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Sikhs celebrate 400 years of Brotherhood and the Book of Peace

Thai Leighton and Art Caf้ to the fore at BCCT networking

Sikhs celebrate 400 years of Brotherhood and the Book of Peace

AP & Staff Reporters

September 1 this year marked the 400th anniversary of the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Holy Scriptures. On this holy day devotees celebrated in their respective communities, the most noteworthy being of course in India where more than 3 million devotees congregated at the Golden Temple in Amritsar to celebrate this joyous occasion.

Giani Onkar Singh prays in front of the Granth Sahib.

On this day 400 years ago Guru Arjan Dev walked from another shrine in the city to the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine in the northern city of Amritsar in Punjab state to install the Guru Granth Sahib, the religion’s sacred book. That four-kilometer (2.5-mile) walk was re-enacted for the first time since then, Sikh leaders said, as religious scholars paraded through the city on foot, walking behind a gold-plated palanquin bearing the book. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh joined in the ceremonies and was presented a robe of honor by the head priest of the Golden Temple.

In Pattaya Sikh devotees carry the Holy Scriptures in a ritual around the main altar.

The fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev, first compiled the Guru Granth Sahib in 1604 in the city of Amritsar. Before his death in 1708, Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th and last guru, declared that the Sikhs no longer needed a living Guru and appointed his spiritual successor as Sri Guru Granth Sahib (the holy book of the Sikhs) and his physical successor as the Khalsa. Guru Gobind Singh felt that all the wisdom needed by Sikhs for spiritual guidance in their daily lives could be found in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Eternal Guru of the Sikhs. Sri Guru Granth Sahib is unique in the world of religious scriptures because not only is it accorded the status of being the spiritual head of the Sikh religion, but besides the poetry of the Gurus, it also contains the writings of saints of other faiths whose thoughts were consistent with those of the Sikh Gurus.

At the Sikh Temple (Gurdwara) in South Pattaya, Amrik Singh Kalra, president of the Pattaya Sikh Community led the congregation in chanting prayers and listened to the revered Giani Onkar Singh, the holy teacher of the Sikhs as he read from the Holy Scriptures.

Six new Granth Sahibs were presented to the temple for the purpose of spreading the true teachings of the Sikhs to the faithful. These were donated by Narotam Singh, President of the World Punjabi Organisation, Thailand Chapter. The organisation endeavors to do charity work and give assistance to the underprivileged.

Amrik Singh presents the robe of honour to S.S. Puri.

At the close of the ceremonies, Amrik Singh honoured two members of the community by presenting a holy saffron muslin robe to them. The first was a visitor from India, S.S. Puri, police director general of the State of Mahasrashtra, and the other was Pratheep. S. Malhotra, publisher of the Pattaya Mail and Pattaya Blatt for selfless services rendered for the betterment of the quality of life in their respective communities.

Pratheep. S. Malhotra is recognized for his contributions to society.

Guru Nanak founded Sikhism in the 15th century. He advocated equality of races and genders and rejected worship of idols. Sikhism broke away from Hinduism and Islam, the main religions of India. Sikhism has about 20 million followers, most of whom live in India and comprise nearly 2 percent of its 1.06 billion people.

Thai Leighton and Art Café to the fore at BCCT networking

Peter Cummins

Some 100 BCCT members and guests attended an excellent Eastern Seaboard Networking Evening held on the first Friday of September, sponsored by Thai Leighton and the Art Cafe. It was the first Eastern Seaboard event since the summer break and was well supported by the Bangkok and locally based business community.

The Sponsors (Thai Leighton & Art Café - from left John Holland (Thai Leighton), Graham Macdonald, Jo Stetten (Art Cafe), Steve Quinn (Thai Leighton)

Thai Leighton was well represented by senior management and ensured a good supply of liquid refreshment. Country manager, Steve Quinn thanked all for attending and briefly mentioned that Leighton provides general construction services across a wide range of disciplines and has been operating in Thailand for 16 years.

Alain Deurwaerder (Katoen Natie Thailand), PR Dhaamodharan (TRW Steering) & James Phillips (ArvinMeritor)

The Art Cafe, one of Pattaya’s finest restaurants, located in Naklua, was a first-time venue for the British Chamber. It was, indeed, a splendid evening, held at the newly-covered pool-side area, with an abundance of excellent food, an endless flow of beer, wine and spirits. And, of course, a lot of networking.

Nigel Cornick (Raimon Land), Steve Quinn (Thai Leighton) & Richard Bell (Cornerstone)

It was, perhaps, prophetic that a deluge started around eight, testing the new rattan-thatched roof and, simultaneously, giving the animated group a good reason to stay poolside and continue networking, dodging a few minor cascades through the rattan.

Patrick Gossett (Transpo) & John Hamilton (Waste Management Siam) 

The Art Cafe staff were very quick ‘off the mark” and, I swear, not one drop of water was wasted as jars appeared from nowhere to trap the “sky juice”.

Both Leighton and the Art Cafe have recently joined the BCCT and, for a number of members who have never been to the Art Cafe, it came as a most pleasant surprise to discover such a splendid place - a pleasant surprise in what is rapidly-becoming a “pleasantly-surprising Pattaya”.