Undergraduate Third year students are currently learning about two Dharmic religions: Jainism and Sikhism. As part of this we visited two temples in Manchester, the Jain Samaj and the Sikh Gurdwara.
The first visit of the day was to the Jain temple. Housed in converted building the main room is a sports hall, which is used for a variety of activities. Next to this is the actual Temple itself – sculpted from white Indian granite it features statues of Mahavira and two of the other tirthinkaras. It really was a beautiful sight.
Suresh spoke to us about the history, beliefs and ethics of the Jains, and how the community in Manchester practise their faith in the 21st Century.
In the afternoon we went to the Gurdwara to hear about the Sikh faith. After washing our hands and covering our heads we went into the Diwan Hall. Here, Reeti talked about the background to the religion and then we heard a portion of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji read. We also got to see the Guru’s bedroom.
Finally, the highlight was to go into the Langar Hall and sample some of the wonderful food that they had prepared for us.
Thanks to Phil Tragen for the photos!