Notes

• The main hall (also called the Darbar Sahib Hall) was empty when I first walked in. I took a seat on the left side of the carpeted floor of the hall. The hall was silent and well lit with the room at an agreeable temperature due to the presence of air conditioning.
• A group of 5 people walked in through the North facing doors at 5.49 p.m. They took a short stroll to the central praying area and proceeded to kneel and bow down in front of the blue and gold raised pedestal. They took special care to make sure that their heads touched the ground, when bowing down, when praying. After about 5 seconds, they stood up and proceeded to walk around this center stage in a clockwise direction.
• At the end of the full revolution, they walked a little bit further to the right in order to accept some sort of edible object that was given to them by the man who sat before the containers of food. All 5 members picked up a paper napkin before they went up to the food baskets. [I think this is because they don’t think their hands are clean enough to facilitate the safe transferal of food].
• After receiving the food, they women and children of the family walked to the right side of the carpeted hall and sat down in a cross-legged position on the floor. They were facing the direction of the center stage and proceeded to eat the offerings they were given. All the women were eating using their right hand and were taking small bites at a time.
• The men, on the other hand, took a seat on the left side of the hall and were also enjoying their food. However, the men sat closer to the back wall while the women sat much further forward.
• At 5.54 p.m. another group of 4 walked in through the northern doors. They too walked up to the center stage but also placed US Dollar notes of unknown denominations on the stage before kneeling to pray. All 4 members took part in this act of placing money. The two children present in this group were allowed to place their knees on the ledge itself when placing their money. They too made a clockwise revolution around the center stage before picking up their food. This group used their cupped hands (right over left) to accept the food and did not pick up any napkins.
• This time, all the members of the group (1 adult male, 2 small girls, and 1 adult female) sat cross-legged on the right side of the main hall and proceeded to eat their food.
• At 5.58 p.m. one elderly adult female walked in through the northern door. She used the assistance of a walking stick to help her walk up to center stage. She had a rather slower rate of locomotion. After approaching the center, she let go of her stick, which fell on the carpeted floor, and proceeded to pray while standing up under her own strength. After about 10 seconds, she knelt and bowed down before picking up her walking stick to help her get up. She then walked around the stage before walking to one of the wall-mounted benches on the back wall and sat on it [I think she might have trouble sitting on the floor due to her age]. She did not pick up any food.
• At 6.01 p.m. the first group of people to enter, left the main hall through the north doors and went outside. At this same time, another group of 3 (1 adult female, 1 adult male and 1 elderly female) also walked in through the north doors. The elderly lady also carried a walking stick to help her mobility. At the center stage, she gave her walking stick to the male person who waited until she was done praying to hand it back and proceed with his own prayer. After prayer, the group went clockwise around the stage and knelt down before the person handing out the food, with the paper napkins and then sat on the right side of the hall. The man, after receiving his food, immediately left the hall through the north doors.
• One of the ladies from the second group got up and exited the hall through the southwestern doors. She had picked up her food with her hands and did not have a paper napkin to throw. About 30 seconds later, she came back into the main hall using the southeastern door and proceeded to get up on the left stage. This stage had 3 medium-length microphone stands with microphones already placed in them. She seemed to be carrying some sort of written document and took a seat at the center microphone. She then started talking/singing words, from the written document, using a language I didn’t understand. The old lady, who sat on the bench was also singing along in unison with the singer, albeit at a much lower volume [I think the song might have been some form of a prayer]. The voice of the singer was broadcasted along several speakers placed on the walls in the main hall.
• At 6.08 p.m. a group of 5 people walked into the main hall using the southwestern doors. This was the first and only group to use these doors as an entrance. They too then knelt at the center stage and praying before walking around and picking up their food.
• At 6.32 p.m. the singer stopped her recital and left through the southeastern doors, carrying the book she brought in. About 20 seconds later, a man’s voice was now heard through the speakers. This person was seated just behind the main stage that everyone prayed at. His performance sounded more like a story rather than the slightly musical quality the previous singer portrayed.