Qualla: Paldi, British Columbia https://qualla.com/paldi-british-columbia en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:12 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/c/0/x/v/paldi-british-columbia-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Paldi, British Columbia https://qualla.com/paldi-british-columbia Paldi, British Columbia: Introduction https://qualla.com/paldi-british-columbia/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. In November 1949, India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, traveled to a tiny lumber mill town on Vancouver Island. He brought his daughter, Indira Gandhi -- who would herself become prime minister decades later -- to visit a place called Paldi, population roughly 1,500. What drew a head of state to a logging settlement in the Cowichan Valley was the reputation of its founder, Mayo Singh Manhas, whose charitable donations to both Canadian and Indian organizations had made his name known on two continents. The visit was a recognition that something remarkable had happened in the woods near Duncan: three Sikh businessmen from Punjab had built not just a mill, but a community that became one of Canada's earliest experiments in multiculturalism.

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]]> Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/c/0/x/v/paldi-british-columbia-wp/c0xv-paldi-british-columbia-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Paldi, British Columbia: Three Cousins from Hoshiarpur https://qualla.com/paldi-british-columbia/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Mayo Singh Manhas, his brother Ganea Singh Manhas, and their cousin Doman Singh founded the town in 1916. All three were Sikh businessmen who had emigrated from Punjab, and they named their settlement Mayo after its primary investor. The name lasted two decades before bureaucrati...

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]]> Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/c/0/x/v/paldi-british-columbia-wp/c0xv-paldi-british-columbia-three-cousins-from-hoshiarpur.mp3 0:06 2 full Paldi, British Columbia: Gurdwara, Temple, and Schoolhouse https://qualla.com/paldi-british-columbia/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. By 1919, the community had established a Gurdwara -- a Sikh house of worship. A school followed shortly after. Then in 1923, the Japanese community of Paldi built a wooden hall next to the Gurdwara that served as both a Buddhist temple and a gathering place. Several forms of Budd...

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]]> Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/c/0/x/v/paldi-british-columbia-wp/c0xv-paldi-british-columbia-gurdwara-temple-and-schoolhouse.mp3 0:06 3 full Paldi, British Columbia: The Last Building Standing https://qualla.com/paldi-british-columbia/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. When developers moved to build over the former town site, the Paldi Gurdwara became the focus of a preservation fight that brought national attention in 2012. A court-ordered sale threatened to erase the last physical trace of the community, but the Sikh community advocated fierc...

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]]> Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/c/0/x/v/paldi-british-columbia-wp/c0xv-paldi-british-columbia-the-last-building-standing.mp3 0:06 4 full Paldi, British Columbia: What Paldi Remembers https://qualla.com/paldi-british-columbia/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Two books preserve the story of this vanished community. Joan Mayo, daughter-in-law of founder Mayo Singh, wrote Paldi Remembered in 1997, collecting photographs and oral histories from the town's five decades as a working mill settlement. In 2002, Archana B. Verma published The ...

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]]> Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/c/0/x/v/paldi-british-columbia-wp/c0xv-paldi-british-columbia-what-paldi-remembers.mp3 0:06 5 full