By A Staff Reporter
Mississauga: A central interactive console and painted images glorying Sikh history form the first Sikh Multimedia Museum which opened its doors at the Dixie Gurdwara last Sunday. This first of-its-kind museum outside India was declared open by Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion and its creater Raghbir Bains, who came from Surrey in British Columbia.
Bains is the recipient of Order of Canada for his work in the educational and socio-cultural fields, particularly in raising awareness of AIDS, drug abuse and domestic violence. After the formal cutting of the ribbon, the mayor remarked that she is happy that Mississauga is home to the museum. Bains said he spent 25 years planning the museum.
"When people come to this country they face so many challenges. I made efforts to educate people and create awareness."
Bains mentioned that it is the first religious multimedia museum in the world. There are two similar types of museum in Punjab, the state which has the Golden Temple, the spiritual centre of Sikhs.
Bains plans to have another one in England. The museum is a valuable resource centre for those interested in historical research.
It has more than 60,000 pages depicting various aspects of Sikh culture, heritage and religion that can be accessed by touching the four screens. Fifteen paintings showing monumental instances in Sikh history are mounted on the walls.
President of the Ontario Khalsa Darbar, the organization which runs the Dixie Gurdwara, Jasjit Singh Bhullar told this reporter that the museum would be shifted once the vacant land in front of the gurdwara is developed in three to four years.
Dixie Gurdwara houses a library which is used by many of the devotees. Admission to the gurdwara, which is located at the intersection of Derry and Dixie roads, is free.
http://www.southasianobserver.com/south_asian_canadian_news.php?mid=1&cid=2029
Mississauga: A central interactive console and painted images glorying Sikh history form the first Sikh Multimedia Museum which opened its doors at the Dixie Gurdwara last Sunday. This first of-its-kind museum outside India was declared open by Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion and its creater Raghbir Bains, who came from Surrey in British Columbia.
Bains is the recipient of Order of Canada for his work in the educational and socio-cultural fields, particularly in raising awareness of AIDS, drug abuse and domestic violence. After the formal cutting of the ribbon, the mayor remarked that she is happy that Mississauga is home to the museum. Bains said he spent 25 years planning the museum.
"When people come to this country they face so many challenges. I made efforts to educate people and create awareness."
Bains mentioned that it is the first religious multimedia museum in the world. There are two similar types of museum in Punjab, the state which has the Golden Temple, the spiritual centre of Sikhs.
Bains plans to have another one in England. The museum is a valuable resource centre for those interested in historical research.
It has more than 60,000 pages depicting various aspects of Sikh culture, heritage and religion that can be accessed by touching the four screens. Fifteen paintings showing monumental instances in Sikh history are mounted on the walls.
President of the Ontario Khalsa Darbar, the organization which runs the Dixie Gurdwara, Jasjit Singh Bhullar told this reporter that the museum would be shifted once the vacant land in front of the gurdwara is developed in three to four years.
Dixie Gurdwara houses a library which is used by many of the devotees. Admission to the gurdwara, which is located at the intersection of Derry and Dixie roads, is free.
http://www.southasianobserver.com/south_asian_canadian_news.php?mid=1&cid=2029
