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Sikh Gurdwara project
Update: February, 2011
This project has extended since it was offered as a Sacred Gift. In 2009 it led to the formation of the EcoSikh movement, launched in Delhi and at Windsor Castle.
EcoSikh is supported by ARC, the Norwegian Government, the Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE) and the Sikh Community. Its first initiatives are to establish March 14th as Sikh Environment Day, to help gurdwaras throughout India and the diaspora become (and think) greener, and for Amritsar, holy pilgrimage destination for Sikhs, to become one of the first Green Pilgrim Cities.
Links:
eocsikh.org
Sikh eco-news
Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE)
Green Pilgrim Cities
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Sikh Gurdwaras in India have pledged to reduce their fuel consumption |
Sacred Gift:
If faiths are to make a difference they must start with themselves and their own communities.
One possible example is the Sikh gurdwaras in India. Most of the 28,000 gurdwaras, or temples run free kitchens or langars where anyone, regardless of need, creed or caste, can be fed. The Sikh community gives food to anyone who comes – about 30 million people a day, with for example the five great gurdwaras of Delhi feeding more than 10,000 hungry people every day.
The energy consumption for such an undertaking is vast. It is hoped that in the future the amount of fossil fuels used for heating, lighting and cooking at Delhi’s eight largest gurdwaras will be reduced by the use of solar power, and that later, gurdwaras in rural areas will be fitted with fuel-efficient cooking equipment. These initiatives would reduce energy consumption in these gurdwaras by up to 15 per cent.
This plan was put up in 2000 as a Sacred Gift, but to date very little has happened: it is waiting for an energetic, driven and popular local leader to take up the cause.
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What is a Sacred Gift?
Every religion believes the gift of life itself is sacred. This shared understanding led WWF and ARC to create a special term of recognition for significant new projects.
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Sikh Faith Statement
A formal statement of Sikh beliefs about creation and ecology: "The name “Sikh” means disciple or learner of the Truth." |
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Guru Granth Sahib
Environmental teachings from the Sikh holy scriptures: "All Waters all winds, all the fires and underworlds.
All spheres, all divisions of Earth, and all worlds, men and forms.... How great is the Lord's command over them" |
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