Amazing Facts About the Langar at the Golden Temple

By Era Kapoor
  • Jul 20, 2017

Since the time of Guru Nanak, the first guru of the Sikh people who started the tradition in 1481, the Golden Temple in Amritsar has been serving free hot meals, also known as langar, to people of all religions and faiths who come to its doors every day.

Free langars are served at all Sikh gurudwaras, wherever they may be in the world, usually on Sundays. But the langar at the Golden Temple is special indeed. This does not have so much to do with the quality of the food, which is always delicious, but for the sheer scale of the operation and the number of devoted volunteers who prepare it with much love, every single day of the week.

1. Meals in the langar are vegetarian, and are simple, nourishing and nutritious. They usually consist of rotis (bread), rice, daal (lentils), a vegetable dish, and kheer(dessert).



2. The langar at the Golden Temple serves a massive number – 50,000 people a day! On holidays/religious occasions, the number often goes up to 100,000!

The free community kitchen at The Golden Temple feeds thousands of people daily.

3. Serving these many people day after day is no easy task, but the clockwork efficiency of the sewadars(workers) makes the task simple. Usually, 90% of the working staff is made up of volunteers who, along with the 300 permanent sewadars, ensure the food is cooked and delivered on time. Some people volunteer for a few hours, some for a day, while others volunteer for days on end!


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