GEORGE TOWN: Some 2,000 members of the Sikh community in Penang celebrated a lively and colourful Vaisakhi at the Wadda Gurdwara Sahib here today.
The Wadda Gurdwara Sahib Penang is the oldest Sikh temple in Malaysia, dating back 122 years.
The three-day celebration, which began yesterday, ends tomorrow.
Vaisakhi is celebrated to mark the day the Sikh identity was formed and the harvest season in India.
Wadda Gurdwara Sahib president Santok Singh Ranjit Singh said the celebration yesterday began with the non-stop reading of the over 1,430-page Sikh religious scripture known as the 'Guru Granth Sahib'.
It is expected to be completed by 9.30am tomorrow.There were also prayers and get togethers to strengthen the brotherhood.
Besides that, the temple also organised a visit to several wards in the Penang Hospital to spread the festive cheer.
"One of our Gurus' teachings is to do good, especially for the less fortunate.
"What better way to spread the festival cheer at this time, by involving the various communities," he told the New Straits Times when met at the Wadda Gurdwara Sahib Penang this afternoon.
Meanwhile, Santok said restoration works for the Wadda Gurdwara Sahib Penang began this month and expected to take two years to complete. It is expected to cost RM6 million.
"Since this temple is recognised as a Category One National Heritage, all efforts will be taken to restore it to its former glory.
"This more-than-a-century-old temple is rich with history of the Sikh community.
"We want to restore it and want to relive its glorious past," he added, urging the public to help raise funds for the restoration works.
Santok said, once completed, the temple would not only be an iconic gurdwara in the country but a renowned tourism product for the state.
On May 4, a Vaisakhi Open House will be held at Fort Cornwallis here, the place where the Sikh community in Penang was first established.
In the late 1800s, the British had brought in Sikhs to serve as British policemen in Penang and stationed them in Fort Cornwallis.
There, a small Sikh temple was then built.
Afterwards, the community established the Wadda Gurdwara Sahib Penang, which stands at its present site.