Overview of Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara

A Gurdwara for the 21st Century…
Guru Nanak Darbar
Gurdwara,
Gravesend, named
after Guru Nanak
Sahib Ji, founder of
Guru Nanak
Darbar Gurdwara,
Gravesend
Sikhism. The
community moved
into the new
Gurdwara on Guru
Background
Gravesend, a town in Kent in the South
East of England, welcomed its first Sikhs
in the 1950’s. Most of the Sikhs in
Gravesend arrived during the 1960’s,
and there has been a steady increase
in numbers ever since. Now, there are
estimated to be about 15,000 Sikhs in
the area, over 15 per cent of the
population of Gravesham, which now
includes Gravesend.
Up to the late 1960’s, Sikhs gathered in
a house in Edwin Street for religious
services, and then moved to the
Gurdwara in Clarence Place,
previously a Church, which was the
focus of the community until 2010.
By the late 1990’s, the community had
outgrown these premises, and the
Gurdwara purchased an area of land
off Saddington Street, adjacent to their
existing football field, Sports Centre and
Education Centre. This would make it
possible to combine all the main
activities on one site.
The Gurdwara Committee worked
closely with the wider community to
develop the brief for the project to
construct a new Gurdwara on the site.
It was clear from the beginning that the
community wanted the building to
reflect Indian cultural origins, and at
Nanak Sahib Ji’s
the same time provide facilities suitable
for Sikhs living in modern day Britain. The
8.5 acre site offered the chance to
create a landmark project reflecting the
growing confidence of British Sikhs.
531st birthday
celebrations in
November 2010.
The brief required the plans to include:
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Three Diwan Halls
Two Langar Halls with Kitchens
Lecture Theatre
Library and IT Training Suite
Nursery/Creche
General Purpose Meeting Rooms
Under the leadership, foresight and
ambition of the late Gurdev Singh
Raipur, then President, the Gurdwara
Committee appointed Calfordseaden
as Architects for the development, with
local resident Harbhajan Singh Biring
(Teja) as the lead architect. The project,
funded entirely by the local community,
is now being completed under the
current President, Jaspal Singh Dhesi.
The Gurdwara set up their own
construction company, GNG
Construction Ltd, to take advantage of
skills that existed in the local community.
However, for the detailed stonework
and woodcarving, specialist companies
in India were identified to provide the
relevant expertise.
Guru Nanak Darbar on the
evening of the move to the new
Gurdwara, November 2010
…A Gurdwara Inspired by History
Main Diwan Hall,
Bhai Gurdas Ji Hall
The New Gurdwara
The Sikh community of Gravesend
started using Guru Nanak Darbar
Gurdwara in Gravesend as their main
place of Worship in November 2010, on
the occasion of the birthday of Guru
Nanak Sahib Ji, the founder of the Sikh
faith.
Work on the new Gurdwara has taken
about nine years, with the first digging
of the turf on the site taking place in
April 2002. Some work is ongoing and
should be completed within 2011, but
the building is now being used on a full
time basis as the main centre of
collective prayer and activities for the
community.
The design of the building has been
inspired by many historic Gurdwaras in
India, including Sikhism’s holiest place,
the Harimandir Sahib (sometimes
referred to as the Golden Temple) in
Amritsar. Like Harimandir Sahib, the
complex has been designed with four
gateways (two of which are symbolic),
to emphasise the Sikh principle of
being open to everyone.
The Gurdwara site now also includes
the Guru Nanak Day Centre (for the
elderly), the Punjabi School (classes at
weekends for about 250 children),
Exquisite wood
playing fields and football pitch (base
for Guru Nanak Sports Club) and Sports
Hall. There is also parking for about 250
cars and five coaches.
The new Gurdwara contains three
Prayer Halls: one for about 1,000 people
(Bhai Gurdas Ji Hall), and two for about
450 people each (Bhai Fauja Singh Ji
Hall and Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
Hall). It also has two Langar Halls (dining
rooms), each capable of seating about
500 people, and with separate kitchens.
When completed, the building will also
have a Lecture Theatre for about 140
people, a Computer Suite, Library,
Nursery, and a Shop. Two lifts are
available for the elderly or people with
disabilities. Provision has also been
made in all the Prayer Halls for
wheelchair access.
The new Gurdwara, when completed,
will have cost about £13 million. The
funding has been raised by the local
community, through one-off and regular
donations, and a bank loan. In addition,
many people have volunteered their
time and labour, or resources such as
the plant equipment needed during the
period of construction. Without these
additional resources, the work could
have cost at least twice as much.
carvings and
stonework appear
throughout the
Gurdwara, adding
beauty and grace to
the serenity of this
holy place.
Semi precious stones used in the
intricate stonework around the
Gurdwara exterior.
Design & Construction of the Gurdwara….
The new Gurdwara building is based on a
concrete structure, reinforced with steel.
Over 35,000 tons of concrete and 700
tons of steel were used in the basic
construction. The concrete has then been
clad on the outside with Marble and
Granite from India, with a layer of
insulation between the concrete and the
stonework. The details around the
windows and doors have been picked
out in finely carved marble. ThePorch and
Veranda are all in finely carved marble
with coloured inlay panels, and bas relief
images of Historic Gurdwaras in India and
Pakistan.
Bibi Nanaki Langar Hall
Ground Floor
Expert stonemasons from India came to fit
the stonework over a period of about four
years. The stonework also includes many
carvings, and intricate designs using semiprecious stones. Overall, about 1,400
tonnes of Marble and Granite have been
used. In the front of the Gurdwara, there
are water features and fountains.
The Gurdwara has five domes, to honour
and represent the Five Beloved Ones
(Panj Pyare) with the largest being above
the main Worship Hall. This dome is 18
metres in diameter, while the one above
the entrance foyer is 12 metres in
diameter.
Mata Khivi Langar Hall
The domes were constructed using a mix
of old and new technologies. They are
covered with white marble tiles on the
outside, and each is lined on the inside
with specially-commissioned glass
mosaics. The basic construction of the
domes is of steel girders encased in two
layers of concrete, with a layer of
insulation between these.
Architect Harbhajan Singh Biring (Teja) in
front of the Gurdwara
…….where East meets West
The building contains intricately carved
woodwork in the form of doors, banisters
and railings around the balconies and
stairs. The woodwork has all come from
India, with expert craftsmen coming to
the site to install and finish the work. The
main wood used is a form of Indian Teak,
which has been treated with oils to give it
the finished look.
Local school children were asked to
come up with ideas for the windows.
These were used as a basis for the
designs of the stained glass windows
behind the Dais in the Prayer Halls. The
process involved coloured pieces of glass
being embossed and fused together by
heat in a kiln. The stained glass windows
were made in Britain, while the glass
panels inside the doors are from India.
Bhai Gurdas Ji
Diwan Hall
Bhai Fauja
Singh Diwan
Hall
Sant Jarnail
Singh
Bhindranwale
Diwan Hall
The Journey from 2002 to 2011
Construction of the domes
Art in Stone, Glass and Wood