Guru ka Langar at Golden Temple Amritsar

Langar at golden temple is the free kitchen service held daily at the Golden Temple. When Nanak Dev, who was the first Sikh Guru, became a man, his father gave him Rs. 20 and asked him to bargain and make the maximum purchase. He passed a forest on his way and saw a group of sadhus who were not dressed. He decided that the best profit he could make of Rs. 20 was by giving food and clothe to the sadhus. Having done that he went home with empty hands and received punishment from his father. Guru Nanak strongly believed that true profit can be achieved only through selfless service and laid the foundation of Langar Seva.

Tradition Of Langar At Golden Temple:

People gathered in groups whenever the Sikh Gurus travelled to listen to their divine speech. The second Sikh Guru’s wife, Angad Dev, always insisted on giving Langar and took part in distribution service. This free service became the tradition of the Guru’s kitchen with the help of public contribution and their combined effort. Basic principles of the free kitchen are:

• Kirat karo – Earnings should be achieved through sincere, true attempts and activities 
• Vand Chakko –Earnings, wealth, possessions, food and other goods should be shared and selfless service should be offered 
• Naam Japna – God’s name should be always remembered while doing chores like cooking, serving langar and cleaning up

Institution of Langar:

Amar Das the third guru formalized the institution of langar, the guru’s free kitchen, uniting the Sikhs by establishing two key concepts:

• Pangat – All the people should sit together with their legs crossed in neat rows with a humanitarian virtue as one family without taking notice of caste, colour or creed and consider no one as unequal.
• Sangat – The association of noble-minded people who wish to live a life of truth by uttering the name of God in unity, respect the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib and find happiness in offering selfless service to the people.

The Langar Hall:

Each and every Gurdwara which has a simple or a lavishing elegant place of worship will have an institution of Langar or The Langar Hall. If a Sikh service is held in the open, an area is separately set aside for a free kitchen and a wide area like the Gurdwara complex is facilitated to serve food for thousands of people. Any Langar Hall that is set either indoors or outdoors will have a separate area for:

• Storing provisions 
• Storing service utensils 
• Preparing and cooking 
• Serving of the food prepared 
• A place to sit and eat 
• Washing the utensils used 
• Wastage disposal

An Idea Of The Langar And Seva (Voluntary Service):
 

The profit achieved in guru's free kitchen is by feeding the body and the spirit of the soul. Seva is a Sikh word which means free, selfless service offered voluntarily by the Sikhs. The Harmandir Sahib or the Golden Temple in Amritsar is visited by tens of thousands of people in India every day. All are offered free food in the guru’s free kitchen. A complete vegetarian food is available and served always to all the visitors. The complete expenses are voluntarily taken care of by the members of the congregation.  

The following responsibilities are voluntarily taken up for preparing food and cleaning up:

• Huge amount of atta is mixed in machines to prepare dough and approximately 50,000 to 80,000 rotis or small lump of bread are prepared daily.
• The lump of bread is rolled and flattened by hand and cooked on hot iron plates.
• Onions, vegetables and spices are cut and fried.
• A variety of lentil soups are boiled.
• Food is served to worshippers who sit side by side in lengthy rows and eat.
• Thousands of steel plates and spoons are washed; all wastes are taken care of and disposed; and the kitchen and dining hall are cleaned daily.