Golden Temple Langar — Sikh Service Portrait
132.40 £
A sevadaar volunteer at the Golden Temple’s langar kitchen in Amritsar — stirring a 500-litre dal pot in the largest free community kitchen in the world, which serves 100,000 free meals daily to pilgrims of any faith.
Description
The Golden Temple’s langar — the Sikh institution of free communal dining open to all people of any faith — operates 24 hours a day, serving between 100,000 and 150,000 meals per day through the volunteer service of sevadaars. This portrait was made in the langar kitchen’s dal section, where rows of 500-litre copper vessels are stirred continuously by rotating volunteer teams. The sevadaar captured is a retired engineer from Ludhiana who gives two weeks per year to kitchen service — his dal-stained apron and concentration on the enormous paddle communicating the practical reality of feeding a city. Shot with a 35mm prime at ISO 3200 in the kitchen’s available lighting, the steam from the dal vessels creates a soft atmospheric background against which the sevadaar’s white kameez and blue apron are the dominant graphic elements.
