Local Sikhs planning temple in Berlin, MA

The New England Sikh Study Circle has purchased 16 acres of farmland in Berlin, a small town about 30 miles west of Boston, and is planning to build a temple there. In Globe West, Julia Rappaport reports:

"The needs of the study circle are simple - their expanding congregation has outgrown the Milford gurdwara. Two to three times each year, the gurdwara hosts large celebrations, and its 70-car parking lot cannot accommodate the turnout from across the region. Nearby businesses routinely open their parking lots to the congregation, but three months ago, it formed a building committee that began exploring the possibility of expansion. 'The Milford property has served us very well and continues to, but we are looking to create headroom for the community's outgrowth in the future,' said (Sarbpreet) Singh (president of the study circle's executive committee). The Nye property met much of the criteria the group desired. It has convenient access to I-495, is private, and has ample room for parking, with space for a lot able to accommodate at least 125 cars, Singh said. And, he said, the natural setting is ideal: 'There is a little more green, so the kids will have room to run around and play on weekends.'"

(Photo, by Jodi Hilton for the Boston Globe, shows Jaswant Singh Chani, President of New England Sikh Study Circle, greeting a local Buddhist leader at an interfaith event in Cambridge last year.)