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Summary of Question:	Facelift In The Gurdwara
Category:	Gurdwara
Date Posted:	Tuesday, 3/21/2006 8:30 PM MDT

Hey there! Congratulations on doing such an awesome job on this forum. You have no idea what a great service you are providing the youth, its much needed.

I had a question about Seva, I visit a local Nanaksar Gurudwara near my house. The overall attendance in the gurudwara is fairly low, but there are seva dars who live there and take care of the place, and conduct daily routine of kirtan, seva and langar. For the last few weeks I have felt a need to do some seva for the gurudwara, i.e. I would really like to relift the entrance of the gurdwara it seems to have been neglected (not on purpose i am sure). I look at it and see that it even just a coat of paint and some new carpets would be wonderful for sangat when they visit the guru ghar. I have saved money so am willing to encur the cost of the painting etc on my own. I will proabably get some help from siblings on executing the tasks.

But my question to you was how should i approach the gurudwara that i would like to initaite this, i am afraid that they might be offended that i want to do this or inthe past some other gurudwara have been known to ask for the cash and say they will take care of it themself, (which seldom happens).

I am not sure who to talk to and what to say, and if normally gurudwara have contracts with places to do certain types of work or do they rely on sanghat to take the initative to help out the condition of the gurudwara.

Any ideas, if you can privately answer would be great, but if you feel there is add value for others please feel free to post it.

Hope to hear from you soon!

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Sat nam. I think you should quietly inquire with members of the sangat their opinion on going about this: how do people offer seva that is outside the usual seva things sangat do for a gurdwara community? Get a sense of it from others. Someone is bound to point you in the direction of a manager or they'll say just do it!
In the USA, some building renovations require permission and permits, but every location is different. So it IS a good idea to get some kind of permission so that your presence when you do the work is immediately understood. I do not think anyone will be offended at your concept or idea, especially if you promote it in terms of the positive (upgrade) rather than negative (it looks crappy now). Guru ang sang,
-DKK