Special langar to mark Khalsa Sajna Divas, Baisakhi at Golden Temple, Amritsar
On the occasion of Khalsa Sajna Divas, people from diverse backgrounds and different countries perform sewa at Sri Guru Ramdas Jee Langar Hall at the Golden Temple on April 13 and 14. People voluntarily engage in different chores, including washing utensils, mopping the floor and chopping vegetables.
A devote from Karnal, Upinder Raj Singh, visits the holiest Sikh shrine at least once a month. He imbibed the habit when he was a child and used to accompany his parents to perform sewa (volunteer service) at the nearest gurdwara. With his son and daughter settled abroad, this retired bank employee has not left the practice, but increased hours of sewa.
73-year-old retired principal Harjit Kaur, born in Jalandhar in 1952, remembers that she never participated in sewa, though she was a regular at a gurdwara. Her father was born in Sheikhupura and mother in Gujranwala, both districts now in Pakistan. She started doing sewa after her marriage. With the advancing age, her frail body now supports her to chop vegetables, yet she sits for five hours at a stretch. Earlier, she would prefer to mop the floor and wash utensils and never held back from carrying heavy objects.
Newly married 25-year-old Sukhdeep Kaur from Beas is a regular visitor to the langar hall. A teacher by occupation, she remembers that she started coming for sewa with her cousin when she was a 12-year-old. She does not mind doing any kind of sewa and could clean utensils continuously for one hour.
There will be a variety of dishes to mark the occasion. There will be rice, dal, sabji, karhi, salad and mixed pickles. Sweet dish will include jalebi, bundi laddu, besan laddu, Kheer, karah parshad and sweetened rice.
The senior-most cook, 49-year-old Satnam Singh, joined the duty here in 1999 after learning the nuances of the cooking from his father Karam Singh and grandfather Pritam Singh, all natives of Nawanshahr Pannuan village of Tarn Taran. According to him, even this list is not final as Nihang groups join the sewa on these two days and cook their own favourite items to serve the devotees.
Surjit Singh Bhittewad, SGPC member, says the process of preparing langar never halts at Sri Guru Ramdas Jee Langar Hall. Twice, ardas is performed at 7am in the morning, signalling the start of langar, and then another at 6 pm. Tea and milk for children is also served. SGPC deploys 150 sewadars in each shift, three in 24 hours, to manage the langar hall.
