The Sikh Gurdwara or Sikh Gurdwara - San Jose (a gurdwara is the Sikh place of worship) was founded in San Jose, California, USA in 1985 by leaders of the then-rapidly growing Santa Clara Valley Sikh community. Initially they met in a rented community center, but soon bought a small building in east San Jose. After buying nearby land in the early 1990s, they decided it would be too expensive to build in the city limits, so they sold that land and bought a larger property further east. The first phase of the project of almost 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) was completed in 2004. The second phase was completed in April 2011, making it the largest gurdwara in North America at 90,000 square feet (8,400 m2). The chief architect and designer of the project is the late Malkiat Singh Sidhu. The largest at audience at the San Jose Gurdwara was on opening day when some 20,000 people were thought to have come.
Famous quotes containing the word san:
“We had won. Pimps got out of their polished cars and walked the streets of San Francisco only a little uneasy at the unusual exercise. Gamblers, ignoring their sensitive fingers, shook hands with shoeshine boys.... Beauticians spoke to the shipyard workers, who in turn spoke to the easy ladies.... I thought if war did not include killing, I’d like to see one every year. Something like a festival.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)