Chapter Four

chapter four
THE SIKHS IN ITALY:

A GROWING HETEROGENEOUS AND PLURAL PRESENCE
Barbara Bertolani
The Sikh community in Italy is a consolidated and rapidly expanding reality.

It is a shared opinion among the scholars studying this topic that Italian
Sikhs are becoming the second largest Sikh community in Europe after those
in Great Britain; hence it is the most numerous community in continental
Europe.1 This reality contradicts official data about the Sikh presence in
Italy, however, due to the fact that the official data treat all persons from
a particular country as being affiliated with the largest body in their home
country.2 Despite the size of the actual Sikh presence, research on this
1The numerical estimate of religious minorities, as a consequence of migratory pro-

cesses, is always problematic. According to the ISTAT (the Italian institute for statistics),
the Indians present in Italy by 31 December 2010 were 121,036 (http://www.demo.istat.it/).
Unofficial estimates, however, mention as many 220,000, considering also the irregular ones.
Of these presences, the majority are of Sikh religion, although there are differing opinions
concerning the percentage. Consequently, the evaluations of the number of Sikhs are very
different. Thandi (2012) speaks of very numerous communities in Germany (30,000) and Italy
(25,000) and claims that the Italian one has grown more in the last period, hence today might
amount to 40,000. According to Gallo (2013), by contrast, the Sikhs would number at least
100,000. My own data gathered within the Sikh community in Italy show Sikh people consti-
tuting about 70 % of all the Indians present, i.e., at least 84,000 residents, to which only thirty
converted Italians should be added. Beyond numbers, it seems clear that Italy has become a
country in which the Sikh presence is by now quite substantial and consolidated.
Copyright © 2013. BRILL. All rights reserved.
2 In the Caritas Migrantes report of 2010, Sikhs are not even mentioned among the
religions present in Italy, while the estimated presence of Hindu people is reported. This gap
derives from the fact that the estimates about migrants’ religious belonging are calculated
on the basis of the number of the migrants of a given nationality (in our case the Indians)
and on the percentage of official religious affiliation of those citizens in their countries of
origin. According to the official data of the latest Indian census, the percentage of the Sikhs
at national level is equivalent to less than 2 %, while that of the Hindus is around 80% of the
population. However, in the case of Indian migrants in Italy and also in the other countries
of the diaspora, the vast majority of them come from the Indian region of Punjab, where
the rates of religious affiliation are upside down, being 63.6% for the Sikhs and 34% for the
Hindus. The reasons for the massive presence of Sikhs in Italy and elsewhere are historical,
economic and political, hence we speak of a Sikh diaspora (Barrier and Dusenbery 1989, Van
Der Veer 1995, Denti, Ferrari and Perocco 2005).
Testing pluralism : Globalizing belief, localizing gods. (2013). Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Created from unibo on 2019-03-21 14:53:50.
76 barbara bertolani
religious minority remains scarce. The reasons for this fact are manifold:
apart from the traditional difficulty of Italy to consider itself as a multi-
religious country, as well as the difficulty to grasp the inherent pluralism
of religious minorities settled in its territory, there are also unique features
that Sikhs’ migration and their presence in Italy have taken over time.
First, the estimates of the Sikhs in Italy, however discordant, are still
relatively limited as compared to those of other religious minorities. This
is due to the fact that the Indian migration is a recent phenomenon. The
first arrivals date from the late 1970s, but their presence has grown especially
from the mid-1980s, in conjunction with a number of factors: for example,
the gradual closure of the borders of the English speaking countries, a
traditional destination of Indian migration to the West, the civil war that has
devastated the Punjab for many years since 1984, the absence of adequate
legislation in Italy, and the consolidation of a regular specific migratory
channel, i.e. work in circuses (Bertolani 2013b).
Second, their presence does not seem to arouse any alarm for the eco-
nomic and social integration of the Indians, and this fact may have diverted
the attention of both scholars and public opinion: generally a widespread
attitude of relative benevolence prevails toward the Indians in general and
the Sikhs in particular, since they are perceived as a silent and harmless pres-
ence, often identified as the “good” and the “hard-working” migrants, in con-
trast to the “dangerous” ones belonging to other religious groups (Bertolani,
Ferraris and Perocco 2011).
Third, only in recent years have the Sikhs begun to manifest their own
religious identity openly in Italian public spaces, as a distinctive defining
feature with respect to both the other Punjabis and the rest of the popu-
lation. It is a very differentiated process in relation to the characteristics
of the local settlements that is assuming special importance in the north-
ern regions of the peninsula where the Sikh community is well integrated
at the socioeconomic level (Gallo and Sai 2013). We can therefore speak of
a process of a gradual institutionalization of the Sikh religious community

that has become manifest starting from the beginning of the 1990s, through
the opening of various gurdwaras, the birth of two national associations,3
3 In 2001 the Associazione Sikhismo Religione Italia was established and located in
Castelgomberto. In 2007 also the “Italy Sikh Council” was founded, based in Cortenuova. Both
are trying to play a role in representing Sikhs’ interests with regard to the Italian authorities
(notably the interests of those who wear the external signs of their religion, such as the
traditional dagger or the turban).
the sikhs in italy 77
and the application for recognition of Sikhism—so far unsuccessful—by

