The Bhai Sahiba Bibiji accompanied by Kamaljit Kaur with the Sangat at Dr Marwaha’s memorial.

Sangat members, The Bhai Sahiba Bibiji and Sikh Dharma International bid attended the funeral on January 16th, 2025, of longtime friend and collaborator of the community Dr Amarjit Singh Marwha.

Dr Marwah has been a dedicated pioneer in the Sikh American community for many decades. He emigrated to America in 1953 at the age of 27 years old and studied to validate his degree in dentistry. He started assisting other Sikhs from the very beginning of his life in the US. He moved to Los Angeles with his wife in the 60’s.  During this time, he would open up his Baldwin Hills home to hundreds of people to host Sunday Diwans in his home.   In 1969 Dr Marwah donated the first Sikh Gurdwara in Los Angeles, after the partition of India. In 1969 Siri Singh Sahib arrived in Los Angeles and the first family he stayed with was Dr Marwah’s. Siri Singh Sahib would in those days attend, what was known as the Sikh Study Center, on Vermont Avenue. It would later be known as the Hollywood Sikh Temple. Siri Singh Sahib would often bring his early students to this Gurdwara, where they had their first exposure to Kirtan and the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. This continued until Guru Ram Das Ashram was opened in 1972.

Congressman Brad Sherman attended the memorial and can be seen here with MSS Kirtan Singh, COO of SDI.

In 1984 after the attack on the Golden Temple Dr Marwha called a meeting of all Sikh Gurdwaras, Sikh Dharma was represented at the meeting by SS Sat Peter Singh and MSS Kirtan Singh. As a result, a joint Gurdwara program was held for Guru Nanak Devji’s birthday, where several sangats participated. This program was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center and became a yearly event. Sikh Dharma and 3HO community started hosting the joint Gurdwara program during Baisakhi at the convention center. This set the stage for three big yearly multi Gurdwara programs celebrating: Baisakhi and the birthdays of Guru Nanak Devji and Guru Gobind Singhji, which united the Sikh Community, further and helped make the religion better known.

Dr Marwha was politically active, fought against the Chinese Exclusion Act and worked on the campaign staff of the first American Sikh to run for office, Dulip Singh.

Doctor Marwah was known as a man of seva who was invaluable in establishing the Sikh presence and wellbeing in Southern California, through his many charitable efforts, his political activism and the establishing of the Vermont Gurdwara.

Dr Marwah was active last month at the age of 98 years old during the Gurdwara Darbar for Guru Nanak Dev’s Birthday celebration. Pictured here with Kirtan Singh, Nirinjan Singh and Harikirn Kaur.