Sikh Gurdwara San Jose

The Sikh Gurdwara San Jose (also called Gurdwara Sahib of San Jose) is a gurdwara in the Evergreen hills of San Jose, California. Its own history says it was founded in 1984 by Jit Singh Bainiwal, Teja Singh, Pyara Singh Obhi and other volunteers to serve the growing Sikh community of the South Bay. Early gatherings were held at a community centre.

How it grew

• 1984: founded.
• 1986: the committee buys a small building on White Road, which soon proves too small.
• From 1990: it buys land on Quimby Road, reaching about five acres.
• 1993 to 1994: it decides that site cannot hold a larger hall and parking, and chooses a forty-acre property on Gurdwara Avenue, in the Evergreen Hills.
• 2004: the first phase of building is completed.
• 2011: the second phase is completed. India Currents reported the opening on 1 May 2011, with thousands of Sikhs attending.

What it is today

The campus covers 40 acres, with a prayer hall of about 37,000 square feet, a kitchen and dining area of about 35,000 square feet, 12 classrooms and 11 apartments for priests and visitors. The second phase cost about 20 million dollars. India Currents says the congregation hall seats 2,500 and the langar hall can feed almost 1,000 people at a time. The temple is described as the largest gurdwara in North America and the biggest outside India. It reports weekly attendance of more than 10,000.

The gurdwara runs a weekly Khalsa school for children, and India Currents counted more than 600 children in it in 2011.

Its part in this history

San Jose is the largest example of the gurdwaras that Sikh families built in the United States after arriving there. India Currents reported in 2011 that the second phase went about 1.5 million dollars over its 20 million dollar budget, and that donations averaged about 1.2 million dollars a year.

Where it stands today

It remains the flagship gurdwara of Northern California's Sikh community.