the Italian State.
The primary intention of this chapter is to focus on some elements of
heterogeneity and pluralism within the Italian Sikh community. The issue
of pluralism among the Sikhs has been investigated by various authors, and
the religious and social divisions within Sikh communities are frequently
emphasized in scholarly literature (Ballard 1989, Restelli, 2005). For exam-
ple, with reference to non-Punjabi American and European converted Sikhs,
Verne Dusenbery has called into question the idea of a common Sikh iden-
tity, recalling the dilemma of recognition of Sikhism as a political or as a
religious entity. He speaks about two different and powerful master nar-
ratives, “entailing different inclusions and exclusions and invoking quite
different poetics and politics of recognition.” The first one insists on the
idea of the “Sikhs being a nation.” This narrative asserts the correspon-
dence of one people, one specific culture, one blood, one history and one
place, emphasizing Sikh internal homogeneity. The other master narrative,
instead, presents Sikhism as a world religion and focuses on the “tran-
scendent appeal and relevance of Guru’s teachings” (Dusenbery 1999: 128,
134).
Dusenbery’s analysis is significant because it emphasizes a constant ten-
sion between the dimensions of the ethos and of the etnos (Bertolani 2010),
that is to say between different and often intertwined ways of understand-
ing one’s religious identity and to live, even collectively, one’s belonging to
one’s faith, emphasizing the universalistic tension of the religious message
rather than some aspects of the cultural tradition. However it has the main
handicap of featuring two groups that tend to be homogeneous, to which
precisely two different master narratives would correspond, thus running
the risk of underestimating the differences and the pluralism within them.
In our case, the Italians who have converted to Sikhism are an extreme
minority, and even from the political point of view, they seem to have rel-
atively little importance, being linked only to a few local contexts (Bertolani
and Singh 2012). Almost all the Sikhs in Italy are of Punjabi origin, and
this group appears to be rather differentiated with respect to the way of
conceiving Sikh identity and religion. Some issues in relation to which the
internal pluralism is manifest concern the identity of caste and the fact of
being/not being initiated and practising Sikhs (i.e. amritdhari). These issues
intersect with the dynamics of intergenerational confrontation between the
first who came to Italy and the second generation of Punjabi Sikhs born
or grown up in Italy, who cannot disregard a relationship with Italian soci-
ety.
This analysis is based on the outcomes of an on-going research project

concerning Sikh places of worship (gurdwaras) in Italy4 and the religious
identity of the second generation Sikhs (Bertolani 2010).5 The analysis of the
settlements and the characteristics of the gurdwaras permits a discussion
of the controversial question of caste and diversity of the Sikh presences in
Italy in relation to the migration dynamics and the processes of economic
integration in the different Italian regions. The first findings coming out of
our encounters with young Sikhs will enable us to highlight the dialectic
within the community with regard to the issue of caste as well as that of
Sikh identity.
The Presence of the Gurdwaras in Italy:

Some Methodological Reflections
According to McLeod (1997), technically a gurdwara is any place housing

Guru Granth Sahib, i.e., the holy book of the Sikhs. Gurdwara literally means
“by grace of the guru” or “the door of the guru.” Gurdwaras then may be very
different places: from a room assigned to prayer in a private home to a large
building specially designed to host thousands of devotees during the Sun-
day worship, complemented with the rooms needed for the community’s
fulfilment of the liturgy.
The analysis carried out on the gurdwaras in Italy has adopted a more
restrictive identification policy, counting only those places of worship that
had certain structural features, i.e. consisting of a building that could be
divided into some main parts: the prayer room (prakash) which brings
together the community of believers (sangat), the dining hall (langar),
usually adjacent to a kitchen, where ritual meals are served on the occasion
of religious functions, and the room in which Guru Granth Sahib is placed
for the night’s rest (sukh asan). We have not considered the private homes of
devout Sikhs possessing a copy of Guru Granth Sahib, where prayer usually
involves exclusively the family members, since our main purpose is to give
an account of the public gathering places of the Sikhs in Italy. In fact,
4 In a national research project “Religious Pluralism in Italy,” funded by the Italian
Ministry of Education, University and Research in 1998, a mapping of Sikh places of worship
in Italy was produced (Bertolani 2013a).
5 This material is drawn from ethnographic research in collaboration with with Annalisa
Frisina and Stefano Collizzolli. The methodology used was that of the collaborative video,
conceived as a “study” rather than as “project,” (Chalfen 2011) that involved a group of young
Punjabi Sikhs in the province of Reggio Emilia (April 2011—November 2012).
however, the private homes keeping a copy of the holy text are very few,
because the presence of the holy text imposes a series of well defined
procedures that are part of the rituality of the Sikh cult. As a result, even
the most devout Sikh families prefer to keep a Pothi Saroop at home, that is
to say the Guru Granth Sahib printed in two separate volumes, rather than
the holy book in its entirety, just for the fear of not being able to grant all the
respect due to their living master.
As a matter of fact, the Guru Granth Sahib is considered by the Sikhs like a
master (guru) who, however, compared to the previous ones, is no longer a
human being of flesh and blood (Pace 2005, Bertolani and Singh 2012). It
follows that the Guru Granth Sahib is not seen just as a book containing
God’s word, but more appropriately as something alive, to whom the greatest
respect is granted. Such devotion is evident in all the gurdwaras through
precise rituals, which are an integrating fundamental part of the religious
liturgy. For example, every day at sunset the book is closed during a special
ceremony and carried by devout Sikhs on their heads (in a raised position
compared to the assembly), it is laid to rest in a room dedicated to it (sukh
asan), possibly cooled by air conditioning in Summer or heated in Winter,
and then it is covered with decorated drapes, more or less warm according to
the season. Every morning at dawn, Guru Granth Sahib is again carried on
the devout Sikhs’ heads from its night room to the prayer room (prakash)
in which it is opened and placed on a special canopy. When its drapes are
taken off to read it, the book is never left alone, but rather it is constantly
assisted by one or more believers waving a flyswatter. Some food is placed
before it to obtain a blessing, while the devotees are expected to bow down
in front of it, barefoot and with their heads covered. The respect due to the
Guru Granth Sahib, then, is manifest through precise rituals consolidated
over time (Myrvold 2010), which affect even the structural characteristics of
the public places of worship, defining their relative spaces.
Our analysis of the gurdwaras in Italy, then, excluded the cultural and
sport centers—often attended by Italians converted to Sikhism—where

