All visitors share holy offering in the form of a communal meal at the Sikh Gurudwara – this is called Langar. For the Sikh community, eating together in this way expresses equality and oneness of all humankind. At the same time, it strengthens the Sikh sense of community. While visiting a Gurudwara, one is always offered the sweet prashad; which is distributed in the sanctuary as the ‘grace’ of the Guru. On visiting at the time of a service, one is offered the entire langar meal.

The moving power of Langar

When the meal is ready, a small portion of each dish is put in a stainless steel bowl and placed in front of the Guru Granth Sahib. Then the Ardas prayer is recited to seek God’s acceptance of the food. The food is then returned to the original pot so that the blessings of the guru can be passed on to the people through the whole pot of food. When people come into the langar hall, they sit on the floor on long rows of rugs as the servers circulate among them, bringing fresh food and hot bread. The meal is simple and always vegetarian; with a usual serving of pickle, rotis (bread), dal (lentils), sabzi (vegetables); and on special occasions, kheer (rice pudding). Apart from being flavoursome and rich, the langar is very nutritious.

Setting the Table, an exploration of eating rituals across cultures that goes

far beyond four legs and a surface.

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