Women preparing parshada in the traditional style.

As for the new machine, its process starts with automatic kneading of dough and then moves on to making of balls, rolling them out into parshada that pass over a hotplate and come out fully puffed.

Even as the Rs 60-lakh (the cost includes the Rs 16 lakh saved on account of custom duty exemption) automatic parshada-making machine can make and process 2,000 to 6,000 chapattis per hour, depending on the multi-speed system, yet the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) is committed to simultaneously keeping alive the traditional way of preparing parshada on the iron tava.

Daljit Singh Bedi, in charge of publicity, SGPC, says that 50,000 to 90,000 devotees partake of langar in the Golden Temple daily round the clock. On an average, the daily consumption of flour is 60 bags. One atta bag is sufficient for baking 1,500 chapattis .

One of the oldest sevadars for the langar, Bhagat Singh, known as Bhagatji, who has been serving in the community kitchen of Darbar Sahib for four decades, claims that the quality of parshada prepared by the automatic machine is much better. The manager of Darbar Sahib points out that it is extremely tedious to prepare parshada during summer. This is the reason that boiled rice was also introduced along with parshada for the langar. Though the SGPC had recruited about 200 persons for preparing langar, they have not been able to cope with the rush of the sangat. The number of volunteers coming forward for preparing parshada has decreased over a period of time.

Some hardliners have, however, objected to the installation of the machine on the plea that it will affect the centuries’ old maryada of the community kitchen. They feel that the participation of volunteers in the preparation of langar will diminish as their entry into the kitchen will now be restricted. Curious devotees, however, can see the process from outside through a glass screen. However, the SGPC feels that it will become practically difficult to serve the meal simultaneously through both methods unless hi-tech gadgetry is introduced.

The institution of langar (community kitchen) was started by the first Sikh Master, Guru Nanak Dev, and it was continued by successive gurus. He started the langar as a crusade against social injustice, oppression and tyranny of the caste system. This tradition was based on the ideals of love and service, and fraternity and equality. The guru’s langar was to be open to all, where all were to be seated and served food together, irrespective of caste or social status. Guru Angad Dev organised the langar on a large scale. He and his wife Mata Khivi personally participated in the langar and helped in the cooking and distribution of food. It became a powerful institution for the uplift of the downtrodden, who had been groaning under the yoke of socio-economic inequalities. These community kitchens, which were run on the charities of the people, consider it a noble act to provide food to the needy. The langar developed into a regular institution at Goindwal during the time of Guru Amar Das. The Guru made it a rule that whosoever came to see him would have to partake of the food in the community kitchen before meeting him. The Mughal Emperor Akbar and the Raja of Haripur, who came to see the Guru, were among those who partook of the langar.

However, with the installation of an automatic parshada-making machine, more than a five-century-old practice of the guru ka langar has come a long way. True, the institution of seva is fundamental to the Sikh tradition but by installing the machine, the SGPC has shown dynamism in adapting to changing circumstances and needs.