The kangha is a small wooden comb kept in the hair, one of the five articles of faith of the Khalsa, and it is functional before it is symbolic.
Discipline of the hair
Uncut hair, the kesh, is itself the first of the five articles, and the kangha exists to keep that hair clean and orderly, combed twice a day and tied up, so the comb is the practical companion of the commitment to leave the hair uncut. It is worn in the hair itself, held in the topknot beneath the turban, and its constant presence ties the daily care of the body to the religious discipline. The pairing of the two articles, the uncut hair and the comb that tends it, makes the point that the Sikh ideal is not neglect of the body but its disciplined care.
Cleanliness against matting
The kangha marks a deliberate distinction from the ascetic who lets the hair grow matted and untended as a sign of renunciation, for the Sikh is to live fully in the world, cleanly and industriously, rather than to withdraw from it, and the combed and tied hair is the sign of that engaged and disciplined life. The comb is a plain object, usually of wood, but as one of the five Ks it carries the whole ideal of a religion that rejects both indulgence and world-denying asceticism, insisting instead on order, cleanliness and the honest life of a householder.