Tonight, towards the Cubs earning their Promise Challenge badge, the Pack visited a local Sikh Gurdwara, the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (Leeds) UK.

We had an amazing welcome from our hosts and were put entirely at ease and welcomed into their House. We are very grateful for being allowed to come and experience such a vibrant and  interesting culture – whilst some things may be different to my / our normal way of life such as the Five K’s (can you remember what they were, Cubs?) they spoke about a lot of really great things to think about such as: men and women being treated equally… indeed EVERYONE being treated equally; about not just reading the Holy Book, the Guru Granth Sahib for Sikhs (and the Bible for Christians) but doing what it says (love thy neighbour for example?); about giving up your time, money and skills (for free!) to help others – sound familiar?

The Cub Pack met in the Langar in the Gurdwara as shown in this picture where our host, Mr Sagoo, started the visit by giving us a history of Sikhism and its founder, Guru Nanak. Mr Sagoo, and his Mother who were looking after us, did a brilliant job and explaining things at a level the Cubs could understand.

After the introduction in the communal kitchen area, we were taken up to the Worship Hall. We were asked to remove our shoes before entering upon which we walked down the orange stripe you can see in the picture below to the altar where the Guru Granth Sahib was reverently placed. The Cubs made small donations and we made one as a Group towards the good work that the Gurdwara is doing in the Local Community. We then gathered on the carpet at the rear of the Hall where Mr and Mrs Sagoo explained about why there are no chairs and everyone sits on the carpet (everyone’s equal!) and about what goes on in this room. The Cubs also asked many questions of the pictures of the Guru’s on the walls, the Punjabi writing behind the altar (can you remember what the words said, Cubs?) which our Hosts did very well to answer.

Lastly we then went up one more floor of the old Ringtons Tea Factory building, where we sat on the floor in the area used for various classrooms. There our hosts showed us a short video which has been filmed and edited by the Girls Group at the Gurdwara. This very professional looking video gave an insight into the activities carried out within the Temple including Martial Arts (the Cubs’ eyes popped out of their head when they saw this!) & archery as well as the Punjabi school, music, etc.

I hope that the Cubs got as much out of the visit as I and many of the parents and leaders who came along did! At least I hope that its sparked some thoughts and questions…

Awards: Sammy R has now completed his Promise Challenge badge following attending this visit – well done, Sammy!