yoga and meditation are practiced but no proper religious practices take
place, but we did include places of worship attended by the Ravidasias, quite
similar to the gurdwaras under many aspects.6 In our definition a gurdwara
6 A debate is going on within the Sikh community concerning the Ravidasias, who might
be defined as a sect of Sikhism, although there are discordant opinions on this point. The
Ravidasias, beside acknowledging the ten gurus of the Sikhs and making use of Guru Granth
Sahib, claim they have also another master, guru Ravidas, to whom they attribute the same
respect. The writings of Ravidas are actually present in the Guru Granth Sahib, together with
then presupposes the conjunction with some requisites connected to each

other: the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib,7 specific structural charac-
teristics of the buildings used as places of worship, and the celebration of
religious functions open to the community of believers (sangat) according
to a consolidated liturgy. This had as a consequence excluding ethnically
mixed places from our analysis.
The gurdwaras in Italy were identified starting from an official list pro-
vided by the members of one of the two Sikh national associations. This first
roll was subsequently updated and cross-checked. A map of devout or refer-
ence people of the various gurdwaras was assembled through web browsing,
reciprocal reports and informal communications in order to gather updated
information concerning the actual existence of the temples, their precise
location and characteristics.8 In five cases we visited the places of worship
directly.9
Characteristics of Local and Religious Rooting
The outcomes of our research show that there is a connection between the
characteristics of the local settlement and those of the religious rooting.
Such characteristics show a highly heterogeneous presence of the Sikhs in
the Italian territory. Table 1 reports the growth of the Indian citizens resid-
the gurus’ and other sages’ writings. The debate concerns the importance and the status
attributed to Ravidas who, according to the Sikhs, cannot be compared to their ten gurus.
The question is very delicate, since—as we will see later—it intersects with the question
of castes in Sikhism: Ravidas actually belonged to a low caste and, even today, the origin of
caste of the Ravidasias is traditionally similar. Sikhism officially abolishes castes and asserts
the equality of men in front of God. However, these persisting differences might demonstrate
that from a social as well as religious point of view, the importance of castes is anything but
diminished.
7 The gurdwara attended by the Ravidasias traditionally guard the Guru Granth Sahib
as the other Sikh gurdwaras, together with such other texts as the Amrit Bani, attributed to
Ravidas.
8 Four semistructured interviews have been carried out with gurdwara leaders in north-
ern Italy (Castelgomberto, Cortenuova, Novellara), as well as about twenty telephone inter-
views and ten informal in-depth conversations, with devout Sikhs attending these gurdwaras.
Such information has been accompanied by repeated participant observations in various
gurdwaras, with a knowledge of the Sikh community gained across many years, along with
additional research developed for various reasons, both for the Ph.D. thesis (1999–2003) as
well as three research grants and a scholarship (2004–2011).
9 We have visited the gurdwaras of Novellara (RE), Castelgomberto (VI), Cortenuova
(BG), Lavinio (RM) and Pessina Cremonese (CR).
ing in Italy. Table 2, instead, shows the percentage distribution of the Indians
residing in the various Italian regions by December 31, 2010 and the numer-
ical presence of gurdwaras in each region, according to the outcomes of the
mapping carried out on December 31, 2011.10 The tables prove that the pres-
ence of Indian people in Italy has more than tripled in the last eight years. It
is, however, far from uniform throughout the country, being mainly concen-
trated in four regions of the Center-North (Lombardy, which alone is home
to almost 40% of the Indian residents, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, and Lazio).
This is due to the combined effect of ethnic and kin networks and of the ten-
dency in the Italian labor market, to attribute occupational predispositions
according to the different ethnic origins of immigrant workers (Denti, Fer-
rari and Perocco 2005, Bertolani, Ferraris and Perocco 2011).11 The religious
rooting has followed a similar accelerated impulse, since the first gurdwara
that we know of opened by Indians dates back only to the early 1990s in a
town in the province of Reggio Emilia (Rio Saliceto).12
Table 4.1: Indian residents in Italy from 2002 to 2010
Years Indian residents

