Wikipedia's first sentence called it “mostly associated with a generally vegetarian food tradition that is more of a fundamental element of indian si”. Today it says “institution among sufi muslims in south asia whereby food and drink are given to the needy regardless of social”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Charitable religious practice in South Asia”. It now reads “Charitable religious practice”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2010 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2010
Langar is mostly associated with a generally vegetarian food tradition that is more of a fundamental element of Indian Sikh and some Hindu religious traditions, serving of food has also been a rich tradition in Indian and Persian Sufism , especially of the Chishti Order.1There is extensive use of food imagery and metaphor in Sufi writings. Sugar and other sweet foods represent the sweetness of piety and community with God, while salt symbolizes purity and incorruptibility.2Bread is regarded as sacred in Islam and is treated reverentially.3Through the pronouncement of Bismallah during the bread-making process, the bread is imbued with spiritual power or baraka, which is shared by those who eat the bread. The transformation of the raw wheat to finished bread is used as an analogy for Sufi spiritual development. Sufi ritual observances (dhikr) are concerned with remembrance of God through exaltation and praise. Singing, dancing, and drumming are commonly part of such rituals, as is sharing of food. During preparation of the ashura, Mevlevi Sufis stir the pot in a special way while pronouncing the name of God. Sharing the ashura then becomes a way of spreading remembrance of God in the form of bodily nourishment. Food is served in the precincts of a Dergah , and is served out of a massive pot called a "Deg," and is not necessarily vegetarian. It is also actively distributed to the poor.4Sikhs also use a big pot called "Deg" for preparing langar. Famous Sikh slogan started in 16th century by a famous Sikh Army general, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, was "Deg Teg Fateh" meaning "Victory to the Divine Food and Divine Sword" which was minted on the coins started by the general. , Kathleen Seidel, Serving Love , Serving the Guest: A Sufi Cookbook", September 2000.5
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 365013053.
The opening as it stood in 2015 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Langar is the provision of free food to the needy in a religious context.Even though use of the word "Langar" is mostly associated with a more fundamental element of Indian Sikh religious traditions, but its origin is from Sufism(Islam) because communal serving of food has been a rich tradition in Indian and Persian Sufism , especially of the Chishti Order.There is extensive use of free food imagery and metaphor in Sufi writings. Sugar and other sweet foods represent the sweetness of piety and community with God, while salt symbolizes purity and incorruptibility. Through the pronouncement of Bismallah during the bread-making process, the bread is imbued with spiritual power or barakat, which is shared by those who eat the bread. The transformation of the raw wheat to finished bread is used as an analogy for Sufi spiritual development. Sufi ritual observances (dhikr) are concerned with remembrance of God through exaltation and praise. Singing, dancing, and drumming are commonly part of such rituals, as is sharing of food. During preparation of the ashura, Mevlevi Sufis stir the pot in a special way while pronouncing the name of God. Sharing the ashura then becomes a way of spreading remembrance of God in the form of bodily nourishment. Food is served out of a massive pot called a "Deg" in the precincts of a Dargah (Sufi shrine), and is usually vegetarian. It is also actively distributed to the poor.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 646450884.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Langar (Persian: لنگر) is the provision of free food to the needy in a religious context. Its origin is from Sufism ( Islam ) because serving of food to the needy has been a rich tradition among Sufis, especially of the Chishti Order . There is extensive use of free food imagery and metaphor in Sufi writings. Sugar and other sweet foods represent the sweetness of piety and community with God, while salt symbolizes purity and incorruptibility. Through the pronouncement of Bismallah during the bread-making process, the bread is imbued with spiritual power or barakat , which is shared by those who eat the bread. The transformation of the raw wheat to finished bread is used as an analogy for Sufi spiritual development . Sufi ritual observances ( dhikr ) are concerned with remembrance of God through exaltation and praise. Singing, dancing, and drumming are commonly part of such rituals, as is sharing of food. During preparation of the ashura, mullas stir the pot in a special way while pronouncing the name of God. Sharing the ashura then becomes a way of spreading remembrance of God in the form of bodily nourishment. The tradition of Langar was also adopted by the Sikh community, where it goes by the same name . Food is served out of a massive pot called a deg in the precincts of a dargah (Sufi shrine). It is also actively distributed to the poor.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 931550534.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 13 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Charitable religious practice in South Asia For the Sikh practice, see Langar (Sikhism) .Langar at shrine of Sufi , Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti Langar (Persian: لنگر) is an institution among Sufi Muslims in South Asia whereby food and drink are given to the needy regardless of social or religious background.Its origins in Sufism are tied to the Chishti Order .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1142653467. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “mostly associated with a generally vegetarian food tradition that is more of a fundamental element of indian si”. Today it says “institution among sufi muslims in south asia whereby food and drink are given to the needy regardless of social”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Charitable religious practice in South Asia”. It now reads “Charitable religious practice”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
mostly associated with a generally vegetarian food tradition that is more of a fundamental element of indian si
Now
institution among sufi muslims in south asia whereby food and drink are given to the needy regardless of social
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
