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Golden Temple, other gurdwaras to serve langar, parsad despite govt guidelines
The SGPC which manages the historic shrine and prominent gurdwaras in north India, said it cannot break the tradition that has continued since the times of the Gurus.
The Golden Temple in Amritsar and other gurdwaras will continue serving langar and ‘karah parsad’ as the places of worship reopen for devotees on Monday despite the government guidelines banning offering of any food items in shrines.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which manages the historic shrine and prominent gurdwaras in north India, said it cannot break the tradition that has continued since the times of the Gurus.
The Golden Temple remained open even during the lockdown even as the administration restricted the devotees from entering. A few people kept on coming to the shrine and langar and karah parsad were served to them.
“Deg (a nomenclature of ‘karah parsad’) is mentioned in the daily ardas. Maryada is not considered complete without it. The ban should be revoked,” said SGPC spokesperson Kulwinder Singh Ramdas.
“The needy partake of langar at the Golden Temple on daily basis. When people were stuck in various places and lost their livelihoods during the lockdown, gurdwaras fed many. Nobody among those who partook of langar was infected,” he added.
On Saturday, SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said. “We are following all the guidelines of the health department while preparing and serving the langar. The ban on langar and parsad must be reviewed.”
Also, the managing committee of the Durgiana Temple, a major place of worship of Hindus in Amritsar, is also going to defy the guidelines in case of serving parsad.
“We will follow the guidelines which are necessary, but not the ones against our faith. We will take all the steps to curb the disease. No priest will touch the ‘parsad’ brought by the devotees for ‘bhog’,” said temple committee president Ramesh Sharma.
“The temple staff will take proper precautions will be taken while distributing the ‘parsad’ by wearing gloves and masks. We will hold a meeting on Monday morning to decide on serving langar,” added Sharma.