2002 35.518
2003 44.791
2004 54.288
2005 61.847
2006 69.504
2007 77.432
2008 91.855
2009 105.863
2010 121.036
10 The data concerning residents were taken from the site of the ISTAT: www.demo.istat
.it.
11 As we will say below, this tendency fosters the growth of “ethnic niches” in some
occupational sectors and thereby causes the residential concentration of specific immigrant
groups on some territories.
12 The Rio Saliceto gurdwara was founded in 1991 by a group of local promoters who
afterward fostered the purchase of land, the construction of a building and the opening of the
gurdwara of Novellara in 2000. This temple was and still is a very important reference point
for the Italian Sikh community. Over the years its activity has favored the institutionalization
of various local communities, leading to inaugurating some forty more temples all over Italy,
with a more than proportional growth in recent years.
Table 4.2. Regional distribution of Indian residents in Italy (31/12/2010) and

regional distribution of Gurdwaras (31/12/2011)13
% distribution of Number of
Region Indian residents gurdwaras
Trentino Alto Adige 1.2 0
Valle d’Aosta 0.1 0
Friuli Venezia Giulia 1.9 2
Lombardy 38.3 7
Veneto 12.2 7
Piedmont 2.8 2
Liguria 1.1 0
Emilia-Romagna 13.3 3
Tuscany 4.3 1
Marche 3.1 2
Umbria 1.3 2
Lazio 12.1 8
Abruzzi 0.5 0
Molise 0.3 0
Campania 2.3 0
Puglia 1.6 2
Basilicata 0.5 0
Calabria 2.2 2
Sicily 1.0 0
Sardinia 0.3 0
The geographic distribution of the gurdwaras clearly reflects the areas of

greater residential concentration in Italy, however in a non-proportional
mode. For example in Lombardy—a region that is home to 38 % of the
Indians residing in Italy—there are only seven gurdwaras (of which two
are Ravidasia), whereas in Lazio and in Veneto—regions hosting about 12 %
of the residents—we find eight and seven temples respectively.14 Emilia-
Romagna, which has a slightly higher number of residents, equal to 13.3 %,
has only three gurdwaras. The reasons for this distribution reflect the char-
13 At the time of writing this chapter, the data on Indian residents in Italy as of Decem-
ber 31, 2011 are not yet available. However we have decided to compare the data in our pos-
session in the same Table, although referring to different timelines, since the analysis of the
percentage distribution of the Indian residents in the Italian regions over the past few years
has maintained its characteristics intact, increasing proportionally in the different territo-
ries. It is therefore very likely that the data about residents in 2011 will confirm the current
geographical distribution.
14 In Lazio, two of the eight gurdwara are Ravidasia, while in Veneto three are.
acteristics of the local settlements, as well as the specificity of the different

territories in terms of available resources.
Indian migration in Lazio, for example, presents characteristics of greater
precariousness, both as to residence and employment. The provinces of
Latina and Rome are transit territories, where Indians stop in the first phase
of their migration, often even before having settled their documents or
reunited with their families. The economic inclusion of the Indian migrants
is massive in agriculture (cultivation of vegetables and breeding of live-
stock), where cases of exploitation and illegal work are widespread. Most
of the Sikhs living in these territories are still unmarried and have no pri-
vate means of transport to move around, apart from bicycles or scooters.
The proliferation and fragmentation of the places of worship in the territory
responds to the needs of the faithful, including the logistic ones, because
in the absence of efficient systems of public transport at the local level
and lacking private means of transport, they can cover only short distances
to get to the gurdwara. Actually a good share of the temples in Lazio are
small, especially those scattered in the provinces of Latina and Rome. Often
they are located in rented warehouses, and are characterized by high mobil-
ity (which is to say that they are subject to frequent displacements). For
example, the current gurdwara of Fiumicino was first in Ladispoli and even
before in Maccarese. The same assembly of believers moved its own place of
worship several times in a few years, among three different municipalities
within a few kilometres of each other. There are cases of progressive root-
ing and stabilization, however, such as when a religious community itself
decides to transfer its own gurdwara from one place to another property,
after purchasing it and obtaining the change of intended use: this is the case
of the community of Aprilia that recently moved to Lavinio, where a prop-
erty was purchased for the construction of a new building.15
The correspondence between the characteristics of the local and the
religious settlement is also to be found in the case of Emilia-Romagna, where
the Indian residents are more numerous than in Lazio, but there are only
three gurdwaras. Indian migration in this region is much more stable than
in the Lazio region, both from the social point of view (reunited families)
and the economic point of view (integration in the service sector, in the
metal working industry and especially in agriculture, in stable positions and
15 For many years in Lavinio a gurdwara had already existed in a rented space, serving the
local community. In the summer of 2012 the two gurdwaras of Lavinio joined, carrying on
together the project of building a single place of worship. In our mapping we counted only
the current new gurdwara of Lavinio.
usually well paid). In this case, the gurdwara of Novellara, inaugurated in

