Sanjha Morcha

Langars help devotees brave winter chill ahead of Shaheedi Jor Mela

Despite temperatures dipping to single digits, volunteers brave the cold to serve hot meals to the devote


Langars help devotees brave winter chill ahead of Shaheedi Jor Mela

Despite temperatures dipping to single digits, volunteers brave the cold to serve hot meals to the devotees

Tribune News Service

Langars set up on the roadside at Fatehgarh Sahib ahead of the Shaheedi Jor Mela on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vicky

This year’s Shaheedi Jor Mela, commemorating the martyrdom of Chhote Sahibzade and Mata Gujri, has seen devotion transcend gurdwara premises, with langars being organised by locals and even visiting devotees dotting the roads here.

Devotees who travel on foot, bikes, cars and buses from far-off areas in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, are being greeted with folded hands, chants of “Waheguru” at the langars. For them, they are their first escape from the unforgiving winter chill.

“The langars are saving us from the biting cold,” says Jaswinder Kaur, a devotee traveling from Delhi with her husband and five-year-old son said. “As soon as you see volunteers with folded hands on roadside asking to have langar, you know you have entered Punjab,” she added.

Despite temperatures dipping to single digits, volunteers brave the cold to serve hot meals to the devotees. The langars are serving a variety of wholesome and nourishing dishes, including hot milk, rotis paired with different types of sabzis, dal, saag, crispy pakoras, and glasses of fresh water. Several volunteers, some of whom have traveled from distant parts of the state and beyond, are seen working tirelessly at the langars, chopping vegetables, stirring pots, and distributing food. Despite the cold winds, their enthusiasm and sense of purpose never wavers.

“For many, the langar is an integral part of the experience of Jor Mela, where the sense of community is as strong as the spiritual bond that connects everyone heading towards Fatehgarh Sahib,” said Gurmeet Singh, a resident of Jatanwali village in Ambala district, who has been coming to Fatehgarh Sahib for the past five years with fellow village residents.

“This time, we are here on five trolleys with even more rasad (raw material) for sangat. Serving food to pilgrims who have been traveling for hours brings us a deep sense of joy,” said another volunteer from Golewala village in Faridkot.

Volunteers from nearby villages and towns have pooled in their resources, setting up makeshift kitchens under tents, while others have brought in supplies, including sacks of flour, rice, and vegetables.

“We have been doing this for so many years now, and yet every year, it feels like the supply of food is endless, as if by some divine grace. Even when it seems like we might run short, the food just keeps coming. It’s truly the blessings of Akal Purakh and the collective efforts of the sangat that make it possible,” said 65-year-old Mukhtiar Singh, a resident of Badali Ala Singh village on Mohali-Fatehgarh Sahib road.