El Sobrante Gurdwara Sahib
El Sobrante Gurdwara Sahib, situated high on a hillside wth a commanding view of the San Francisco, the San Francisco Bay and the San Pablo Bay.
About twenty miles north of Oakland and Berkeley and San Francisco another few miles across the Historic Bay Bridge, El Sobrante Gurdwara Shaib is located at the hilltop of the El Sobrante Valley hills. Serving the Sikh community in the Bay Area it is also known as the Sikh Center of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Gurdwara was built in late 1970s.
Previously local Sikhs usually carried out their religious ceremonies in their homes; however, as more and more Sikhs immigrated to the Bay Area, the Sikh community decided that a Sikh Temple was necessary to serve local Sikhs in terms of carrying out general ceremonies such as weddings and Akhand Path ceremonies, etc.
Situated almost at the top of a steep hill with a driveway that ladder backs several times because of the steep incline, its architecture and uniqueness attracts many people (I-80, one of the main arteries between the Bay area and the State's capital in Sacramento passes by the hillside) to come and see the site. At the northeast wing of its' Second floor, a huge deck offers a breath taking view of the El Sobrante valley and San Pablo Bay.
A visit
This writer first visited there in the late 1990s. My wife and I had purchased several books on Sikh History and a Punjabi dictionary and asking if there was any Gurdwara nearby, we were told by the owner of the store Bazaar of India Imports of her Gurdwara and asked us to look up Harpreet Singh Sandu. She said he should be getting there about the same time we would be able to get there. The freeway up from Berkeley is almost always packed in each of its three or four (five?) lanes and as it was nearing rush hour when the traffic all but grinds to a halt we thought it would be a good place to stop and get off the road 'till the traffic slowed. Getting to the bottom of the drive way it seemed like it went straight up the steep hill, I was glad that my wife was behind the wheel. She spent years living around the area and the hills present no challenge to her. It always takes me a few days before I can get used to the steep inclines of California Street or Jones Street in San Francisco.
Anyway we never got to meet Mr. Sing, who didn't show by the time we had to leave, but the warm welcome, the Langar and the two Karas that we were given from a chest in the Darbar Sahib are treasured memories of the visit. Whenever we get back we try to climb the hill and I've even managed to drive up and down it myself once or twice. If we don't have time we always enjoy catching sight of the Shining Golden domes on our ride to the airport, for our journey back to Atlanta, as the light of the setting sun reflects off them as it sinks in the west.
Address
- 3550 Hillcrest Road, El Sobrante, California 94803 USA
- Ph# (510) 223-9987
- Email Us at: [email protected]
