Do You Like The Way Gurudwaras Look/are Built?

[Bundha]

There seem to be different types of domes, those that are Rome in nature - these seem to be more or less upside down bowls, and the muslman types which are normally described as onion shaped - like taj mahal. I thing the way we have adaped the dome is to take the muslman type and added smaller arch decorations around the bases of it, so to me this looks typically Sikh. There is nothing wrong is adapting things that are already there, the sikh Gurdwara looks typically Sikh and cannot really be mistaken for anything else.

[Europe]

For myself, its whats on the inside that counts.

[tavleen]

wow i didnt' expect so many replies. awesome.

i think it's really interesting that our definition or understanding of a gurudwara almost always includes a dome!

nothing wrong with domes..unless you plop it over a purchased building that is turned into a gurudwara, and the only structural identity left to 'mark' the space as a sikh one is by putting a huge dome over a brick building (ok, don't even lie, think abou tall the gurudwaras around you, especially those of you that live in small sikh communities..where's your gurudwara? what does it look like? a brick/timber structure with a big dome, right? maybe?)

also, an interesting fact i learned from a professor (at UW-Seattle, if any of you go there...) when one of the domes from the inner part of Qila Mubarak (Patiala) fell a few years ago..because no one looked after it..it finally just collapsed...it was then discovered that within the dome were vessel-type tunnels going from one end of the dome to the other (horizontally...) and these layers were sandwiched between what you would see if you were inside the building, looking up at the ceiling, and what you would see from the outside.

so in short, these vessels were an early engineering system for ventilatin! imagine that!

so when i found that out, i had to think all over again about 'form follows function' and how the reason behind 'sikh domes' being articulated with veins (what someone said earlier about 'onion domes' but in an islamic context..we have something similar ig uess, a flatter version of the onion dome?) might be something like this ventilation system. so, anyway, the point being..the domes at qila mubarak have a purpose. they have a reason for being there, and for looking the way they do. but the domes we put on our gurudwars out here in the west are ones that are fabcriated somewhere in california (and toronto?) and shipped to places. is this what we have come down to? doesn't sangat deserve more? something better? something that TRULY speaks of how far sikhs have come? sometimes i wonder whether or not to take my architect friends to gurudwara..because being the way they are, they'd probably analyze the building, and despite interesing music (kirtan) and good food (langar), they'd probably leave dissatisfied with the building.

anyway, now im just rambling.

but thank you all for replying. let's hear more!

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

[tavleen]

kst,

i really like that new mexico gurudwara as well.

there are no domes on it..nothing flashy..it uses local materials, namely stucco.

and looking at those kinds of gurudwaras, it makes me think that we'd be better off using local materials too..if brick is what you've got, then use brick. if it's timber, then go for it..

so much of architecture has to do with using what you've got with ingenuity.

thanks for sharing those pictures. that place seems like it's filled with simplicity and piaar. :-)

I would echo what people have said.

All Gurdwaras in India are awesome, and need to be. This is our homeland where ourGurus lived and preached and the Gurdwaras should be as awe-inspiring as they are.

Now for the Gurdwars in the UK, some as someone has pointed out are built in houses or other buildings, and the reason for this may be financial. It takes are lot of effort to build a new gurdwara let alone raising all the money and dealing with all the politics.

The old Gurdwara in Leeds was awe inspiring, built in a converted church it had a huge dome in the main hall, the hall was circular in nature with huge sweeping arches all the way round. The new one, although very nice (as all guru-ghars are ) is basically a large rectangular hall.

One thing you never see at any Gurdwara in the UK, as far as I am aware, is a nice lawn around the Gurdwara or to the side where the old can relax and sit on benches and the young can let off steam and play in a safe environment. Space is normally paved over or as in the case of the big Gurdwara in Southall the Gurdwara is made so big there is no room left for anything else, and was it really necessary to have it that big ? It could have been made smaller and maybe have a nice lawn and small trees area for the sangat to enjoy.

Facilities like classrooms, conference rooms and meeting areas or maybe small kirtan rooms seem to be an afterthought and are normally cold, uninviting and poorly lit. The Kirtani rest rooms where Kirtanis stay are totally neglected with just a couple of mattresses on the floor and bedding that is well past the sell-by date.

I agree sports facilities would be nice, also we have to accept that boys and girls will meet each other and in today’s climate would it not be much better that they meet in a safe environment that you could control to some extent and if they pair up and marry within the faith is that not a good thing?, is that not better then them messing about outside and maybe going off with other people? Maybe we need areas where they can meet with games and activities for them to do.

i agree with wot penji/parji has sed

guru jis house should be nice but simple not soo simple that all u see is guru ji on a manji sahib

one of the gurdwara i like and i respect the sangat for building it in such a nice way and with so much is love is the one in America its simple but very nice

hear sum pics of it

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsikhnet/241...57594281083865/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsikhnet/241...57594281083865/

a gurdwara should have a nice darbar sahib and nice area where guru ji will be

a nice and open suchkand sahib not so small u cnt even get 5 singhs init iv seen soo many new gurdwaras with soo lil suchkands but then we think would we ever sleep in such a smalll room

from my point is there no need for such big gurdwars like Southall havelock one its sooo big and out side like parji / penji sed no green land out side

[Singhballer]

I personally would love to see Gurdwaras Designed how they were made in the 17th or 18th centurys. They architecture of those old Gurdwaras are so amazing.