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Portrait of The Five Ks of Sikhism

General knowledge · Religion & belief

The Five Ks of Sikhism

instituted at Vaisakhi 1699

Sikhism — the articles of faith worn by initiated Sikhs

The five items that an initiated Sikh wears at all times, each beginning with the letter K in Punjabi — kesh, kangha, kara, kachera and kirpan. They were required of members of the Khalsa when Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, founded it at Vaisakhi in 1699 at Anandpur. Together they make a Sikh immediately identifiable, which was part of the point: the Guru wanted a community that could not melt into a crowd when courage was needed.

How to spot them

  • ▸Panj kakar — five items, each starting with K in Punjabi
  • ▸Instituted by Guru Gobind Singh at Vaisakhi 1699 with the founding of the Khalsa
  • ▸Initiated men take the name Singh, 'lion'; women take Kaur, 'princess'
  • ▸The steel bangle and the small sword are the two most often asked about

Key facts

Uncut hair, a wooden comb, a steel bangle, cotton breeches and a small sword

Kesh, kangha, kara, kachera and kirpan

Instituted at Anandpur in 1699, when the Guru called for volunteers willing to give their heads (1699)

The founding of the Khalsa; the five who stepped forward are the Panj Piare, the Beloved Five

A steel bangle on the wrist — a circle with no beginning and no end

The kara, a reminder of the eternity of God and of restraint in action

A blade whose carrying is specifically exempted under British knife law

The kirpan; section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 allows carrying for religious reasons

Hair never cut, and usually bound up under a turban

Kesh; the turban is the dastar, and the comb is tucked into it

The tenth Guru, who in 1708 declared the scripture itself his successor (1708)

Guru Gobind Singh; thereafter the Guru Granth Sahib is the eternal Guru

Those initiated take the surname Singh if male and Kaur if female

'Lion' and 'princess', adopted to abolish caste surnames

The initiation ceremony in which sweetened water is stirred with a double-edged sword

Amrit Sanskar; the sword is the khanda

Key ideas

  • Each item is practical as well as symbolic: the comb for cleanliness, the breeches for mobility in a fight, the bangle as a guard for the sword arm, the sword as a duty to defend the defenceless — and never, in Sikh teaching, as a weapon of aggression.

Quick-fire facts

  • •The five are kesh (uncut hair), kangha (wooden comb), kara (steel bracelet), kachera (cotton undershorts) and kirpan (small sword)
  • •In Punjabi they are the panj kakar or panj kakke
  • •They were instituted by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, at Vaisakhi in 1699 at Anandpur Sahib
  • •The first five initiates are the Panj Piare, the Beloved Five
  • •Initiated Sikh men take the name Singh ('lion') and women Kaur ('princess'), abolishing caste surnames
  • •Initiation is the Amrit Sanskar, in which sugar crystals are stirred into water with a double-edged khanda
  • •The turban, or dastar, is not one of the five but covers the kesh
  • •In Britain, section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 provides a religious-purposes defence that permits the kirpan to be carried
  • •Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak (1469–1539); there were ten human Gurus
  • •Guru Gobind Singh ended the line of human Gurus in 1708, declaring the Guru Granth Sahib the perpetual Guru

Drill it — 7 cards

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Sources