2000, is the first in Italy owned by an association of Sikh Indians, and has
had a crucial importance in catalyzing the Indian migration from the South
to the North of the country, even toward Lombardy. This gurdwara contin-
ues even today to cover a very wide user base, mainly consisting in reunited
family units moving into the territory by private means of transport. There-
fore a process of centralization of the religious community is taking place:
the two gurdwaras of Castelfranco Emilia and Fiorenzuola, in the nearby
provinces of Modena and Piacenza, actually assume less importance being
smaller, much more recent, and located in rented premises.
Lombardy has a much greater number of gurdwaras (seven), but propor-
tionate to the presences on its territory. Also in this region Indian migrants
are well established, inserted in a stable way in industry and especially in the
local agriculture, so that we can speak, as for the Emilia-Romagna region,
of an example of an “ethnic niche” (Bertolani 2003). Frequently these gurd-
waras are fully owned by their congregations, and some play important roles
in the process of emplacement at local and national level of the Sikhs, serv-
ing as reference points for the local communities of believers.
In Veneto the Indian presence has similar features to those in Emilia
and Lombardy, however the seven gurdwaras are more than proportional
to the numbers of the adjacent regions. Moreover, many of these temples
are located in close quarters, in neighboring municipalities (for example
the gurdwaras of Arzignano, Castelgomberto and San Bonifacio, are only a
few tens of kilometres apart). We can assume that this is the result of pos-
sible divisions of the Sikh community, initially united, but this hypothesis
needs further confirmation. A more conspicuous presence of the Ravida-
sia gurdwaras is to be noted (three, actually, two of which are very close).
This datum seems to confirm the existence of a correlation between the
characteristics of the local, economic and religious settlements. As a mat-
ter of fact, in the Veneto region, Indians are included in good numbers
in the manufacture of leather, in an industrial district that includes the

neighboring municipalities of Arzignano (where there is a Ravidasia gur-
dwara), Chiampo, Valdagno, Lonigo and Sarego. In the Indian culture, this
activity is traditionally reserved to low extraction castes. Therefore in this
case we should see a revival in the migration context of a cultural practice
that correlates caste identity with economic activity and religious affilia-
tion.
From these data we can draw some general considerations concerning
the characteristics of the Sikh communities in the various Italian territories.
The religious communities residing in the northern regions have a lower
territorial decentralization if compared to the Center/South ones. In other

words they are organized around a smaller number of places of worship.
Consequently, the gurdwaras there tend to allow for a higher number of
believers and have a higher territorial stability, being often located in owned
premises. This requires the ability of the faithful to go to the temple either on
their own resources or relying on an efficient network of local public trans-
port. Owning a car is, in turn, an indicator of the degree of stabilization and
economic success that often accompanies the presence of reunited family
units, hence the presence of women and children. On the other hand, the
fact that in the North there is a higher number of owned temples witnesses
to improved economic well-being widespread among the Sikhs, which com-
bines with greater capacity to contribute to financing the places of worship
through donations. It is in fact to be recalled that all the gurdwaras are
funded by the local communities, sometimes even with the help of dona-
tions from other temples in the countries of the Sikh diaspora.
Elements of Heterogeneity and

Common Aspects among the Italian Gurdwaras
Using the data collected during the research, we may speak of a certain
degree of internal heterogeneity concerning the structural and organiza-
tional characteristics of the gurdwaras, to which, however, some recurring
elements correspond. A common feature of all the temples concerns the
management that is always based on the existence of a recorded associa-
tion, with its formal bodies of operation. That is to say, all the gurdwaras are
managed at their organizational and administrative levels by a committee
that includes a series of management positions (president, vice president,
secretary, etc.) periodically subject to regular checks and to possible replace-
ments on the basis of elections. This committee deals with the organization
of the place of worship and is accompanied by a group of believers who are

directly involved in the choices of a religious nature (for example, which
preachers to invite, issues relating to the care and the respect toward the
Guru Granth Sahib, etc.). In some gurdwaras these functions are performed
by the same people, while in others the separation is more marked, and
the president of the association performs purely organizational and polit-
ical functions (relations with the institutions and with the local and the
transnational Sikh communities). Many of these associations are allowed to
practice cultural activities, while only a few are truly “religious associations”
entitled to manage the true places of worship. The issue is rather thorny,
since it lends itself to possible local political exploitation (for example, in

