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Page Parade
to mark 300th Guruship of Guru Granth Sahib by Ravinder
Singh Robin
Yuba City (San Francisco): Over 70,000
Sikhs converged from across the United States of America, Canada, England and
India to participate in the 29h Annual Sikh Parade taken out on the streets of
the Yuba City, about 125 miles from San Francisco Bay Area here on Sunday. The
nearly 5-mile religious parade was taken out to mark the tercentenary celebrations
of Guruship of Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhs. Punj Pyaras or,
the five Sikh clergies led the parade and carried the Sri Nishan Sahib, the religious
flag of Sikhism. There were also flags of California State in the parade. With
chants of "Satnam Waheguru" and repeated slogans of "Bole so Nihal", the general
mood in the parade was religious. Many U.S Congressmen and representatives of
the Governor's office attended the parade besides the Sikh devotees. As the procession
stared from the Sikh Temple of Yuba City, a helicopter hovering above the ceremonial
parade created a rain of flowers from high above the procession. Thousands of
Sikhs walked alongside hundreds of floats. Along the parade route, Sikhs families
who set up food booths offered free drinks, snacks and cooked food for the visitors
all the way of the parade. Sikhs have been a part of the American landscape for
over 130 years. And, the Yuba city area has some of the best agricultural land
is known for the largest Sikh population of farm owners. Rajinder Singh Chauhan,
one of the organisers of the Sikh temple of Yuba City said, "It demonstrates our
political and economic strength along with the unity among the Sikhs. It has to
be political, economic as well as social strength." People feasted on traditional
Sikh food and American traditions such as cotton candy and popcorn. "It was a
special joy of distinction, recommended for one and all to explore at least once
in a lifetime," said Daljeet Kaur a visitor form Los Angeles. "Such programs helps
us to overcome an identify crisis which Sikhs in the US have been facing since
the 9/11 incident. For every Sikh living abroad it's an occasion to express solidarity
by joining wholeheartedly, said John Gill, another organizer of the Parade. Dr.
Pritpal Singh, coordinator of the American Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (AGPC),
on the occasion said that special occasion witnessed a large religious gathering
and offered a platform to the Sikhs to discuss their issues. Dr. Amarjeet singh,
an eminent Sikh leader from Washington D.C., said that the grand scale of celebrations
all over the world for the Guru Granth Sahib is a befitting reply to the forces
who were trying to mislead the community. "Sikhs hold Guru Granth Sahib, the only
living guru of the community, with utmost love, respect and the dedication all
over the world. And, it is visible here. In Argentina in the only Gurdwara in
South America, there have been celebrations on this occasion in a big way, Sikhs
in Fiji and Sikhs living in Punjab (India) and around the world, have held big
celebrations and it will continue round the year," said he. Moreover, several
non-Sikhs from across California participated in the events on the day of devotion.
The anticipated number of people for the annual parade, however, was marred by
poor weather conditions. There were about 70,000 devotees, which was a little
less than the anticipated 100,000 people as expected by the organisers.
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Nov 3, 2008
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