New Delhi Day Two: A visit to Gurdwara Bangla Sahib

Yesterday, our second day in New Delhi, we visited a Sikh temple, Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. To say this experience was unlike anything I’ve ever seen or done is an understatement. It was a cultural earthquake.

Getting prepared

Our tour leader, Ashish, spent some time letting us know what to expect, but I still wasn’t prepared for it.

First off, we had to remove our shoes and socks. Second, we had to cover our heads, and not with a hat, but with a scarf. Sikh men actually wear turbans; we just wore triangular scarves.

Ashish also warned us that it would be crowded, but again, I wasn’t prepared. He said to be careful with phones and personal belongings. That felt odd since it was a holy place, but since they are extremely welcoming to visitors and tourists, I guess anyone with ulterior motives could take advantage of the situation.

Walking through the temple

We joined a crush of humanity lined up to enter the temple. As we approached the entrance, we stepped in a shallow pool of water to (symbolically, I guess) wash our feet. Then we paraded into the building, where many worshippers were seated and listening to or joining in continuous chanting. (Photos weren’t allowed inside.)

Maybe because of the crowd, it was hard to relate to the spiritual aspect of what was going on in the temple. I tried to find a video with a sample of the chant, but I couldn’t. I did find a video from a guy who visited the same temple. At about the 2‑minute mark you can hear some chanting that’s similar, but there wasn’t any drumming when we went through.

Langar

The part that I did find spiritual was the community kitchen, or langar. Langar is the free, communal kitchen and meal service found in a Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship). It is a central practice in Sikhism that symbolizes equality and selfless service by serving meals to everyone regardless of their religion, caste, gender, or social status. The food, which is vegetarian and prepared by volunteers, is eaten together by all attendees sitting on the floor as a way to break down social barriers. (There are benches for those who are unable to sit on the floor.)

At this particular gurdwara, they serve about 35,000 people a day. The room holds 400 at a time. The next group wait in an adjacent room. They clear out the dining room and then the next group enters (which we saw later — like a stampede!)

This is not a soup kitchen. The goal is not to feed the poor, although the poor are certainly welcome to come and eat. This is about community. Wealthy and poor sit together and eat together. The wealthy and privileged classes are humbled, and the needy are uplifted. It’s a beautiful thing. And it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

Ashish told us that when he lived in Vancouver, he used to go to the gurdwara there for lunch almost every day. He is not Sikh. He is Hindu. And he is not needy. But he appreciated the feeling of community.

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That’s it for now

I’m still adding photos to my album, but you can see everything from Gurdwara Bangla Sahib as well as the other photos from Delhi.

Oh, and a point of clarification. Yesterday I said the toilet paper doesn’t have perforations. Actually, there are two rolls of toilet paper in the bathroom of my hotel, and one of them does. Maybe I just got a defective roll.