the case of changes of majority after administrative elections) and is one of
the many reasons for the geographic mobility of the gurdwaras in certain
areas of Italy.
This organizational structure of the temples, partly imposed by Italian
law, leads to the centralization of the internal leadership and a certain con-
tinuity in the organization of the religious and cultural activities, even in
the face of the fact that the preachers and the “guardians” of the gurdwaras
are sometimes temporary and itinerant. There are no clergy in Sikhism:
each gurdwara requires the presence of a granthi who acts as a guardian
responsible for the place of worship and who can perform the Sunday func-
tions; however this figure cannot be compared to that of a minister of the
church. He is rather an amritdhari devotee, i.e., a practising Sikh initiated
to the Khalsa (the Brotherhood of the Pure, a group of warrior-saints estab-
lished by the tenth guru, Gobind Singh, in 1699),16 who is able to read the
Guru Granth Sahib, to take care of it and to perform the liturgies of the cult
appropriately, in exchange of receiving hospitality in the gurdwara, food and
sometimes monetary compensation (McLeod 1997). In the case of the gur-
dwaras of Italy, we have found a strong internal heterogeneity with respect
to this point: some associations have called a granthi from India, signing a
legal contract which involves certain tasks in exchange for a salary. Other
gurdwaras, on the other hand, have adopted more informal management,
preferring to engage granthis for shorter periods from India or from other
countries of the Sikh diaspora, usually thanks to a tourist visa for a few
months, offering them hospitality and informal compensation in exchange
for their work. In all cases, however, the granthis have recognized training,
having attended special schools in India or having already exercised their
role elsewhere. Their presence allows everyday opening to the faithful, espe-
cially for the largest temples.17
16 The main purpose of the Khalsa was to defend Sikhism, if necessary even through
the use of force. Its establishment has a theological justification after the martyrdom of the
fifth and the ninth gurus by the Mogul emperors and, more generally, after the continuous
persecutions and pressures to which the faithful were subject at that time (McLeod 1996, Pace
2005). The Sikh amritdharis are those who have joined this brotherhood through a special
initiation ceremony. They are obliged to respect a specific code of discipline (Sikh Rahit
Maryada) and to wear five religious symbols (the so called “5 K”: Kes—long hair and beard,
Kara—a metal bracelet, Kacheera—shorts with drawstrings instead of normal underwear,
Kanga—a wooden comb, and Kirpan—a curved dagger).
17 Apart from the Sunday worship, as we said before, every day the granthi performs a
series of public ceremonies manifesting respect toward the Guru Granth Sahib. Moreover, in
As to the structural and architectural aspects, nearly the majority of

the gurdwaras are adapted from industrial warehouses, even when they
are owned, either readapting pre-existing buildings or conforming to the
structural characteristics of the context.18 The presence of a gurdwara is
usually signalled by a rectangular flag attached to a very high pole in front
of the main entrance (nishan sahib). In the inner part usually gurdwaras
present similar organization of spaces: in the prayer room there is a canopy
under which there is a throne, and the Guru Granth Sahib is normally stored
on it; at the book’s feet there are a money-box for offerings, a long carpet
dividing the hall in two parts, (traditionally men sit on the right and women
on the left, but this rule is not strict), some ornaments, and on one side
there is a footboard on which the ragis sit—that is, those who sing parts
of the holy book (kirtan) during the religious ceremony. The room where
the Guru Granth Sahib is put to rest during the night is often next to the
prayer room. Besides these, the dining hall (langar) and the kitchens are in
adjacent rooms or below them.
The liturgy is entirely in Punjabi. Recently, in some gurdwaras screens
have been installed on which the texts of the Guru Granth Sahib that are
sung during the religious ceremonies are shown in Punjabi and in English.
This very innovative aspect allows for correct pronunciation and full under-
standing of the chants even by those who know little of their language of
origin. The number of participants in the liturgy is very variable, according
to the local contexts: from a few thousand each week in the larger temples,
to less than a hundred believers in the smaller ones. However this number
changes considerably during the religious festivals.19 In the more structured
the temples readings of the holy text often are organized upon request of the devotees.
These last three days and three nights uninterruptedly (Akand Path) to celebrate moments
of transition in the lives of the faithful (wedding, births, etc.). Such readings involve more
amritdharis alternating with the granthi.
18 Usually temples are located in industrial or handicraft areas. The temple of Pessina
Cremonese, inaugurated in 2011 in the province of Cremona, is an exception; it is in fact

located in a semi-rural area and has more specific and typical architectural characteristics:
external columns, a coating of white quartz recalling white marble, etc.
19 It is interesting to recall that on the occasion of the most important religious festivities,
as, for example, the Baisakhi and the procession of the Nagar Kirtan, the various gurdwaras
make agreements fixing locally the celebration of the same festivities on different days, in
order to favor the participation of the faithful in the celebrations organized in the different
temples. For this purpose also bus trips are organized each time from various places in Italy,
carrying the devotees to the different gurdwaras. This permits an optimization of resources
(the preparation of the langar, the ritual meal) and the collection of offerings in the various
places of worship. Moreover this activity witnesses to the existence of constant links among
the temples.
situations in the North, more reunited families and second generation peo-
ple are present. By contrast, in certain situations in the Center/South the
presence of unmarried men still prevails.
The gurdwaras may promote a series of philanthropic activities, though
even in this case they vary according to the degree of local stabilization. For
example, many temples are home to the devotees, to pilgrims or fellow coun-
trymen in temporary difficulty and collect funds for charity initiatives.20
Besides, almost all the temples provide teaching of Punjabi to children and
catechesis activity once a week. During the summer, the more structured
gurdwaras organize real Sikh camps, i.e., summer camps open to the chil-
dren, often run by missionaries and preachers coming from India or from
other countries of the Sikh diaspora. Besides teaching Punjabi, the life his-
tory and the preaching of the ten masters of Sikhism, the kids are taught the
everyday prayers and the regulations present in the code of behavior of the
amritdharis (Sikh Rahit Maryada). In the summer camps, children are also
taught the traditional martial arts (gatka) and, in a few cases, to play the
musical instruments used during the religious ceremonies (tabla and har-
monium).
Sikh Pluralism
This research has highlighted the organizational and structural “heterogene-

