Sikh Five Ks and Gurdwara Sacred Objects

Initiation comes first. Amrit is sweetened water stirred with a double-edged sword while five scriptural compositions are recited. The initiate drinks it and has it touched to the eyes and hair in the Amrit Sanskar. The ceremony goes back to Guru Gobind Singh founding the Khalsa in 1699, which is where the five Ks begin.

Uncut hair is the first of the five articles and the only one that is the body itself. Because it cannot be set aside like a blade or a bangle, a Sikh who keeps it is identifiable at all times. An initiated Sikh who cuts it becomes patit and may be restored through penance and re-initiation.

The small wooden comb exists because uncut hair must be kept clean. It is used twice a day and kept in the hair. It also stands against the matted hair of the ascetic renouncer, showing that Sikh discipline is exercised in ordinary grooming rather than in withdrawal from the world.

A plain iron or steel bangle, deliberately not gold and not jewellery. Its unbroken circle is explained as the eternity of God and as a restraint on the hand that wears it. In 2008 the High Court in Watkins-Singh v Aberdare Girls High School found a school ban on a pupil wearing it to be unlawful indirect discrimination.

The curved steel blade was mandated for the Khalsa in 1699. It signifies the duty to defend the defenceless and is not to be drawn in anger. It is the article most often tested in law, from the Canadian Supreme Court decision in Multani in 2006 to the religious-purpose defence in the UK Criminal Justice Act 1988.

The cotton undergarment is worn at all times by initiated Sikhs and is one of the five Ks. It is usually explained as signifying chastity and self-restraint, and historically as practical dress for people expected to move and fight.

Here the path moves from the body to the community. The saffron flag, topped with a steel khanda, flies outside every gurdwara to mark a place of shelter and langar food open to anyone. Its cloth is replaced each year at Vaisakhi in the Nishan Sahib Seva.

The whisk of white hair is waved over the Guru Granth Sahib whenever it is open. It comes from the fly-whisk waved over an enthroned ruler in Indian courts, which is the point: the scripture is treated as the living Guru in court. Any Sikh may take a turn waving it as seva.

The trail ends with the food shared at the close of every ceremony. A pudding of flour, clarified butter and sugar in equal measure is blessed near the Guru Granth Sahib and given from one dish to everyone present, whatever their religion or caste, so that no one leaves without taking part.