The khanda used in initiation is a genuine double edged steel sword, forged rather than cast, kept distinct in most gurdwaras from the emblem of the same name that combines a sword shape with a circular chakkar and two crossed kirpans on flags and insignia.
Forging and upkeep
Blacksmiths producing a ceremonial khanda work to the same double edged, straight bladed pattern regardless of size, a form with no curve and no single cutting edge, distinct from the kirpan's more knife-like blade. A gurdwara typically owns and maintains its own khanda rather than sourcing one freshly for each ceremony, and it is cleaned and stored with the same care given to other consecrated implements kept near the Guru Granth Sahib.
Who is permitted to use it
During Amrit Sanchar, the Sikh initiation rite, the khanda is used exclusively by the Panj Pyare, five baptized Sikhs formally authorized to administer the ceremony, who stir the sweetened water, amrit, with the blade while reciting scripture. This is a genuine restriction on handling, an unauthorized person does not perform this role regardless of their standing in the community, since the ceremony's validity depends on it being carried out by initiators who have themselves undergone it.