By Asia Samachar | Malaysia |
The Nirvair Khalsa Jatha (NKJ) has donated the cash collections at its programmes for the centennial celebration of a Malaysian gurdwara in Kajang which ended today (Nov 13, 2022).
The UK-based jatha was a crowd puller at the programmes to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Gurdwara Sahib Kajang (GSK), a gurdwara located about 25 kilometeres from the Kuala Lumpur city centre.
“This was a last minute programme,”NKJ leader Harinder Singh told at its final programme at Kajang, noting that the Kajang gurdwara has to settle RM900,000 out of the RM4.2 million cost for the construction of the new gurdwara complex.
When contact, GSK committee president Ranjit Singh said he was delighted to see the big crowd at events.
“I saw many young boys and girls attending the kirtan darbar and had very good things to say and they expressed their full satisfaction to the kirtan and message from Nirvair Jatha Group and they said they will come back to Gurdwara more often now,” he said when contacted yesterday.
HISTORY
The gurdwara’s history goes back to the early 1920s. The earliest two Sikh pioneers who settled near Kajang were brothers known as Sardar Bhan Singh, later appointed as the first Sikh Justice of Peace in Selangor and Sardar Dhan Singh. Due to their efforts, a piece of land in the town of Kajang was gazetted as a Sikh Temple Reserve by the resident of Selangor on the 4 November 1921.
In 1922 the Sikh community in Kajang and its surrounding areas donated generously to build the GSK, a single storey wooden structure with concrete pillars and tiled roof and it was completed end of 1922. However, in 1970 the building was in state of despair, and it was demolished and the new Gurdwara single storey brick building was built.
In 2002, the Punjabi Education Center Kajang (PECKJ) commenced with only two registered students and one teaching staff. Today, it some 50 registered students enrolled along six teachers and a principal. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, PECKJ had 80 students.
In 2004, it purchased a land, almost 1 acre in size, beside the GSK for RM0.83 million which is today valued at RM5m. It has the capacity of 200 parking bays and for future development.
In 2015, GSK built a new 3.5 storey building which consists of 13 classrooms, a second darbar, a well equipped library, an office, a condo style apartment for granthi and counseling room.
GSK makes it a practice to upload to its website its audited accounts with specific details.
NKJ will be in Seremban next for two programmes (Sun, 13 Nov 2022, 6pm-8pm & Mon, 14 Nov 2022, 7pm-9pm).
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