DUBAI The gurudwara or Sikh temple at Jebel Ali served a record 37,000 visitors with free meals over the New Year weekend, a top official told XPRESS.
Surinder Singh Khandari, chairman of the Guru Nanak Darbar, said: “More than 50,000 people of different faiths visited the gurudwara between December 31 and January 2. Of them, 37,000 partook of the langar or community meal organised at a special tent.”
As the thousands kept pouring in, he said wholesome meals were being prepared and served piping hot to the visitors. “The meal comprised rotis (bread), dal (lentils), rice, vegetables and a sweet. There was hot tea as well.”
Besides the langar, every visitor coming out of the prayer hall was served the karah prasad, a “blessed” wheat pudding that is traditionally received with cupped hands.
Marathon cooking
Khandari said groups of volunteers in batches of 30 worked round the clock to prepare the food in eight sessions. “At the end of it all, they had used a record 2,350kg of wheat flour for the rotis, 1,900kg of rice, 810kg of eight different kinds of dals, 400kg of hot jalebis (an Indian sweet), 400kg of a sweet milk pudding and a yet to be specified quantity of vegetables.”
“Our kitchen fires were constantly burning to make sure there was no let up in the supplies,” said Khandari.
He explained that the concept of langar upholds the principle of equality and teaches people to eat as a community. “Over normal weekends, our community kitchen which is open from 6am to 9pm feeds up to 10,000 people of different faiths. But since our dining hall cannot accommodate the New Year rush, we put up a special tent next to the gurudwara complex for last weekend’s langar.”
He said another tent was also put up for visitors to leave their shoes which were returned to them after duly polishing them. “Our volunteers at the shoe tent polished every pair of shoes that was left with them. This is another custom we follow.”
Dharam Singh, a labourer visiting the gurudwara on January 1, said: “I feel blessed to be here today and to spread the community spirit. It’s a great start to the new year.”
Jyoti, a housewife, said: “I don’t know how they pull off such a big show. The prasad is so delicious, I took a second helping.”
Khandari said adequate security, both internal and external, helped streamline and managed the crowds.
“To avoid confusion, we restricted all entries through Gate 1 and all exits through Gate 2. By the grace of the Almighty, everything went off smoothly.”
