Official name: Jalan Gurdwara
English name: Brick Kiln Road
Traditional Malay name: Bakar Bata
Traditional Tamil name: செங்கல் சூளை சாலை Ceṅkal cūḷai Cālai
Hokkien name: 風車路 Hong-tshia-lōo
Story of the Street
Brick Kiln Road marks the inland side of the nine (initially seven) parallel roads that were aligned with the Prangin Canal. It was originally named after the brick kiln that used to be there.
The Sikh community established a settlement here in the 1880s. They were brought to Penang by Captain Speedy, who had hired them to police the volatile tin mining areas of Larut. There was a former police barracks for the Sikhs along Brick Kiln Road. The land was given to the Sikh community by the Resident Councillor of Penang in 1897 (probably Charles Walter Sneyd-Kynnersley) for them to build their temple. As it was the year of Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee, the temple became known as the Diamond Jubilee Sikh Gurdwara or Gurdwara Sahib Khalsa Dharmak Jatha. Today, the road takes its official name after the gurdwara.
The traditional Malay and Tamil name is also named in relation to the brick kiln while the Hokkien name is derived from the winnowing machines of the nearby rice mills.
