Kerala's Second Civilian Gurudwara Coming Up In Capital

The Sikh community's long-cherished dream of having a civilian gurudwara in the Kerala capital will move a definite step closer to reality with the foundation stone-laying ceremony on Sunday.

- K S SREEJITH @T'Puram

The Sikh community's long-cherished dream of having a civilian gurudwara in the Kerala capital will move a definite step closer to reality with the foundation stone-laying ceremony on Sunday. Set to come up on 25 cents of land the state government had allotted at Shastri Nagar in Karamana, this will be Kerala's second civilian gurudwara, after the one in Kochi.

The city has a place in the hearts of the Sikh community as Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, had visited Thiruvananthapuram in the early 16th century.

"It is said that Nanak came to the city from Thiruvattar and went to Varkala as part of his all-India pilgrimage," historian M G Sashi Bhushan told TNIE. "This is indicated in the biography of Guru Nanak, written by Guru Gopal Singh, as a footnote."