Devotees celebrate Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary in a gurudwara at Unit-III on Thursday. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 6: The young and the old sweated it out together at the langar, making and serving food to more than 5,000 Sikhs that thronged the Gurudwara Singh Sabha in the city to celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanti today.

While men and children hurried around with huge tubs of sabzi, dal and chana masala, women were seen busy working on the tava and washing the utensils.

With the concept of communal kitchen being an essential part of Sikhism, people across ages and professions were seen doing seva (service), with a smile.

“Working for the langar not only gives me immense satisfaction, but also presents an opportunity to serve our guru. I wait the entire year for this occasion,” said 27-year-old Harcharan Singh.

Devotees from near and far came to pay respect to their first guru.

Apart from the community feast, Gurubani, bhajans and fireworks marked the 546th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak.

The akhand path (continuous recitation) of the Guru Granth Sahib that began on November 4 concluded at 10am today.

Guru Nanak Dev founded Sikhism in the 15th century as a religion that denounces the caste system and unnecessary rituals and propounded the idea of Ek Onkaar (a monolithic God).

“Nanakji preached oneness. God does not belong to any religion, and he is an energy that is beyond form. His teachings are practised in three ways — vand chakko, helping those in need, kirtkaro, making an honest living and naam japna, meditating on God’s name to control evils,” said Jaspal Singh, secretary of the Gurudwara Singh Sabha.

For non-Sikhs, who visited the gurdwara today, it was an opportunity to make new friends and be part of celebrations of a different kind.

“I have been coming here on this day for the past five years. I love the concept of working together,” said 32-year-old mechanical engineer Subhashree Mohanty.