Origin 1699
A plain iron or steel bangle worn on the wrist, one of the five Ks and worn continuously from initiation. It is deliberately unadorned and made of a base metal; it is not gold, and it is not jewellery. The usual explanations are that its unbroken circle is the eternity of God and that it is a restraint on the hand that wears it, a reminder at the moment of acting.
Because it is a plain band and difficult to remove, it has been the subject of school uniform disputes in Britain. In Watkins-Singh v Aberdare Girls' High School, 2008, the High Court found a ban on a pupil wearing a kara to be unlawful indirect discrimination.
Facts
Use
Who May Handle ItSourced to the subject's own accountWorn by initiated (amritdhari) Sikhs as one of the five Ks ConsecrationNot consecrated; an instrument, not a consecrated object 2 Origins
Origin PeriodSourced to the subject's own account Attributions
TraditionSourced to the subject's own account Learn More
The Unbroken Circle Worn on the Wrist
The kara is a plain iron or steel bangle worn continuously from initiation, one of the five articles of faith of the Khalsa, and its meaning is carried in its very plainness and its shape.
Deliberately plain
The kara is made of iron or steel and is deliberately undecorated, a rejection of the value placed on gold and ornament, and it is worn at all times on the wrist once a Sikh is initiated. Its unbroken circle is taken to signify the oneness and the eternity of God, having no beginning and no end, and the metal, common and strong rather than precious, expresses a discipline and a restraint proper to the initiated. The bangle is thus a piece of doctrine worn on the body, a constant reminder present in the field of vision of the hand at work.
A reminder in action
Worn on the wrist, the kara is before the eyes whenever the hand acts, and it is understood as a check on wrongdoing, a reminder at the moment of action that the Sikh belongs to God and to the community and should act accordingly. It is the most visible and the most widely worn of the five articles, kept even by many who have not been formally initiated as a mark of Sikh identity. Among the five Ks it is the one most often seen by others, a plain steel ring that quietly declares an allegiance and recalls a discipline.
Why It Is Forged as One Unbroken Ring
A kara is a single continuous circle of iron or steel with no clasp, no hinge and no join, which means it is forged as one piece or bent from a single length and closed rather than assembled from parts, a deliberately unadorned object next to jewelry that could carry a clasp or a stone.
Material as statement
The choice of plain steel or iron rather than gold or silver is itself part of the object's meaning within Sikh teaching, which discourages ostentation, and a kara is not meant to be valuable as metal, only as the article of faith it represents, one of the Five Ks required of a baptized Khalsa Sikh, though many Sikhs and people of Punjabi heritage wear one as an identity marker regardless of formal initiation.
Wearing it, and what happens when it comes off
A kara is generally worn continuously and for life once adopted, and there is no everyday ritual for removing or replacing it beyond ordinary practicality, a bent or broken one is taken to a smith for repair or replacement rather than treated as scrap metal to be discarded casually. Some families keep a kara that belonged to a deceased relative rather than reworking or selling the metal, treating it as a personal object more than as bullion.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Element Of
The steel bracelet on the right wrist, a circle without end, worn as one of the five.
Found In
Kara, the steel bracelet.
Part Of
The kara is one of the five articles of faith.
Related To
The kangha is one of the five Ks of Sikh observance, alongside the kara.
Sources
1. Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of Conduct
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, 1945the holders' own accountView the Source 2. J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)
J. S. Grewal, Cambridge University Press, 1998on the kara and the five KsView the Source Watkins-Singh v Aberdare Girls' High School [2008] EWHC 1865 (QB)
High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, High Court of England and Wales, 2008Paragraphs 5-12, 55-64
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism
Harbans Singh (editor-in-chief), Punjabi University, Patiala, 1998on the articles of faithView the Source Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
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