Tuesday, January 6, 2015

COMMUNITY MEAL ON A SACRED DAY




OUR WORLD             IMAGE-IN-ING



These two pictures (below) pertain to the celebrations of the birth anniversary of  the tenth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh ji recently, in a Gurudwara of our community here at Patiala. Taking part in the ARDAS ( invocation of the grace of the Almighty) is tantamount to being part of  sacred and extraordinary moments infused with piety and enlightened consciousness. One feels resurrected in a world of real people living their colorful lives in a placid or turbulent stream of  everyday-ness. Here one finds oneself grounded among a blissful variety of devotees. Missing this pure experience is like willfully depriving oneself of  the Supreme being's benedictions. 



The main hall (view of the congregation) of the gurudwara, where Shabad Keertan ( singing of hymns to the accompaniment of harmonium and Tabla) is going on. The devotees sit on the floor covered with white sheets over thick carpets and  listen to singing and later recitation from the holy book, GURU GRANTH SAHIB, in which are compiled spiritual writings of our Gurus and also of Sufi and Saints of other faiths.


After the religious celebrations are over in the main hall, the visitors converge in the basement for community meal,where people sit together and partake Langar (Community meal), jointly cooked and  served by the devotees.









Friends, welcome here as always!


10 comments:

  1. Heartwarming - thank you for sharing at http://www.image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2015/01/eating-pinecone-on-cob.html!

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  2. Thank You! I learned a great deal here today. I love the photos. Especially the last one of everyone sharing Langar.

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  3. Nice knowing about a part of your celebration there! Its always good to come together and share

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  4. The Langar is a great leveler where the richest share space with the poorest..

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  5. Divine and serene!

    Miss these celebrations here.

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  6. When we are told of other religions it is amazing to see how similar we all are in the world. In fact the need to have deeper understanding of life should bring us all closer together, not further apart. Thank you so much for this piece.

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  7. We have langar in our gurudwara's here often...and love going there cause of the flashblack from childhood :)

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  8. What a wonderful tradition. We have communal meals at times within faith communities. The covered dish dinners are where each brings what they can.

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