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Summary of Question:	Garlic In The Gurdwara
Category:	Gurdwara
Date Posted:	Wednesday, 9/12/2001 6:35 AM MDT

Sat Siri Akal

I have only just recently come across your great site, I think its fantastic, I have learnt a great deal. Its great to see that the Sikh youths are curious about our religion and look to our religion for help and guidance. Thank you to everybody involved with this site, I think I speak for everyone when I say that you are doing a great job and I pray that you keep up the good work. Without you many of our fellow Sikhs would have very important questions unanswered. May I therefore, call upon your knowledge to answer a question that has been troubling my mother and her peers for some time now.

For a while my parents have been heavily involved with Seva in the Gurdwara and help prepare Guru Ka Langar on a weekeend. A while ago a Sant came to visit our local Gurdwara and prohibited the use of garlic in any of the dishes, but, I don't think the Sangat understood his reasoning behind this. After searching on your site under "garlic", I have learnt that garlic is a sexual stimulant. Is this the reason it has been banned from Gurdwara use? Please say no, as I have to tell my mum the answer to this question and I may be embarrased to have to tell her this, (only joking). But, I can't see it being against our religion to consume garlic as nearly all the Asian Sikhs use it in curries!

Thank you in advance for taking your time to answer my question.

Regards

Manjet Kaur

Dear One;

Sat Siri Akaal. This prohibition is news to me, quite frankly. He might have done it for the reason you give; but it is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, since garlic is also a natural antibiotic and excellent for cleansing the digestive tract and stimulating immune function. It could be that he is allergic to garlic or that the smell of garlic makes him queasy!

It could be that he didn't want the strong scent of Garlic to pervade Guruji's space. Perhaps if langar were served in a separate space other than Gurdwara (when possible this keeps gurdwara cleaner), then he might not have recommended this.

I have to ask why a Sant would do this without explaining himself or herself, so that people could learn. I would not worry about it and I think it is perfectly OK (when he is gone) to go back to using garlic in langar food.

Guru ang sang,
-DKK