New Sikh temple in Leicester opens its doors for worshippers

London, July 12 (IANS) Bringing cheer to the Sikh community in the UK, a new gurdwara has opened its doors for up to 900 worshippers in Leicester.

The 4.2 million-pound Gurdwara Sahib, which was originally located on Meynell Road, is now built on a 2.8 acre site in Hamilton, Leicester, to make room for the increasing number of worshippers.

According to the Leicester Mercury, the construction was carried out by the trustees of the Ramgarhia Board Leicester who borrowed 2.1 million pounds to part-fund the new building.

It committed 800,000 pounds of its own money, and the rest was donated by members of the Sikh community.

The gurdwara has classrooms for children to learn Punjabi, two main prayers halls, a library and a langar dining hall, which can accommodate up to 600 people.

The car parking, which is currently under construction, will have up to 150 car park spaces, coach parking and cycle racks.

“The old gurdwara was a heavy vehicle garage that had been converted into a temple. For 51 years we lived there, but with the congregation increasing, that place was not suitable because of the lack of space, facilities and car park space -- so we decided that we needed to move and we bought the land for the new site back in 2013,” president of the gurdwara, Inderjit Singh Panesar, told the Leicester Mercury.

The prayer halls have seats as well as lifts to support elderly worshippers.

The new temple also houses a creche for new mothers.