Lakhs being served langar at gurdwaras

PATNA: With Sikh devotees from across the country and abroad assembling in the city to participate in 'Shukrana Samaroh', the concluding ceremony of 350th birth anniversary of tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, over one lakh people are being served 'langar' or community meal at Takhat Sri Harmandir Sahib Gurdwara and close to 80,000 at Baal Leela Gurdwara per day. The two gurdwaras are witnessing huge rush of devotees, who, besides paying obeisance to the tenth Sikh Guru, are thronging langar halls to partake of free meal.
Sardar Angrez Singh, who is managing the 'langar' at Harmandir Sahib Gurdwara, said they serve at least one lakh people daily. "We believe that offering food to a hungry person is the biggest 'punya' that one can do," he said, adding around 500 people are serving and cooking food at the gurdwara.

Not far away is Baal Leela Gurdwara where a young man, Baba Chamkour Singh, is handling the 'langar'. "The rush of devotees has increased since December 17. We are serving food to around 80,000 devotees per day," he said. Singh said a small group of 20 dedicated workers are engaged in the work. "Other than the dedicated team, a large number of volunteers visit the gurdwara every day to offer services to the devotees," he added.

The words of Singh gain weightage as hundreds of volunteers, including women and youths, can be seen working diligently in the community kitchen. While women wash and cut vegetables besides kneading the dough, men work at the flour mills in the gurdwara. Even teenagers serve the people. What makes the langars attractive and unique is that even non-Sikhs participate in it.

Jaswindra Kaur, an elderly woman from Karnal, said the gurdwara is the place where every person is treated as equal. "There is no difference between poor and rich here," she said.