Visiting a gurdwara for the first time

Anyone can walk into a gurdwara, whatever their faith or background. On a first visit you will cover your head, take off your shoes, wash your hands, sit on the floor with everyone else, and almost certainly be fed before you leave. Nobody expects a visitor to arrive knowing the routine.

What a gurdwara is

A gurdwara is where the sangat gathers. Sangat is the Sikh congregation, the gathering for worship, learning and mutual support. Guru Nanak Dev Ji made it the founding institution of the Sikh path. It is not built around a priest who stands between a person and God, and it is not a withdrawal from ordinary life. It is a room full of people sitting at the same level.

At the front of the prayer hall is Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the Sikh scripture. Guru Gobind Singh Ji installed Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji as the perpetual Guru of the Khalsa before his passing in 1708. Sikhs do not regard the Guru as a book about the Guru. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is the living Guru. That one fact explains almost everything you will see people do inside.

Outside, you will see a tall triangular flag, saffron in colour, flown from a pole clothed in the same cloth. That is the Nishan Sahib. It carries the Khanda insignia: a double-edged sword, a chakkar, and two kirpans. It stands at every gurdwara.

What to do before you walk in

Four things, and none of them are difficult.

• Cover your shoulders and knees. Looser clothing is easier, because you will be sitting on the floor.
• Cover your head. A bandana, a scarf or a square of cloth all work. A hat does not count. If you forget, ask someone near the entrance. Most gurdwaras keep spare head coverings for visitors.
• Take off your shoes. There will be an area to leave them.
• Wash your hands before going into the prayer hall. There may be a sink outside it. If there is not, use the bathroom.

Alcohol, tobacco and other intoxicants are not allowed anywhere on gurdwara grounds, including the parking lot.

Inside the prayer hall

Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is seated at the front of the prayer hall.

If it is the first time you have entered the hall that day, the custom is to walk up to the front and bow, normally by placing your head on the floor. Watch the person ahead of you. Bowing is respect offered to the Guru. If you are not comfortable doing it, walk over to a seat and sit down instead.

Then sit on the floor with everyone else. In many gurdwaras in the United States men sit on one side of the hall and women on the other. Follow what the people around you are doing. Try not to point your feet at Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, and avoid turning your back to the Guru.

A few smaller courtesies. Keep your voice down, keep your phone quiet, and do not clap. Do not walk up onto the platform where Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is seated.

Kirtan, Ardas and prashad

Kirtan is performed by musicians called ragis. The granthi is the person who reads from Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, leads Ardas, and carries out Parkash and Sukhasan, the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony held each day. Services run morning and evening and include the Hukamnama, the reading taken from the Guru that day.

Ardas is the formal Sikh prayer. It is offered standing, with folded hands, before Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, and the sangat stands together for it. It recalls the Gurus and those who went before, and it closes by asking for the welfare of all people, not Sikhs alone.

As you leave the hall, someone may be sitting near the entrance offering prashad, a sweet offering. Volunteers sometimes pass it around as the service ends instead.

Langar, the free kitchen

Langar (ਲੰਗਰ) is the free community kitchen, served in the langar hall during or after the service. It is one of the oldest Sikh practices, begun by Guru Nanak Dev Ji in the late fifteenth century, and later Gurus, among them Guru Amar Das Ji, developed it further. It is open to anyone who enters a gurdwara, whatever their religion or background.

Everyone sits on the floor in rows, at the same level. The rows are called pangat, and the point of them is that nobody sits above anyone else, whatever their caste, class, wealth, gender or religion.

The food is cooked and served by volunteers rather than paid staff. Help with preparing, serving and clearing up is always welcome, and people often offer. You can politely decline food, particularly if you have allergies or dietary restrictions. Eat what you are comfortable with. Keep your head covered in the langar hall too.

The gurdwara in Stockton

The gurdwara in Stockton was established in 1912 and is the oldest continuously operating Sikh gurdwara in the United States. Until the late 1940s it was the only one in the country. It served as the administrative centre of the Pacific Coast Khalsa Diwan Society, coordinating Sikh religious life across California, Oregon and Washington, and from early on it ran a langar that fed anyone who came.

For the address and the programmes held there, see the gurdwara's own site at stocktongurdwara.org. You can approach anyone at a gurdwara with a question. People are usually more than happy to help, and may even give you a tour.

Common questions

Do I have to be Sikh to visit?

No. A gurdwara is open to anyone, and so is langar. Non-Sikhs are welcomed on the same terms as everyone else.

What if I do not want to bow?

Bowing before Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is the custom the first time you enter the hall in a day. If you are not comfortable with it, walking straight over to a seat and sitting down is appropriate.

Can I take photographs?

Ask first. Photography is not usually forbidden in a gurdwara, but checking is the courteous thing to do. Do not use flash inside the prayer hall.

Are women restricted from visiting during their period?

No. There are no restrictions on women visiting a gurdwara during their period.