The Sikh Temple, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, taught us much about the culture and commitment of people within the Sikh religion. During our visit we learned that Sikhism embodies many of the tenets to which others pay lip service such as equality between the sexes and egalitarianism amongst people. We learned that it is a sign of respect to touch the top step with your hand before entering a home and that the reason that there is no extant guru in human form, is because the 10th guru decreed that the enduring guru, his successor, would be the collected wisdom of himself and the previous nine gurus in human form.

At this temple, food is prepared for more than 20 thousand people every day. It is wholly achieved by volunteers as part of their commitment to their faith. The people preparing the food were generous in giving their permission for us to photograph their work. Food is prepared in huge containers with some of the work, like cooking the flatbread, done by automation.

Serving the large numbers of people is done by a simple but highly efficient system of bringing a large group into the dining area, providing food, allowing people time to eat and then moving them through to make way for the next group. Everyone is welcome and all are served.

Haiku:
Benevolent care.
The faithful feeding masses –
no payment required.