In a historic first for any Sikh temple anywhere around the world (outside India), the South Auckland’s Takanini Gurudwara is coming up with a $6 million mega sports centre that will include a soccer and hockey turf along with facilities for different games.
The multimillion-dollar project is almost 80 per cent complete with the remaining construction set to be completed in the next four to six months time when the facility will be officially opened for the general public.
The Indian Weekender team visited the famous Sikh Temple of South Auckland and was given a tour of the upcoming project by Daljit Singh and his team from the Supreme Sikh Society of New Zealand, which is also the largest Sikh body in the country.
A total of seven different sports’ turf including for soccer, hockey, athletics track, volleyball, basketball, cricket and kabaddi – the famous contact-team-game from India are under construction after being vetted by the highest professional regulatory bodies of each sport in the country.
“The soccer pitch is fully approved by FIFA [the highest international governing body for football].”
“The New Zealand Football had already entered into an agreement with us for holding 45 soccer matches every year,” said an elated Daljit Singh.
“We are also planning for an inaugural match between New Zealand Police and Fire services when we are ready,” Mr Singh further added.
Similarly, the turfs and pitches for other games are also being constructed under the strict guidelines of respective sporting authorities to ensure that facilities comply with the highest levels of professional standards.
The entire complex will be fitted with seven floodlights to facilitate sporting fixtures in the night.
Each floodlight will also be fitted with an inbuilt sound system so that game organisers will not have to arrange for separate microphones or public address (PA) system, Mr Singh told The Indian Weekender.
The vision behind mega sports centre
“This [multi-sports centre] has been a long-held dream since last 10-15 years when the Supreme Sikh Society first got the land in South Auckland,” Mr Singh recalled.
“We have been clear from the very beginning of this Gurudwara that we need to come up with a major sports facility to not only promote sports and good health among our youths from the wider Kiwi-Indian community.”
“But also because sports is a great unifier of people helping in cutting our cultural differences,” Mr Singh said.
Notably, Takanini Gurudwara had been deeply engaged in making connections not only with the immediate neighbouring communities but also the wider South Auckland communities so as to spread awareness about Sikhism and remove any cultural barriers.
Serving the neighbouring communities
Over the years the sustained compassionate efforts of Supreme Sikh Society has resulted in much mutual bonhomie and connections with the wider communities of South Auckland and beyond.
“We are connected with the broader communities in different ways such as inviting everyone to our langars [communal kitchen] or cultural exchanges of Rumala Sahib [sacred fabric], and this sports facility is no different,” Mr Singh emphasised.
“The plan is to open up and share this sporting facility with everyone.
“We already have seven local schools in the neighbourhood with whom we have agreed to share sporting premises during the day to give children a bigger place to play.
“The athlete race track is already popular among our immediate neighbourhood for morning walks. Every morning we have people, especially women from a range of ethnicities who come to have their morning walks.”
“In some cases, we get women who leave their kids in the onsite playschool before embarking on their morning walks,” Mr Singh said.
Once fully operational in the next couple of months, the organisers plan to throw open the facility to all sports enthusiasts and communities.
Supreme Sikh Society was established in 1982 and operates two Gurudwaras in Auckland including the very first Gurudwara built in Auckland - the Otahuhu Gurudwara along with the largest Sikh Gurudwara in the entire Pacific Area – the Takanini Gurudwara, South Auckland.
ISSUE
Leave a Comment