ity” of the Sikh places of worship. However, if we think of the different
denominations of the gurdwaras in Italy, we can make some other consid-
erations regarding the “pluralism” within the Italian Sikh community. Actu-
ally, most temples adopt the general and traditional name of “Singh Sabha”
(which could be translated as “gathering of the Sikhs”). Nevertheless, there
are also denominations referring to caste belonging, for example the “Sikh
Gurdwara Lubana Arzignano”21 and all the Ravidasia gurdwaras which are
titled to Ravidas.
20 They collect funds to support poor Sikh families in India and in Italy, either to pay for
the repatriation of corpses to India or to give donations after natural disasters. For example,
after the earthquake that destroyed the city of Aquila in 2009, €15,000 were collected and
donated to the Italian civil protection board. Many of the largest gurdwaras also take part in
activities concerning multicultural items organized by local administrations. As regards this
aspect, linked to the process of community institutionalization see Bertolani and Singh 2012
and Gallo and Sai 2013.
21 Lubana is a caste among the Punjabi population.
According to McLeod (1996: 88), the meaning that castes take in Sikhism
is very different from what they are in Hinduism. In fact the Sikh religion
affirms that salvation does not depend on caste. So, according to him, castes
are rather a “harmless social convention.”22 Our research, however, has high-
lighted that, for example, castes and lineages are important identification
criteria conditioning the relations and the social practices of the Sikhs. How-
ever officially rejected by doctrine, in the social and cultural habits they
continue to be defining elements of collective identity, in relation to which
social bonds and obligations are defined, networks of relationships are inter-
woven, exchanges and weddings are organized. The issue of castes might be
far from resolved in Sikhism and could be the reason for possible clashes
and divisions in the community, which could give rise to new gurdwaras.
An example, as mentioned above, concerns the issue of the relationship
between Sikh amritdharis and the Ravidasias. Some of the reasons for dis-
cord concern the status of Ravidas and the respect that must be shown
to the Guru Granth Sahib. These are not debates between theologians: in
May 2009, six Sikhs armed with guns and daggers committed a massacre in
the Shri Guru Ravidas gurdwara in Vienna, hitting the two religious lead-
ers of the Ravidasia movement in Punjab, present in Vienna at that time.
The result was one dead and 30 wounded (Lum 2011). Even in Italy this fact
had a number of serious consequences as to the relationship between Sikhs
and Ravidasias, which led some local communities of believers to decide
to remove the Guru Granth Sahib from their Ravidasia gurdwaras. There-
fore, as we may agree on the fact that castes have a very different meaning
among the Sikhs rather than among the Hindus, it is a controversial topic
that deserves to be investigated further.
The young Sikhs born and grown up in Italy that we have interviewed are
critical toward their parents for what concerns the issue of castes, although
in some cases they express ambiguous positions, which show the belief that
belonging to a caste may correspond to a greater or lesser dedication to
religious life.
There are … the castes. [When you arrange a marriage according to tradition],
caste must be equal, religion [must be the same one] … and he must [be
amritdhari] since many years. I am amritdhari. (…) Got [the lineage] must be
different from mine, that’s it … In theory [we should not consider the caste],
but … Because there are castes like Jat and Saini and Lubana: they devote more
22 According to McLeod (1996: 88), while the Sikh gurus “were vigorously opposed to the
vertical distinctions of caste, they were content to accept it in terms of its horizontal linkages.”
their life to religion, and then there are castes like Chomar … and those are
very low … [Religion] doesn’t interest them. If they are amritdharis, [there are
some differences in the way of conceiving Sikhism] … I don’t believe in castes
in theory, but my parents do. I must respect what [my] parents say (…).
(P.K., 24 years old girl, amritdhari, born in
India, in Italy since she was 10 years old)
In most cases, however, the young affirm the need to recover the original reli-
gious message contained in Sikhism—that all men are equal in front of God
and have the same chances of salvation regardless of their social origins—
distinguishing religion from traditional beliefs and cultural practices. The
question of caste is indeed crucial, not only in itself, but also for the fact
that it is connected with the traditional practice of arranging marriages.23
Our parents tell us that they are not interested in castes in the least, however,
actually, when it is time to put into practice …. Then it turns out that 70% still
have this thing (…). [They will say:] “No, that guy belongs to a caste inferior
to ours, no marriage, we don’t want to have anything to do with them” … But
it is difficult to make them understand that caste does not change the person
… It turns out that, when you are in need, one of your caste does not help
you while, on the contrary, you may be helped by one who belongs to a lower
caste. To them it is difficult to understand … (…). Between us guys, we have
friends of all castes, we have never cared about that, what matters the most
are the friendly relations you have, whether they can help you.
(B.S., 22 year old boy, amritdhari, born in
India, in Italy since he was 9)
For example, there is a girl of a caste different from that of a boy, the parents
put it down saying that it is not possible because the caste is different, “What
will people say if I marry my daughter or my son to one of different caste …”
But in our religion they say that castes do not exist, that we are all equal.
(S.K., 17 years old boy, born in Italy)
So Sikhism, emphasized in its universal message, can become an instrument
thanks to which the young try to negotiate some degree of autonomy, par-
ticularly as regards the choice of their partners.

