The Sikh Temple in Jebel Ali is attempting to break new records as it aims for the ISO certification as a benchmark for the standards that the shrine maintains. In a report in khaleejtimes.com General Manager of the Gurunanak Darbar, Tejinder Pal Singh Gogia says with pride, "Once we achieve the ISO certification, which takes six months and not more, we will aim to enter the Guinness World Records for being the first temple in the UAE with such a distinction."
The Gurudwara kitchen which serves free Langar to devotees every week is run entirely by the donations from devotees. On packed Fridays, at least 100 litres of tea will be brewed at the gurudwara, and about 8,000 devotees come to the temple seeking blessings. The Sikh temple, which is also the largest in the country, is now aiming for new laurels.
The institution of the Sikh langar, or free kitchen, was started by the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak. It was designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people regardless of religion, caste, colour, creed, age, gender or social status, a revolutionary concept in the caste-ordered society of 16th-century India where Sikhism began.