Most religious community kitchens functioning as usual

Management of temples and gurudwaras have asked authorities to ensure uninterrupted gas supply
| Photo Credit:
SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Free community kitchens run by large temples, gurudwaras and other religious organisations continue to operate amidst ongoing rationalisation of LPG supplies, triggered by the West Asia conflict. However, some have raised concerns over the impact of a prolonged LPG supply crisis.

Jagdip Singh Kahlon, General Secretary, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, said, “The langar seva at Gurudwara Sri Bangla Sahib is running normally as it is made using piped natural gas (PNG) supplies. Some large gurudwaras in the region also have PNG. But, the smaller gurdwaras rely on LPG supplies and have been hit. Therefore, we have urged authorities to ensure LPG supplies wherever necessary to maintain the continuity of langar services.”

Darbar Sahib additional manager Gurinder Singh said that the Guru Ramdas Langar Ghar at Sri Harminder Sahib, or the Golden Temple in Amritsar, has not been impacted by the LPG supply crunch. As many as 25-30 LPG cylinders along with piped gas are used daily to make the langar, he added. “The langar service, which runs 24 hours a day, serves over one lakh devotees every day. We have requested authorities to ensure that langar service continues as usual,” he added.

Resilience

Sources said that the prasadam preparation in major temples across Tamil Nadu is unaffected as most of the temples use a combination of firewood and gas. A senior government official, however, said that gas is available in the temples for about 10 days.

At the famous Dakshineswar Kali Temple, situated in the outskirts of Kolkata, distribution of the daily bhog prasad has not been affected so far. “We are fully dependent on LPG. Currently, we have some stock. But, we are not getting new cylinders as the booking system is unavailable. We will try to make do with the existing stock. We hope that the situation will return to normalcy soon,” said Kusal Chowdhury, acting managing trustee of Dakshineswar Kali Temple and Debottar Estate.

Bharatarshabha Dasa, National President & Trustee, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, said, “Akshaya Patra’s centralised kitchens are predominantly steam-based with steam generated by boilers, run by electricity or fuelled by briquettes. And many kitchens are also powered by PNG. As a result, our LPG dependency is significantly lower. This makes our operations inherently more resilient to fuel supply disruptions.”

(With inputs from T E Raja Simhan, Mithun Dasgupta and Aishwarya Kumar)

Published on March 13, 2026