Free food shelter-mega kitchen and dining hall Golden Temple, Amritsar

Abstract

400 years ago during a time of distress when social and ethical issues challenged the society, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first sikh guru, thought of a way to unite people. He used FOOD as a binding factor by setting up a community kitchen. The communal sharing of meals served as a tool to bring people together and since then the concept of langar has been an undying practice among the sikh community all around the world. The scope of langar is not only limited to Sikhs, instead it is practice which invites people from all castes and religions to a common ground to serve each other. The practice first began in the holy city of Amritsar, in the Golden Temple campus itself. To curb pollution around the Golden Temple and to facilitate thousands of devotees visiting the holy shrine daily, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) has embarked on a project to modernize the kitchen facility of Sri Guru Ramdas Langar Hall at the shrine complex. At present; there are two langar halls with a capacity of serving 800 devotees each. These were constructed by Baba Kharak Singh in 1971. Seeing the high amount of footfall managing crowd proves to be a great matter of concern. During the time of festivals and holidays high risks of stampede and vandalism may harm the sanctity of the place. Apart from these major catastrophes some usual problems faced during managing crowds are related to spatial planning, path controlling, misleading ends, atmospherics and non cooperation by the crowds. Along with managing crowd, mass production of food is a major concern with its storage and processing. All these combine to form a mega kitchen and the challenge lies in creating a space with several free flowing activities without any intersecting paths in order to maintain the stature and value of langar itself.