of the state to make sure that not a single child is deprived of a quality education.