Located in the city of Punjab, the Golden Temple of Amritsar is definitely an incredible place brimming with incredible people dedicated to render you with an incredible experience. Also known as the Sri Harmandir or the Sri Darbar Sahib, is the holiest Gurdwara of Sikhism, symbolising openness of Sikhs and Sikhsm towards all people irrespective of their religion.
Standing tall in all its glittering glory, this temple is adorned with a man- made lake which is brimming with fishes. Apart from the magnificence of the Golden Temple, it houses the largest running community kitchen in the world, popularly known as Guru ka Langar which is open to people from all castes, colour, creed, gender and religion. Free meals are served to thousands of people everyday in the community hall of the Gurdwara.
The Gurdwara has entry gates open to all sides denoting the virtue of Sikhism which
preaches that everyone entering the premises of the Golden Temple will be treated with equal respect without any basis of discrimination for anyone and everyone. The Langar of the Golden Temple is mostly run and serviced by volunteers by their own free will to be a part of the Sewa. They help in preparing for the meals by chopping vegetables, even cook the meals ranging from rotis to desserts and sometimes even serve the entire crowd eating at the Langar. They keep the kitchen up and running for 24 hours of the day so that anyone who comes to the Langar does not have to go back empty stomach. Here, on normal days, almost 50000 to 60000 eat at the Langar and the numbers go up to 100000 during religious gatherings. Although most meals are handmade, Gurdwara has a roti making machine with the ability to make 25000 rotis per hour to feed passers by, pilgrims and visitors. The astounding sizes of the vessels used to cook the meals holds quintals of quantities, all of which is procured from a steady flow of donations for the Golden Temple. It has 2 community halls where people have to sit on the floor and wait for the Langar to be served.
After the volunteers finish serving the food, a clarion call of ‘Jo bole so nihal’ is yelled, to
which the crowd yells back ‘Sat Sri Akal’. You can eat your heart out in the Langar of the
Golden Temple, for extra rotis or accompaniments all you have to do is raise your hand in gratitude while the volunteers come and refill your place with the scrumptious meals of the Langar.
