Sikh Festival to feature scholar
Tue, September 2, 2008
Valparaiso University will mark the 300th anniversary of the holy book of the Sikhs with a Sept. 27 event that includes a keynote lecture by an eminent scholar of Sikh studies and a communal meal of traditional Indian foods.
The Sikh Festival will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Valpo Center for the Arts and is free and open to the public.
The event recognizes the anniversary of the compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib, which contains the teachings of 10 Sikh gurus.
Dr. Renu Juneja, associate provost and a professor of English, said the festival will be an intercultural experience that will allow the community to learn more about Sikhism and connect with the local Indian community. The event is being planned under the auspices of the Surjit S. Patheja Chair in World Religions and Ethics, which supports the work of a faculty member whose concentration is in the area of world religions.
"Valparaiso's Patheja chair was established by a prominent member of the local Sikh community to focus on the study of world religions and ethics," Dr. Juneja said. "It made sense for us to take advantage of this anniversary of the Sikh holy book to partner with the Sikh Religious Society of Indiana-Crown Point to organize an educational event that would take place in a festive atmosphere."
Dr. Gurinder Singh Mann, the author of the books Sikhism and The Making of Sikh Scripture, will present his keynote address "Sikhs in America: Opportunities and Challenges" at 10:40 a.m. Dr. Mann, a professor of religion at the University of California-Santa Barbara, has focused his research on the evolution of Sikh institutions, the challenges facing the contemporary Sikh community both in Punjab (an area straddling the India-Pakistan border) and other areas settled by immigrants from the traditional Sikh heartland, and the interactions between the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs of Punjab.
Dr. Mann will answer questions from the audience following his talk.
Also speaking during the event is Dr. Balwant Hansra, raised in Punjab and a member of the Board of Trustees for the World Council of Religions and past president of the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago.
Members of the Sikh Religious Society of Indiana-Crown Point also will sing a shabad, or guru's word, and perform a folk dance from the Sikh homeland of Punjab known as a Bhangra dance during the festival.
The festival will conclude with a traditional communal meal known as the langar that will consist of vegetarian Indian foods.
Dr. Juneja noted that several Valparaiso faculty and staff have visited India to learn more about the country and explore opportunities for greater engagement, and that next spring, a group of graduate business students and students in other academic programs will participate in a field study course to India.
"The University also is very seriously looking into a South Asia initiative that would further develop partnerships and opportunities for studies in the region," she said.
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GJ - "Our WLC" is my little joke. The Church and Change gurus spawned at WLC are far more dangerous than a Sikh at Valpo. Sikh culture has not caught on, outside of Northern India. Generic, man-worshiping, mission-vision Management by Objective Fullerism has gone viral, with few willing to administer the cure since they do not realize they have a disorder.
