No One Goes Hungry at the Darbaar
In the teachings of Hazrat Baba Murad Shah Ji, service to humanity was not separate from service to God — it was service to God. The most direct expression of this teaching is the langar at Dera Baba Murad Shah Ji, Nakodar: a perpetual, free community kitchen that feeds everyone who enters, regardless of caste, religion, economic status, or any other distinction.
The langar runs every single day of the year, 24 hours a day. From the first light of dawn to the quiet of midnight, volunteers prepare and serve food in an unbroken act of seva that has continued for decades.
The Scale of the Mela Langar
During the Annual Mela (28–29 August), the langar operation expands to a scale that is difficult to comprehend. With hundreds of thousands of devotees converging on Nakodar, the langar must serve meals to lakhs of people over two days without a single person being turned away. This requires extraordinary logistical preparation — tonnes of atta (flour), dal (lentils), vegetables, and rice; hundreds of volunteers working in rotating shifts; massive cooking vessels that operate continuously.
"The smoke from the langar chimney is the most sacred incense of this darbaar." — A devotee from Ludhiana
Who Runs the Langar?
The langar is run entirely by volunteers — devotees who consider this service their highest privilege. Families travel from across Punjab to spend a day or two doing langar seva: washing vessels, kneading dough, serving food, cleaning. This participation in the langar is considered by devotees to be a direct form of prayer.
The Dera Baba Murad Shah Ji Trust provides the raw materials and infrastructure. The labour is the offering of the people.
What is Served
The langar typically serves traditional Punjabi dal-roti: lentil curry with freshly made rotis (flatbread), along with sabzi (vegetable curry) and sometimes kheer (rice pudding) on special occasions. During the mela, special sweets and prasad are also distributed. The food is vegetarian, simple, nourishing, and served with love — which devotees say makes it the most delicious food they have ever eaten.
How You Can Contribute
Supporting the langar seva is one of the most meaningful ways to connect with the spirit of the darbaar, even from a distance. Contributions of any amount go directly towards purchasing food for the langar. You can also contribute through physical seva — coming to the darbaar and spending a day working in the langar. Visit our Seva & Donate page to learn more.
A Living Teaching
The langar is not a charity programme. It is a spiritual practice. In its perpetual operation — feeding the hungry without distinction, without expectation of return, without announcement or credit — it embodies the central teaching of Baba Murad Shah Ji: that love expressed in action is the highest form of prayer.