Sewa, or selfless service, is a time-honoured part of Indian culture.
The Indian community in New Zealand has steadfastly held onto the tradition of giving without any expectation of receiving, with several religious entities and community organisations offering free food or communal meals.
Some organisations run such initiatives daily, some weekly and others every month.
Many gurdwaras, or Sikh temples, in the Auckland region provide langar sewa daily.
Langar is a Sikh practice of serving free, vegetarian food in a gurdwara to anyone who visits.
Temples in Auckland that feed thousands each day include Gurdwara Sri Kalgidhar Sahib in Takanini, Gurdwara Sri Dasmesh Darbar in Papatoetoe, and Gurdwara Nanaksar in Manurewa.
The gurdwara in Takanini recently opened a 200-square-metre state-of-the-art community kitchen.
The kitchen, which took four months to complete, boasts high-tech stoves, deep fryers, a new washing area and improved drainage, as well as a large pot capable of producing 300 litres of vegetables in one cycle.
The Gurdwara has gained widespread praise for serving thousands of free meals in the city during the Covid lockdowns, Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.
Temples in cities that have smaller Sikh populations typically serve langar on a weekly basis.
For example, Gurdwara Singh Sabha and Gurdwara Jagat Guru Nanak Sahib in Christchurch organise communal meals on Saturdays and Sundays.
Aside from the large temples, several community organisations also distribute free food to the needy.
Notable organisations include Guru Nanak's Free Kitchen Auckland, which distributes free vegetarian meals in central Auckland on the last Saturday of each month, and Ekta New Zealand in Wellington, which does the same each week.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), colloquially known as the Hare Krishna movement, provides a Sunday "feast" between 12pm and 3pm in the West Auckland town of Kumeu.
Meanwhile, the Swaminarayan Temple in Papatoetoe and BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Sanstha in Avondale treats everyone who visits to a mahaprasad (supper as a divine offering), which starts after 7pm each Sunday.
Swaminarayan Temple regularly feeds around 800 people each week.
Similarly, Bhartiya Mandir in the Auckland suburb of Sandringham has an open invitation to all for a feast every Tuesday and Saturday evenings.
Hundreds dine at the temple on Balmoral Road each week.
The Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan of New Zealand, which manages Saibaba Temple in Auckland's Onehunga neighbourhood, offers the same on Thursday evenings.
Finally, Shiv Mandir in the South Auckland suburb of Manurewa distributes a mahaprasad each Tuesday evening.
As is the tradition at Hindu temples in Auckland, an aarti (communal prayer) is performed in praise of the gods before mahaprasad is served.
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