Langar on Campus

Your Students' Union humbly invites you to participate in Langar on Campus, offering free food for everyone.

“Recognise the whole human race as one” (Guru Gobind Singh Jee) The history of Langar

• When: Tuesday 13 February 2024, 11am-4pm
• Where: The Den, Students' Union, Ambika Paul Building, City Campus

For those who have not had the chance to experience Langar before, it is the serving of free vegetarian food to promote a sense of community.  This is a joint venture between the Sikh Society, local community organisations and BOSS (British Organisation of Sikh Students). The food is cooked at the local Gurdwara, and it will be served by our students and members of the community.

What is Langar?

Langar literally translates into “free kitchen” and in the Sikh world it relates to the Guru’s Kitchen. The story of langar starts with Guru Nanak Dev Jee who was the founder of the Sikh faith. One day Guru Nanak Dev Jee was given 20 rupees by His father and asked to go out for the day and return with a profit. His father had grown weary of His son’s disinterest in worldly affairs and hoped the challenge would spark an interest in business.

Guru Jee wandered through the local area and came upon a group of Hindu saints. The saints preached from city to city and lived hand to mouth. They had torn clothes and no food. Guru Nanak Dev Jee believed no action could be more profitable than serving those in need so He bought food and clothes with His father’s money and personally served the saints. Upon returning home Guru Nanak Dev’s Jee’s father was not pleased with His actions but Guru Nanak Dev Jee explained that sharing our earnings with those less fortunate is the most fruitful and profitable action because it serves the light of the one God that resides in each Human Being.

The main principles of Langar are: fighting hunger, equality in action and teaching compassion.

The institution of Langar was nurtured by the Gurus to serve those most needy in society. It became a symbol of the type of society the Gurus sought to establish. The Gurus believed in an egalitarian society and a society in which everyone has access to food, shelter, education and basic human rights. 

Langar is always run free of charge by volunteers and is served to all people without distinction of gender, socio­economic status, caste, ethnicity or religious creed. Is is sustained through donations alone. Langar was a revolutionary concept because it broke down many barriers between a divided and hierarchical society in which people rarely mixed on a cultural level. Every Sikh place of worship ­ Gurdwara ­ includes a Langar serving food 24 hours a day to anyone in the local community.

Find out more about Langar events on the British Organisation of Sikh Students website.