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Introduction
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Introduction
The Sikh tradition began in India in the sixteenth century with the mystic and teacher Guru Nanak. He emphasized the oneness and ultimacy of God, who cannot be limited by temple, mosque, or tradition. In the United States, Sikhism has more than a century of history. The first Sikhs to settle in the United States became farmers in the Central and Imperial Valleys of California in the late 1800s. They established America's first gurdwara in Stockton in 1912. The gurdwara is a place of congregation and worship; it houses the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred Sikh scripture, which is both sung and honored.
In the Boston area, the first Sikh group met in the mid-1960s, when there were approximately twenty Sikh families in the area. They formed a Sikh Study Group and met monthly for a number of years, renting a hall for weddings and for festivals such as the birthdays of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh. It was not until 1988 that a growing Sikh community began looking for a place to found a more permanent home. Since the gurdwara would need to serve the wider New England area, they looked for a suburban location near major highways. In 1990, the community purchased a former Kingdom Hall in Milford and opened the gurdwara in 1991.
Sikh immigrants from India also found in New England a community of American-born Sikhs, followers of the Sikh Dharma International movement launched in the 1970s by Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji (popularly known as Yogi Bhajan). The communities of the 1970s were popularly called "3HO": Happy, Healthy, and Holy. The group emphasizes the chanting and study of the Sikh scriptures along with yoga practice and meditation. This community was first visible in the Boston area during the 1980s when its members in white clothes and turbans ran a very successful business, the Golden Temple Emporium, in Harvard Square. Today the Guru Ram Das Ashram, located in Millis in a former Jewish summer resort, is a resident and working community of American Sikhs.