Gurdwara Sikh Sangat Boston has been serving the needs of the Greater Boston Area since December 2005. At that time the Gurdwara was located in a temporary location in Somerville. In February 2012, the community moved to a permanent location in Everett where have been located since.
In March 2025, the community bought an adjacent piece of land with the aim to expand the physical space direly needed to cater to the increasing attendance at the Gurdwara since the past several years. We are now raising funds to begin the expansion work of the premises.
Early Beginnings
In 2005, the sangat (community) rented a small space in an office building in Somerville, being shared with other businesses and organizations. The existence of a Gurdwara inside the building was not evident from the outside; however, the sangat truly made the space their house of worship. The hallway was used to store shoes during the service, a small room was used to warm up food, and the largest room was a prayer space also used as a classroom for lessons and a langar hall for community meals. The size of the office was no longer suitable for the growing community, however.
Expansion Plans
The sangat found a larger, permanent space in Everett in 2012, allowing them to have a separate kitchen and langar hall, as well as classrooms for students and apartments for visiting religious singers and preachers. The community has flourished in that space ever since serving their needs all these years.
As the community continued to grow through the years, it felt the need to further expand the premises needed for conducting daily services and langar. In early 2025, the community bought a property adjacent to the current premises with the aim to expand the current space of worship and the kitchen, along with adding a library and more classrooms to serve an increasing number of children enrolled in weekly Khalsa school classes. With the successful purchase of the property, the community is now working on the building expansion plan.
Activities and Schedule
The Gurdwara hosts daily and weekly ceremonies, with the main services on Fridays and Sundays. For the times of these ceremonies and special programs, please refer to the Services tab of the website. The ceremonies primarily constitute kirtan (Sikh devotional music), played mainly by groups of professional religious singers from India who are hired for variable periods of time. The Gurdwara provides Gurmukhi, Kirtan and Gurmat (theological) lessons during the Friday and Sunday diwans (assembly). Among other annual holidays, the sangat organizes a Chhabeel , which commemorates the martyrdom of the fifth guru, Guru Arjan Sahib, by passing out free drinks to the public in places such as Haymarket and Boston Common in downtown Boston, and Union Square in Somerville.
Demographics
There are 200-250 members in regular attendance, who are primarily of Punjabi descent. At least another 100 of South Asian descent including students, professionals and families attend the services on a regular basis. Many of the sangat members in regular attendance are from non-Sikh backgrounds. The Gurdwara draws crowds of several more hundreds for special occasions. Attendees are representative of all age groups, including many families and young adults. Many reside in Somerville, others in Boston and the surrounding areas. While most attendees speak Punjabi, the Gurdwara provides English and phonetic Punjabi translations of the kirtan on a projector screen during the Friday and Sunday services.
Date Center Founded
December 2005
Lay Leader and Title
The Sikh Sangat Society Boston prides itself on being a democratic organization, and although they have a management committee which organizes events and seva (community service), there is no one religious or lay leader.
The following article has been adapted from Harvard University’s Pluralism project’s description of the Sikh Sangat Society Gurudwara to reflect the changes since the original publication.