Langar

The practice

Langar is the community kitchen attached to every gurdwara, the Sikh house of worship. Guru Nanak began the practice in the fifteenth century, and Guru Amar Das made it a rule that everyone who came to meet the Guru, emperor or labourer, first sat and ate together.

How it is kept

Volunteers cook a simple vegetarian meal, serve it to all comers without charge, and wash the dishes as an act of seva, selfless service. Everyone sits in one line on the floor, called the pangat, so that no seat is higher than another. The Golden Temple at Amritsar serves tens of thousands of people every day.

What it means

Langar is equality that can be eaten. Caste, wealth, and creed all stop at the kitchen door, and the practice has made the gurdwara kitchen a standing answer to hunger wherever Sikhs settle, open to anyone in need.