Located in the city of Punjab, the Golden Temple of Amritsar is definitely an incredible place brimming with incredible people dedicated to rendering you with an incredible experience. Also known as the Sri Harmandir Sahib or the Sri Darbar Sahib, is the holiest Gurdwara in Sikhism, symbolising the openness of Sikhs, towards all people irrespective of their religion. Standing tall in all its glittering glory, this temple is adorned with a man-made lake that is brimming with fishes.
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.
When you visiting golden temple, you should try Guru- ka Langar.
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 was started by Sikh’s first guru Guru Nank Dev Ji in 1500 CE , Langer is open to people from all castes, colours, creeds, gender and religion. Free meals are served to thousands of people every day in the community hall of the Gurdwara at the Golden Temple of Amritsar.
Guru Nanak started langar as a mark of serving the homeless and hungry people, and langar also symbolizes equality which means no one is above or below one another; everyone sits down on the floor with each other, irrespective of their status in the society. Guru’s main motive was that no one should sleep hungry.
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.
Langar is served in almost all the Gurudwara’s, and it is pure veg food served with all the nutrients required by a person; you can always ask for more food if needed.
Volunteers at Gurudwara
The Guru Ka Langar at the Golden Temple is mainly run and serviced by volunteers by their own free will to be a part of the Sewa with no motive of reward or personal gain. Sewa means selfless service, it is a way of life for many Sikhs, and it has become a part of their daily life. It is one of the ways to show faith towards Waheguru (the ultimate guru).
They help in preparing the meals by chopping vegetables, even cooking meals ranging from rotis to sweet dish. 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 50,000 to 60,000 eat at the Langar hall and the numbers go up to 1,00,000 during religious gatherings. Although most meals are handmade, the Gurdwara in Golden Temple has a roti making machine with the ability to make 25,000 rotis per hour to feed passers-by, pilgrims and visitors. The astounding sizes of the vessels used to cook the meals hold quintals of quantities, all of which is procured from a steady flow of donations for the Golden Temple.
