Feeding Body and Soul: Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Delhi

“I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

~ A Christmas Carol (1843), Charles Dickens 

It’s that time of year again: when the sun reaches its zenith (or nadir, depending which hemisphere you live in) and families get together to celebrate whatever the customary celebration is in their particular household.

As much as I love the idea of Christmas, and the idea of “a kind, forgiving, charitable time”, I am much more impressed with people who live their belief in treating each other well on a daily  – rather than seasonal – basis. 

This is part of why I was so impressed to learn about langar. 

It was my first visit to a Sikh Temple: the ancient Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi. It was a November mid-morning, and music and prayers were in progress in the sumptuous and gilded Darbar Sahib (Prayer Hall). But, it was in the kitchen areas and out on the roof-top that the real life of the temple was happening: countless volunteers of all ages were performing seva, or selfless service, by preparing and cooking copious amounts of food – pumpkin, dal, roti and kheer (rice pudding) – for anyone who wanted to enter the temple to eat.

Langar (ਲੰਗਰ) is a Punjabi word for kitchen or canteen. In the Sikh religion, the meaning of langar extends to include the communal cooking, serving, and eating of traditional North Indian vegetarian food in a Gurdwara (a Sikh house of worship) – although the concept of free food for the needy pre-dates the Sikh religion, with a long history in Chishtī Sufism in Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent.

Guru Nanak, who founded Sikhism in the Punjab in 1469, is said to have started the langar custom when he fed hungry Sadhus with money intended for trade goods. Mata Khivi, the wife of Second Guru Angad Dev, expanded the langar to include seva, or altruistic selfless service, by serving alongside the the first five gurus in the Gur ka Langar, the Guru’s free kitchen. Third Guru Amar Das added pangat sangat, the idea that every one, regardless of rank, sits and eats together as equals in the congregation. 

Today, no matter who you are, regardless of gender, religion, ethnicity, age or status, as long as you bare your feet, cover your head, and behave with decorum, you are welcome in any Sikh langar hall, where – between midday and midnight – you can enjoy a nourishing meal. 

Pangat sangat; nourishment of body and soul.

I always drop a little something into the collection boxes at temples and churches when I take pictures in them. Before I left the Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, I looked for a place for donations.

I couldn’t find one;

I guess there really is such a thing as a free lunch!

But, it only happens because the “Three Pillars of Sikh Principle” expect devotees to give their time in service, and to donate a ten percent tithe from their “honest earnings”.

That sounds a bit like what Charles Dickens called Christmas spirit:

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” 

Happy holidays to you and yours.

Pictures: 04November2013