Chandigarh, July 22 -- A gurdwara is not merely a place of worship, it is where history, faith, architecture and hospitality meet, veteran journalist and author Roopinder Singh said at the launch of his new book, 'Gurdwaras-Abodes of the Guru'.

The book traces gurdwaras across geographies - from Punjab to the migrant congregations in the United States, United Kingdom and Japan, reading them as spaces shaped as much by memory and community as by brick and stone.

In conversation with Padma Shri winning theatre director Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry, at Hyatt Regency, on Tuesday, Singh explained how gurdwaras evolve without losing their character - a contrast with European church patronage. Recalling his visit to a church in Valencia, Spain, bu...