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Sat Shri Akaal

Please read below the latest news and press releases about the Guru Nanak Sar Gurdwara, Southsea, Hampshire UK.

We feel proud to be an integral part of the community. The Sikh community has grown in the last 50 years since the inception of Gurdwara in Southsea which was first established in 1953. Please join the organisation and serve the local community.

16 November 2019

14 November 2019

7 November 2019

Sikh community to hold public celebration at Portsmouth temple to mark 550th anniversary of first leader's birth

A CELEBRATION will be held by the Sikh community to mark the 550th anniversary of the birth of the religion’s first leader, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

The day of food, friendship and fun will be held at Gurudwara Guru Nanak Sar, the temple on Margate Road, Southsea, on Tuesday.

Anyone is welcome to join the occasion, which will begin when the temple is opened at 11am and carry on until approximately 9pm.

There will be plenty of free traditional food and sweets, following the Sikh Langar, which is the term used for the community kitchen in a Gurdwara where a free vegetarian meal is served to all visitors, no matter what religion.

At 4.30pm, a priest will read the prayer Sukhmani Sahib, which translates to prayer of peace and joy of mind. Religious music will be performed from 6.30pm until 7.30pm and then fireworks will mark the important date on the Sikh calendar from 7.30pm. Guru Nanak Dev Ji is a universal prophet respected amongst all religions including Islam.

Earlier this year, it was announced that 550 trees will be planted on the A27 flyover roundabout on the top of Eastern Road this autumn to mark the anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s birth. It comes as part of a worldwide move to plant 1 million trees in celebration of the event, which is traditionally honoured in November. An official tree planting ceremony will take place on the roundabout at 11am on Saturday, November 23.

23 April 2019

Sikh temple welcomes new ‘guru’ to Southsea for first time in 60 years

THE SIKH community in Portsmouth has welcomed a new ‘guru’ to the city for the first time in more than 50 years.

It comes in the form of a new copy of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy text. It will be housed at at Gurudwara Guru Nanak Sar, the temple on Margate Road, Southsea.

The book is treated as a living guru, including being put to bed every night in a room behind the temple’s main hall.

More than 40 members of the community attended the ceremony at the Gurudwara, which was established in 1962.

Jaswant Singh Digpal, 59, a property developer and secretary of the Gurudwara, was filled with a ‘massive sense of achievement’ in organising the rare occasion.

He said: ‘This is the first time a new Guru Granth Sahib has come to Portsmouth in nearly 60 years. It’s a historic day.’

The holy text started its journey in India, which has the only printing press in the world authorised to produce new copies. It was was delivered to Portsmouth by a delegation from the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, London’s largest Sikh temple. The welcoming ceremony included readings from the holy texts by the Granthi, a priest who acts as a custodian of the book. Buksis Singh Digpal, 61, a retired revenue officer and member of the temple, said: ‘It’s like a new opening.

‘Today is very, very special. ‘The Guru Granth Sahib is treated like a living being, and its presence here is what makes this a holy place.’ The old Guru Granth Sahib will ‘lay in rest’ in the bed at the Gurudwara, according to Jaswant. It came to Portsmouth in 1963, when the temple’s congregation consisted of 13 members. Jaswant sees the ceremony as a symbol of the Sikh’s community ‘integral part of the city.’ He said: ‘We have grown into the city. ‘I was born and brought up in Southsea. ‘Our temple is now well established – for everyone, whoever they are.’

The temple has more than 120 members today.