This Saturday the local Sikh community will commemorate the Martyrdom of the fifth Guru, Guru Arjun Dev Ji, in Squamish for the thirteenth time.
Events run between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. downtown.
The important anniversary is recognized with a parade through downtown streets, a short reading, and presentations at the O'Siem Pavilion. There will also be a Guru Ka Langar, meaning free food for everyone.
This is an important religious event for the Sikh community as it remembers the first martyrdom.
The story goes that on June of 1606, the Mughal Emperor Jahangir ordered Guru Arjan Dev Ji be tortured and sentenced to death because he had refused to stop preaching his message of God. He was made to sit on a burning hot sheet while hot sand was poured over his body. After five days of torture, he was taken into a river, never to be seen again. Every year since, Sikhs have commemorated the martyrdom.
Makhan Singh Sanghera, president of the Squamish Sikh Society, which organizes the event, said he loves to see people of all faiths and backgrounds come from near and far to remember the guru.
Representatives from the Squamish Nation traditionally attend as do representatives from other faiths, Sanghera noted.
This year, the coming together and community aspects of the event perhaps have more meaning than in other years.
Two vital members of the Indo-Canadian Squamish community died in January in a tragic highway crash that also left five others injured, and the loss of a high school student who was struck and killed while walking on the highway in early February.
“We can’t control that. That is nature too,” noted Sanghera. “It happens, and we can’t blame anyone. We know it is bad... No one wants to get into an accident.”
Saturday’s parade kicks off at the Gurdwara (temple) on Fifth Avenue at 10 a.m.
“The main lesson is to be calm and peaceful, live a happy life… and don’t hurt anyone,” Sanghera said of the day’s events. “Trust in God.”
