The Story of Raj Khalsa Gurdwara
The roots of Raj Khalsa Gurdwara were planted approximately 40 years ago in Washington, DC. Yogi Bhajan, also known as Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji, established a community that was based on Sikh and yogic practices. It was his mission to share the teachings of Kundalini Yoga and to help people live healthy, happy, and holy lives.
The community attracted mostly young Americans who were spiritual seekers, and who wanted lives of meaning and service. We rose in the Amrit Vela to recite Japji Sahib, to practice yoga and meditation and to chant the Guru’s bani. He introduced us to the Sikh principles of Bana, Bani, Simran and Seva. We began to wear turbans and to dress in noble bana. We studied Gurmukhi, we learned Gurbani Kirtan, and we immersed ourselves in the Sikh way of life…not just as a philosophy, but as a daily practice. Most of us took Sikh vows and participated in an Amrit ceremony to be initiated into the Khalsa. Our community at that time was called Ahimsa Ashram. In 1970 we opened a vegetarian restaurant which we named The Golden Temple Conscious Cookery. Our restaurant was very successful and we served delicious vegetarian food there for about ten years. As our community grew and many of us married and had children, we decided to move from the city, and in 1979 our community moved to Herndon and Great Falls, where we still reside. Our children have been raised as Sikhs and have been given a strong identity of what it means to live in the purity of Khalsa consciousness. From 1978 – 1986 we operated a Khalsa pre-school and we then built a school in Amritsar, India called Miri Piri Academy where most of our children have been educated. Please visit: www.miripiriacademy.org
We established a Gurdwara in 1980 at 6 Export Drive in Sterling, where we hold Sunday Gurdwara services. In 1998, as our Sangat membership grew, we increased the size of our space, quadrupling the square footage, and adding a kitchen and Dharma school room. We asked the Siri Singh Sahib at that time for an official name for our Gurdwara, and he named it Raj Khalsa Gurdwara, the royal domain of the Khalsa.
