The Australian Sikh Heritage TrailPrint Page

The Australian Sikh Heritage Trail is a network of winding pathways and storyboards by Perth's Canning River which commemorate the Sikhs, originally from the Punjab in northern India, that have settled in Australia since the 1800`s.

The trail describes their work as cameleers, hawkers, shopkeepers and professional wrestlers in the early days of colonial Australia.  Later, Sikhs served in Australia's armed forces in both world wars; and a number of soldiers of Sikh descent were at Gallipoli in World War One.

The location of the trail is of special significance as it was an early, unofficial cremation site for Sikhs in Perth.  Their faith dictates that when adherents die they should be cremated and their ashes put into flowing water, but when Sikhs began arriving in Australia the 1800s, burial was the norm and cremation was even unlawful in some parts of the country.

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