Hong Kong’s sole Sikh temple to reopen on Tuesday after HK$230 million renovation
- New building will feature medical centre, language classes, bigger kitchen and library after five-year revamp
- Cost of the new building paid for by Hong Kong Sikhs, with some giving millions of dollars to help fund the work
The sole Sikh temple in Hong Kong reopened its doors on Sunday after a HK$230 million (US$29 million) five-year renovation, with the larger three-storey building featuring a medical centre, a larger kitchen and language classes.
More than 5,000 Sikhs and devotees of Sikhism gathered at the Khalsa Diwan in Wan Chai for the start of a three-day ceremony to mark the rebirth of their religious and social centre – a gurdwara in Punjabi.
“I’m very proud of our community. I’m over 70 years old and wanted to do something for future generations to come, to give them this nice building to feel proud of,” said Batra Singh, the secretary of the reconstruction project.
The rebuilt temple sits on the faith’s century-old site at the junction of Queen’s Road East and Stubbs Road and has an enlarged congregation hall and a kitchen equipped to serve around 3,000 people.
The new-look building will also feature a library open to visitors and a car park.
The temple, designed in India, was paid for by donations big and small from Sikhs in Hong Kong.
Harry Banga, the chairman of shipping conglomerate Caravel Group, was the largest donor, with a HK$50 million endowment, while other Sikh-led businesses and families in the city also contributed millions.
The temple’s clinic will feature Sikh medical professionals, who will deal with the faithful’s health inquiries three days a week free of charge and be able to prescribe medicine.