If the issue of caste is featured as an element of possible pluralism that
has definite consequences at both the social and religious level, even the
establishment of the Khalsa at the time of guru Gobind Singh introduced
a further element of differentiation within the religious community (Pace
23 Among Sikhs in Italy, marriages are generally arranged according to Punjabi social
customs of caste endogamy and lineage exogamy. The endogamy of caste means that spouses
belong to the same caste whereas the exogamy of lineage means that their families of origin
belong to different lineages.
2005). This is an important issue, since it is related to the definition of

Sikh identity, both within the community and in respect of Italian society.
Many among our respondents have agreed on the fact that even those who
are not part of the Khalsa, and who then do not wear the five religious
symbols of Sikhism, can identify themselves as Sikhs in every respect. The
“true” Sikh is he or she who humbly implements the teachings of the gurus,
and the external appearance does not always correspond to a guarantee of
greater or lesser honesty and commitment to religion. However, even on
this point there is some internal debate. Beyond the ways in which each
one reinterprets the choice to join or not to join the Khalsa, the initiation
has well defined social consequences, because it seems to cause a division
in the Sikh community between those who mean to put God’s words in
practice thoroughly (the amritdharis) and all the others, setting the base for
a possible internal hierarchy (Bertolani 2010).
[Even those who are not initiated to Khalsa] believe in the Guru Granth Sahib,
it isn’t that they don’t believe … But they do not do what God said … Our Guru
Gobind Singh asks to cut neither beard nor hair, doesn’t he? … If one believes
in God but doesn’t listen to his words … [They] believe, however … it isn’t that
they believe everything … If you ask somebody he will say “[we are] Sikhs, we
too …” however [they] do not listen to what God tells them [to do].
(H.S., 22 years old boy, amritdhari, born in India, in Italy for 10 years)
The question of identity is shown in its ambiguity even in comparison
with Italian society: although the majority of Sikhs in Italy are not initiated
and do not wear the five religious symbols of Sikhism, it is true that the
requests made in public discourse and in political debate with the Italian
institutions usually deal with the legitimacy of their religious symbols and
the acknowledgment of the identity of practising Sikhs. In other words,
the requests of those who are part of the Khalsa (such as the possibility
of wearing the kirpan in public places, or permission not to wear a helmet
while driving their motorcycles, since they already wear turbans, etc.) are
often intended to corroborate the constitutive identity of the Sikhs, as needs

shared by the whole community of believers (Bertolani and Singh 2012).
What has been discussed here certainly needs further investigation in
depth. However, our research has shown the existence of a high level of plu-
ralism and heterogeneity within the Italian Sikh community. This general
datum seems to be a characteristic trait of the Sikhs, since it has been high-
lighted even in other research carried out in English-speaking countries, the
traditional destination of Sikh migration (Ballard 1989, Dusenbery 1999).
For what concerns the Sikhs in Italy, however, in public opinion a unitary
image prevails, homogeneous and tendentiously static, according to which
the Sikhs would be a closely united, cohesive and solid community. This
leads us to underestimate possible conflicts and internal changes that may
derive also from intergenerational confrontation.
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chapter four

THE SIKHS IN ITALY:

The Sikh community in Italy is a consolidated and rapidly expanding reality.

1The numerical estimate of religious minorities, as a consequence of migratory pro-

a process of a gradual institutionalization of the Sikh religious community

and the application for recognition of Sikhism—so far unsuccessful—by

This analysis is based on the outcomes of an on-going research project

The Presence of the Gurdwaras in Italy:

According to McLeod (1997), technically a gurdwara is any place housing

4 In a national research project “Religious Pluralism in Italy,” funded by the Italian

sport centers—often attended by Italians converted to Sikhism—where

then presupposes the conjunction with some requisites connected to each

Characteristics of Local and Religious Rooting

(BG), Lavinio (RM) and Pessina Cremonese (CR).

Table 4.1: Indian residents in Italy from 2002 to 2010

Years Indian residents

Table 4.2. Regional distribution of Indian residents in Italy (31/12/2010) and

The geographic distribution of the gurdwaras clearly reflects the areas of

acteristics of the local settlements, as well as the specificity of the different

usually well paid). In this case, the gurdwara of Novellara, inaugurated in

in the manufacture of leather, in an industrial district that includes the

territorial decentralization if compared to the Center/South ones. In other

Elements of Heterogeneity and

of the place of worship and is accompanied by a group of believers who are

since it lends itself to possible local political exploitation (for example, in

As to the structural and architectural aspects, nearly the majority of

Cremonese, inaugurated in 2011 in the province of Cremona, is an exception; it is in fact

This research has highlighted the organizational and structural “heterogene-

ticularly as regards the choice of their partners.

2005). This is an important issue, since it is related to the definition of

often intended to corroborate the constitutive identity of the Sikhs, as needs

by E. Margolis and L. Pauwels. London: Sage.

Istituto nazionale di statistica. “Cittadini stranieri: Bilancio demografico e popo-

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