Langar - Golden Kitchen-Harmandar Sahib

Johal

ChArDi KaLaN
For a moment, if one pushes the religious fact aside, it is no ordinary
feat to serve a meal to thousands of people in a day and that too
round-the-clock.

Forty to fifty thousand people, on an average, partake of langar every day
at Harmandar Sahib. "On Sundays, festival days and Masya, the number exceeds
1 lakh," says jathedar Harpinder Singh, who is in charge of the langar.

Serving such a huge gathering is not an easy task. But, the devotion and
selfless service of the sewadars makes the job simple.

"We have 300 permanent sewadars who work at the langar. They knead dough,
cook food, serve people and perform a number of other jobs. Also, there are
a good number of volunteers, both men and women, who work in kitchen and
langar hall. They also wash and wipe the utensils. "In the washing hall we
have four sewadars to supervise the work," adds Harpinder Singh.

Of course, an elaborate arrangement is in place to cook and serve food at
such a large scale.

The langar at Harmandar Sahib is prepared in two kitchens, which have 11 hot
plates (tawi), several burners, machines for sieving and kneading dough and
several other utensils. At one tawi, 15 people work at a time. It is a chain
process - some make balls of dough, others roll rotis, a few put them on the
tawi and rest cook and collect them.

It is all done so meticulously that one is surprised to see that on one hot
plate, in just two hours, over 20 kg of flour is used to make rotis. The
kitchen also has a roti-making machine, which was donated by a Lebanon-based
devotee. The machine is, however, used only on days that are likely to
witness huge crowds. The machine can make rotis of 20-kg flour in just
half-an-hour. To get the flour, there are two machines in the basement of
the langar hall and another that kneads one quintal of flour in just five
minutes. It is this fine team of man and machine that makes it possible for
the gurdwara to provide 24-hour langar on all days.

But, what about putting together the raw material?

"About 50-quintal wheat, 18-quintal daal, 14-quintal rice and seven quintal
milk is the daily consumption in the langar kitchen. We have utensils that
can store up to seven quintal of cooked daal and kheer at a time," says
assistant in-charge Kanwaljeet Singh. Items needed in langar are bought in
huge quantities from Delhi. The purchase mainly includes pulses, while other
every-day requirements are met from the local market. A stock of all items
is maintained for two months, he adds.

"Desi Ghee comes from Verka Milk Plant in the city Also, the devotees . make
donations. In a day we receive , over eight quintals of sugar and seven
quintals of dal. Often, people also donate money in langar funds. For
instance, we recently received a donation of Rs 2 lakh from a devotee who
wanted to bear all langar expenses for a day ," says in-charge Harpinder
Singh. "Besides dal-roti, kheer and karah prasad is prepared on alternate
days. On an average, seven quintals of milk and an equal quantity of rice is
needed to prepare kheer. On festive occasions, we also distribute jalebis.
Every day over 100 , gas cylinders are needed to fuel the kitchen. For
making tea, 6 quintals of sugar and 20 kg of tea leaf are consumed," adds
Kanwaljeet.

But, all this wouldn't have been possible without the grace of Waheguru:
"Loh langar tapde rahin" (may the hot plates of the langar remain ever in
service) are the words that every devotee says in his prayers at the
gurdwara. At a time, over 3,000 people are served on the two floors of the
hall. Everyone is welcome at the darbar to share te meal, with not
distinction of caste or religion.

The Sikh practice of Guru ka langar was strengthened by Guru Amar Das, the
third Sikh guru. Even Emperor Akbar, it is said, had to take langar with the
common people before he could meet Guru Amar Das. Langar or community
kitchen was designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people
regardless of religion, caste, colour, creed, age, gender or social status.
In addition to the ideals of equality , the tradition of langar also aimed
to express the ethics of sharing and oneness of all humankind.

On the other hand, following the principle of division of labour, the
sewadars in the hall make sure that sangat gets the complete meal, from
pickle to rice and dal. The whole thing is highly organised - from arranging
the material to cooking and then serving.

After eating, the utensils are collected in one part of the hall in huge
bins from where they are taken away for washing. Once cleaned, the dishes
are quickly but neatly stacked in huge , , wheeled storage bins, ready to be
used again for the next sitting. ?

aashima.seth@... Captured on film Belgian filmmakers, Valerie
Berteau and Philippe Witjes were so impressed with the langar at the Darbar
Sahib that they made a documentary film on it. Entitled Golden Kitchen, the
film has impressed audiences at numerous film festivals in Europe. On June 6
this year, it was adjudged 'Outstanding' at the Festival of Short Films
organised at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Critics have praised the
film for bringing out the beauty of what is for western audiences "an
endeavour that is remarkable in scale, the clockwork efficiency with which
the kitchen is organised and the fact that all the people manning the
kitchen are volunteers who are inspired to undertake the heavy labour by
their religious convictions." IN THY SERVICE Around 3,000 people are served
meals at a go. It wouldn't be possible without sewadars, who look for no
return except Waheguru's blessings.
 
people like me do M.B.A and try to learn all the more confusing theories of management but at harmandar sahib's langar hall it is management at its best and sewadars don't have ever even heard about the word M.B.A
 

reshmi_mutiyar

LITTLE KITTEN
thnx johal g for that info.. uthe di organization bohut changi aaa,, fast moving v, aa, koyee time waste nahi karda,, ques cheti khatam hoye jaande aa,,, grrrr8 job they are doing
 

prinzdude

Member
Very informational... Mein eh article hune apne saare friends nu email kitta hai, by putting some pics of Jack Straw, Golden Temple, serving of Langar and Chapatti Making Machine :)
 
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