Together In Prayer

August 21, 2010

Author: Jay Tokasz

Source: The Buffalo News

http://www.buffalonews.com/life/article162230.ece

The beat of hand drums doesn’t quit.

Bold and clear, it summons worshippers to enter the gurdwara. It slows and softens at other times, pulling the gathered into deeper contemplation.

The rhythm accompanies the lush, exotic sound of a harmonium, and a singer chants verses in Punjabi from the Holy Granth, the revered book of Sikhism.

Sikhs filter, heads wrapped, shoes off, into the service, stopping initially at the altar to prostrate before the Granth and deliver a weekly offering.