Mata Khivi

Mata Khivi (माता खीवी, 1506–1582) was the wife of Guru Angad, the second Sikh Guru, and the pioneer of the langar — the free community kitchen that became a defining institution of Sikhism. She is the only woman whose name appears in the bani (revealed verse) of the Guru Granth Sahib.

Life

Mata Khivi was born in 1506 at Khadur (Sangar village, near Khadur Sahib) in present-day Punjab, the daughter of Bhai Devi Chand, a moneyed man of the area. She married Lehna — the future Guru Angad — and raised their children while he served Guru Nanak and, from 1539, led the Sikh community. She outlived her husband (d. 1552) and the guruships of Guru Amar Das and Guru Ram Das, serving the community at Khadur Sahib into the guruship of Guru Arjan. She died in 1582. During the succession dispute involving her son Datu, she is remembered for having sheltered and supported the community through the conflict.

Contributions

Mata Khivi built the langar into an organized institution of loving service, personally supervising the preparation and serving of food at Khadur Sahib so that rich and poor, of every caste, dined together as equals. She trained women in the work of the kitchen, embedding female leadership in Sikh communal life. Her service was praised in verse by the bhatt Satta and Balvand in their ballad in the Guru Granth Sahib — the source of her unique distinction as the only woman named in the Adi Granth’s bani, where she is described as a “shade-giving tree” to all.

Legacy

Mata Khivi is remembered as the matriarch of the langar, the institution that today feeds millions daily at gurdwaras worldwide.

Verification notes

• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).
• Dates (1506–1582) and her unique mention by name in the bani of the Guru Granth Sahib are per Wikipedia.
• Biographical details derive from the bhatt ballads and later Sikh chronicles, which are hagiographic in character.