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Sikh Foundation of Northern Virginia
7250 Ox Rd., Fairfax Station, VA
703-323-8849

I took a Sunday trip to the Sikh Foundation of Virginia. As I drove up I saw a big white temple, with a gold dome on top. The dome was gorgeous. I also saw a parking lot full of cars, which I saw as a good sign. The more people there, the more people to talk to! I walked up to a trailer with two young men inside. The said to give them my shoes, and then in return gave me a number, so when I came out it would be easy for them to give me my shoes back. Another man also said to cover my head, I had happened to wear a zip up sweater with a hood, and asked if I could use it to cover and and he said yes.

When I first walked inside, I was in a foyer type of room. There were 2 sinks on each wall. There was also a bin of head scarves in case anyone had forgotten to bring theirs. In the next room, people were socializing, and there were children being taught Sunday school, sitting in front of cases of books labeled the "library". I was standing in the foyer taking some notes when a nice woman named Mrs. Gill came over to help me.

She pointed to the kitchen and first told me about the Langar. She said that families volunteer the food, usually for an occasion like celebrating a birthday, but sometimes for no special occasion at all. By doing the meal, they are saying thank you to God. She took me in the kitchen to show me around. There were about 10 women (who volunteer) singing and cooking in the kitchen. Some were making the dough for chapati, which is a type of bread. Some where shaping the dough, and some where frying it. She also showed me the huge pots of potato and pea curry, rich pudding, and lentil soup that the women had cooked. She insisted that I stay and eat the meal, but I could not stay until one. Since I got to go in the kitchen and watch the women, I am not too upset about it, though it would have been nice to stay and eat. She also mentioned that everyone sits on the floor and eats together, no matter if you are rich or poor, a king or warrior, etc. She said this shows humbleness.

She then told me some Sikh basics. She said each Sikh gurdwara has 4 doors, one in each direction. This symbolizes the anyone and everyone is invited into the temple no matter of race, religion, ethnic background, etc. She also told me that the main teaching of Sikhism are equality and justice, and that Sikh's feel it's their duty to help or fight for anyone who is in danger or needs help.

Upstairs the prayer and singing was going on. She said on Friday morning they start reading the Holy Book from the beginning and then on Sunday they are at the end. She said that people volunteer to read the Holy book, but you must be qualified (must be able to pronounce all words, and know the language) She told me that she sometimes volunteers to read.

Before entering the prayer hall people were stopping at pictures of Sikh gurdwaras, and praying. Under one of the pictures of a gurdwara there was something written in another language on a chalkboard. One man told me that everyday the priest wrote a different verse from the Holy book up there, and people were supposed to stop and read it. He also told me that there were five main Sikh gurdwaras in India, even though they only had pictures of two displayed.

When first entering the prayer room there were two men and two women up front singing. It was lovely. In the prayer room people were sitting with their legs crossed on the floor on large white sheets, men on one side of the aisle and women on the other. I did not get to ask the reason for this though. Young boys would sit with their mothers, I wonder if there is an age when they are not allowed to do this anymore. There was sort of an altar where the Holy Book was. A priest (?) was sitting behind it. The altar was gold with colorful purple and red decorations. People walked up the aisle and waited their turn. When you got up to the altar, you would kneel and put your hands on the ground and touch your head to the ground. This was a sign of humbleness, and everyone did this. This is when you would give your donation. You could donate however much you wanted to. We talked about how this was different than in my religion how you pass around a basket to give your donations. Mrs. Gill made had me go up and perform this ritual. I didn't really want to, but she said not to be shy so I went up and did it. I hope I did it right!

She also showed me the prasad, and gave me a handful of it. She said it was sort of a bread pudding. To me it tasted like cookie dough. It was a neat experience to get to have some of the prasad.

I went downstairs again to speak with a few more people. I noticed that they were greeting each other like the Hindus, with their hands together. I was told this meant God is truth. I found out that Waheguru is the name Sikh's use for God. This is a Punjabi word, and the language everyone was speaking in the gurdwara was also Punjabi. He also mentioned that there were 10 gurus. He told me that the gurus where teachers, but not more holy than anyone else. They were just children of God like everyone else is.

I went back upstairs to see the final prayers before the meal. I noticed Christmas lights all over the room used for decoration. I also saw that the women all wore the same type of outfits, not sure of the name but they are pants with what looks like a dress over them. The men dressed more casual, some even wore jeans. Now the singing stopped for a while and some men were speaking, they occasionally would start signing and the crowd would join in on certain parts. The man behind the altar kept waving this silver stick with what looked sort of like white hair attached to the end of it over the Holy book. I am not sure why?

I left before the ceremony was totally over. I wanted to stay for the meal, but my ride was there. Overall, I had a nice time. Everyone was friendly and I felt welcome. Again I did not even have to walk up to people, they came right up to me. I feel that I learned a lot, and it was very interesting to watch a Sikh ceremony. I saw two classmates briefly, but they were leaving. I hope they enjoyed themselves as much as I did. I definitely recommend that if you have not been here you go! Thursday night they will have a meal. Mrs. Gill was the lady I talked to, you could ask around for her she is very helpful and nice. I have a few phone numbers that they gave me, and said I could call if I had anymore questions. I might just take them up on that! 

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