London, Dec 7 (PTI) Britain’s King Charles III has officially opened the new Guru Nanak Gurdwara and interacted with the volunteers who prepare the ‘langar’ and work within the local community during his first tour as monarch of Luton in Bedfordshire, in the east of England.
The 74-year-old king toured the gurdwara’s kitchen on Tuesday and was shown where hot vegetarian meals are prepared daily and was also briefed on coordinated work with an emerging COVID vaccine clinic during the pandemic. He also sat with the community leaders in the Diwaan hall of the gurdwara to listen to the ‘kirtan’ (devotional song) and the ‘hukamnama’ of the ‘Guru Granth Sahib’.
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“At the newly built Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Her Majesty met with volunteers who run the Luton Sikh Soup Kitchen Stand. The kitchen provides hot vegetarian meals seven days a week, 365 days a year at the Gurdwara,” say Buckingham Palace.
“During the pandemic, the Gurdwara ran a pop-up COVID vaccine clinic, which was one of the first of its kind in the UK. The Gurdwara also encouraged other places of worship to tackle misinformation about the hesitant about the vaccine,” he said.
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Indian-origin professor Gurch Randhawa, a member of the local Sikh congregation and director of the University of Bedfordshire’s Institute of Health Research who greeted the king at the gurdwara, described the visit as “hugely auspicious”.
“His Majesty King Charles III, respecting Sikhism, walked in and out of the Diwaan Hall with live kirtan playing, sat and listened to the hukamnama of ‘Guru Granth Sahib Ji,'” Randhawa said.
“He met our humble volunteers who prepare 500 meals a day during the week and 1,000 meals a day during the weekends, our health volunteers who ran pop-up COVID vaccine clinics, our Luton Sikh Soup Kitchen volunteers serving 150 meals outside Luton Town Hall each Sunday: All these services are accessible to all faith and ethnic communities.
“The king also met with children who are learning kirtan and heard them play a Shabad. All in all, a joyous occasion that I was honored to host,” he said.
During the royal tour of Luton, the King also took a ride on the city’s Direct Air-Rail Transit (DART) service.
“The DART is an energy-efficient electric cable car that will transport train arrivals on Luton Parkway to the airport, reducing carbon emissions by 70 per cent… the king met staff and trainees who work on the DART, before taking the short four-minute drive to the airport,” Buckingham Palace said.
There was also an egg-throwing incident in the area at the start of the royal tour when Charles took a walk around Luton town centre. Her security staff briefly pulled the monarch away from the crowds before continuing the tour. Bedfordshire Police said a man in his 20s has been arrested and is in custody.
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