Last year, UBC Library acquired a rare historic photograph of the Sikh Sangat in Macau, taken in 1927. The photo was donated to the Library by Barj Dhahan, co-founder of the Canadian Indian Education Society and is symbolic of the holy assembly (“sangat”) gathered to worship God on account of the belief that the Guru lived and moved among them, and would bestow happiness.
In addition to this donation, Dhahan also created the Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature to inspire and promote Punjabi literature on a global scale. The prize is awarded in partnership with UBC’s Department of Asian Studies. The first recipient of the $25,000 prize is California-based author Avtar Singh Billing for his novel, Khali Khoohan De Katha (The Story of Empty Wells).
This story appeared in the Friends 2014 Winter issue.