Mata Khivi — the one woman the scripture names.
Guru Angad's wife, who turned the langar from a gesture into an institution that could feed a town every day. Rai Balwand names her on Ang 967 as a good soul who spreads shade like a leafy tree — and no other woman is named anywhere in the book.
Mata Khivi is the one woman named in the Guru Granth Sahib, and what she is named for is running a kitchen. Rai Balwand's verse on Ang 967 calls her a good soul who spreads shade like a leafy tree and describes the langar she ran — the kheer with ghee, served to whoever came. She managed it for decades, through her husband's Guruship and after it, and Sikh historians credit her with turning a hospitality practice into a permanent institution with stores, staff and a daily rhythm. The fact that she is the only named woman is used two ways in Sikh argument: as evidence that the tradition honoured women's work from the start, and as evidence of exactly how narrow the honour was. Both readings are common in Punjabi women's writing, sometimes in the same essay.
Balwand says Khivi is a good soul, a leafy tree spreading a wide shade.
Rai Balwand, Ramkali ki Var, Guru Granth Sahib Ang 967 (rendered)The only woman named anywhere in the book, and named for running a kitchen.
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