GURDWARA SAHIB GUNONG RAPAT, IPOH, PERAK
No. 717 Lorong 11, Gunong Rapat, 31350 Ipoh, Perak
The earliest Sikhs to reside in the Gunong Rapat area were mostly employed in the nearby tin mines as general labourers or were dairy farmers and bullock cart drivers. These Sikhs built a Sikh Gurdwara Sahib next to the present site in 1943. This building was a single storey wooden structure with an attap roof. A few years later, a new single storey wooden building with a zinc roof was built to serve as the Gurdwara Sahib for the growing Sikh community. However, this Gurdwara Sahib building was destroyed in a fire in 1995.
A Building Fund Committee was formed in 1995 to raise donations to build a new double storey building to serve as the Gurdwara Sahib. The foundation stone of the new Gurdwara Sahib was laid by the Panj Piyarae in 1996. Baba Darshan Singh Ji officially declared this new Gurdwara Sahib open on New Year’s Day Pt January 1997. The cost of this Gurdwara Sahib building came to RM400,000.00 out of which RM60,000.00 was donated by the Government.
The first floor consists of the Darbar Sahib while the Guru Ka Langgar hall, kitchen, Granthis’ quarters, one room for Sikh visitors and the office of the Gurdwara Sahib, are located on the ground floor. There are presently nearly 15 students who attend Gurinukhi classes once a week in this Gurdwara Sahib. The Management Committee comprises of the President, Secretary, Treasurer, their assistants and five committee members.
There are about 150 Sikh families residing around this area who participate in the religious activities held in this Gurdwara Sahib. The normal weekly prayers are held on Sunday mornings from 7.30a.m. to 8.30a.m. The Isteri Satsang programme is held on every Wednesday afternoon from 3.00p.m. to 5.00p.m. Other religious programmes are held as and when required at the request of the Sikh sangat.
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