About Golden Triangle Sikh Association

Golden Triangle Sikh Association (Gurdwara Sahib Kitchener-Waterloo) was formed in 1982 to promote the heritage and future of Sikhism. It is a non-profit and non-political, religious charitable organization serving the Sikh community of Tri-County Area of Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge) and surrounding area of Brant, Perth and Wellington County. Sikhism is founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and nine successive gurus in fifteenth century Northern India. Sikishm is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world. This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat (literally the counsel of the gurus) or the Sikh Dharm. Sikhism originated from the word Sikh, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit root sisya meaning “disciple” or “learner”. The principal belief of Sikhism is faith in Vahiguru – represented using the sacred symbol of ek-onkar, the Universal God. Sikhism advocates the pursuit of salvation through disciplined, personal meditation on the name and message of God. A key distinctive feature of Sikhism is a non-anthropomorphic concept of God, to the extent that one can interpret God as the Universe itself. The followers of Sikhism are ordained to follow the teachings of the ten Sikh gurus, or enlightened leaders, as well as the holy scripture entitled the Guru Granth Sahib, which includes selected works of many devotees from diverse socio-economic and religious backgrounds. The text was decreed by Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, as the final guru of the Khalsa Panth. Sikhism’s traditions and teachings are distinctively associated with the history, society and culture of the Punjab. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs (students or disciples) and number over 23 million across the world. Most Sikhs live in the state of Punjab in India and, prior to the country’s partition, millions of Sikhs lived in what is now known as the Punjab province of Pakistan.