Do We Have One Too Many Gurdwaras? I

In Malaysia we have a pretty large community, but is it so big that it warrants so many Gurdwaras?

Just to put it into perspective, imagine starting from Gurdwara Sahib Hulu Kelang, you can travel to Gurdwara Sahib Pulapol , then Gurdwara Sahib Titiwangsa , Sabha House, Gurdwara Sahib Tatt Khalsa , Gurdwara Sahib Parliament  and even go on to Gurdwara Sahib Petaling Jaya , Niketan House and Gurdwara Sahib Sunway  with ease.

Gurdwara Sahib Tatt Khalsa

I mean my concern lies in the fact that as the number of Gurdwaras increase, there seem to be less and less people congregating at the weekly events! To be honest, if the sanggat really wants to have the darshan of Guru Sahib I do not think that distance would be an obstacle. What irks my thought is this phenomenon of building new Gurdwaras which on average costs millions when there are several Gurdwaras that are already built that would appreciate that same amount to upgrade their premise.

Gurdwara Sahib Puchong

Want examples? Here is one, why have a Gurdwara be built in Subang Jaya, when Gurdwara Sahib Puchong, Gurdwara Sahib Sunway, Gurdwara Sahib Petaling Tin and Gurdwara Sahib Petaling Jaya can be said to be stone throws away? And from what I see, programs in Subang Darbar itself seem to pull in very little Subang sangat, so what is the need for a full fledged 3 story building to serve as Gurdwara? In contrast that same amount of donations could be used to upgrade Gurdwaras such as G.S. Kampung Pandan Settlement, G.S. Kampung Pandan Dalam, G.S. Rawang even G.S. Sentul could utilize the donation to fully utilize the vacant land surrounding its Gurdwara.

Gurdwara Sahib Rawang

It concerns me that Gurdwaras are already facing a dilemma of ways to increase sangat at weekly programs, maintaining costs and what not, but instead of solving them first we end up building more! We have not solved internal obstacles that are prevalent in nearly every Gurdwara yet, but are ready to jump into building more!

Gurdwara Sahib Sentul

Or it true what they say, that more and more Gurdwaras are becoming Sdn Bhd Companies? And that its all about the money (cue Donald Trumps Apprentice theme song)?

Gurdwara Sahib Kampung Pandan Settlement

Another concern that arises for me is the fact that where will all the 'ekta' of the sadhsangat go? I mean slowly and slowly I see this plaguing us where sangat is being divided by the Gurdwaras they attend and at each Gurdwara there seems to be a different mindset on different issues.


To end this rant, concern, opinion or whatever you'd like to call it I'd want to put it out there I'm not against having Gurdwara's I am just questioning the fact that why have so many when the ones we already have are having difficulties with operations. Quantity or Quality?