November 3, 2015

Parliament of the World's Religions attendees break bread together at Sikh community's langar

Marjorie Cortez
Friday October 16, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — On Friday, the international Sikh community hosted some 7,000 new friends for lunch.

Their guests are people taking part in the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions. Sikhs throughout the world are offering langar throughout the five-day event.

In the Sikh religion, langar means common kitchen in temples where food is served to all visitors without distinction of background for free.

Visitors are asked to remove their shoes, cover their heads and wash their hands before taking a seat on a carpet, where they are served a vegetarian meal that commonly includes dishes such as rice, curry vegetables and naan, an oven-baked flatbread.

"Everyone sits on the floor and feels equal. Let's say President Obama and a homeless man come to the langar. They would sit down together," said Sarbjit Singh, of Los Angeles, a Sikh who is affiliated with the Khalsa Care Foundation.

Singh said Sikhs feed all people who visit their temples so they regularly serve hundreds of free meals. But scale of the langar served each day at the Parliament is massive.

Since Thursday, thousands of pounds of food prepared at two Sikh temples in Salt Lake County have been trucked to the Salt Palace Convention Center, where the Parliament is being conducted, said Jagdish Singh Gill, a Utah Sikh who is a leader of the langar committee.

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