The feeding of the 150,000

A basic tenant of the sikh religion is the provision of free food and lodgings to believers and non-believers alike. Some 80,000 people are fed at the Golden Temple every day (although this can double at weekends). Massive cauldrons of steaming, soupy dahl (meat is banned in and around the temple) are stirred all hours of the day and dished out in huge eating halls. The clatter of the metal dishes as they are returned for washing is deafening.

All the helpers here are volunteers who put in a few hours work as part of their visit to the shrine.

The kitchen in the Golden Temple