Events hosted at Takanini Gurudwara have always been a huge affair with thousands of community members participating in different aspects of the celebration.
On Sunday, March 11, Takanini Gurudwara hosted its 13th-anniversary event but the celebration had started a week ago on Sunday, March 4 as world-renowned Sikh preacher Bhai Sahib Giani Pinderpal Singh from the United States came to the gurudwara to impart his wisdom and conduct kirtan for the community.
Each session of Giani Pinderpal Singh’s kirtan extends to at least two hours, and he was known as one of most influential Sikh preachers in the world. Giani Pinderpal Singh conducted kirtan session every day for eight days starting Sunday, March 4, and more than a thousand members of the Sikh community including senior men, women and children, attended each of his sessions.
Another preacher Bhai Lakhwinder Singh flew in from India to conduct the kirtan sessions. Bhai Lakhwinder Singh is deprived of sight but is renowned all over the world for his kirtan sessions and wisdom.
Annual Sports events:
Touch game Kabaddi and Volleyball are the two sports events that are hosted every year on the occasion of Takanini Gurudwara’s anniversary. This year ten teams from different parts of the country participated in the Kabaddi tournament and Bay of Plenty Club from Tauranga came out victorious defeating Punjab Kesari Club from Auckland, the score being 44.5 and 35. Players Raman Mallian and Meshi Harkhowal were awarded the Best Raider trophy while Sippa Thandewalia and Sunny Adamwal were awarded as the Best Stoppers of the tournament. 38 players and officials were called from India to participate in the Kabaddi matches. Six of the ten teams had three international players each, and four top teams were given two players each to play with the teams.
Four teams participated in the Volleyball tournament namely Hamilton, Black Spikes, Kalgidhar Lions A and Kalgidhar Lions B. Sever matches were held in the tournament which was closely fought and in the final match Kalgidhar Lions A defeated Kalgidhar Lions B with the final score 3-2. Players Simarjit Singh and Manraj Beniwal were awarded as the best players of the tournament.
The sports event witnessed a crowd more than 5000 of men and women cheering the teams that ended at 7:30 p.m.
The anniversary event saw more than 10,000 people attending through the day.
The Supreme Sikh Society was established in 1982 and Takanini Gurudwara in 2003 with funding help from banks of five million dollars. A week before the anniversary the gurudwara appealed the community members through social media channels to raise funds to make the payment of the final installment of the loan. The last installment supposed to be paid $250,000 and the community were able to raise $280,000 within a week time. This has made Takanini and Otahuhu Gurudwara free from the debt it owed to the bank.
Both Takanini and Otahuhu gurudwaras host multiple events and activities throughout the year in order to engage the community provide volunteering services to the extended multicultural community present in the country. Activities include sports for the children and the youth, langar services for the community, growing community garden to source fresh vegetables for the community, and programmes for the elderly.