ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SIKH INSIGNIA</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="SIKH,INSIGNIA"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279SIKH INSIGNIA, usually called <i>Chakkar ate Kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> and most commonly used as a distinguishing symbol of faith, consists of a composite figure of a <i>kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> (double-edged sword), a <i>chakra</i> (steel quoit) and a pair of <i>kirp&#257ns</i> (curved sabres). <i>Kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> stands upright in the centre; the <i>chakra</i> encircles it with the hilt and tip of the <i>kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> jutting out : and the swords flanking the <i>chakra</i>, one on either side, blades outwards and their hilts crossing one another over the hilt of the <i>kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> at the base. This figure is used as a crest superimposed on the Sikh flag, printed on letter-heads, book titles, posters, etc., and as a badge on turbans.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Precisely when the <i>chakkar ate kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> symbol first came to be used is not known. It is usually linked with the establishment of Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t by Gur&#363 Hargobind (1595-1644), who is known to have standardized the Sikh flag and who wore two swords one on either side representing <i>m&#299r&#299</i> (temporal sovereignty) and <i>p&#299r&#299</i> (spiritual pre-eminence) respectively, or with the time of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh (1666-1708), who invented the term <i>sarab-loh</i> (all steel) for the Omnipotent God, and who introduced <i>kha&#7751&#7693e d&#299 p&#257hul</i> as the initiatory rite for admission into the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Brotherhood.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The components of the Sikh insignia have a dual significance. Superficially, they represent weapons commonly used during the seventeenth century. <i>Kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> was a long, straight, heavy, flat sword, sharpened at both edges of the blade, comparatively slender at the middle with a tapering tip. The one-foot long replica of it used in the <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> for preparing <i>amrit</i> or <i>p&#257hul</i> does not give a correct idea of the size of the original weapon which was three or four feet in length and could be in some instances so heavy as to be wielded with both hands. <i>Kirp&#257n</i> was, as it still is, a slightly shorter and lighter sabre. The <i>chakkar (chakra)</i> was a quoit with a sharp and lethal edge when thrown by skilled warriors. <i>Kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> is now usually seen as a finial on top of flagstaffs or of domes of <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> buildings, while <i>kirp&#257ns</i> and <i>chakkars</i> are still worn and practised by <i>amritdh&#257r&#299</i> or Niha&#7749g Si&#7749ghs.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For the Sikhs the weapons of the <i>chakkar ate kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> insignia have historical significance and symbolic meaning. Sikhism is a monotheistic faith. The <i>kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> standing upright and alone in the middle symbolizes oneness as well as omnipotence of God, the ultimate goal of sainthood, and its two sharp edges represent spiritual and worldly aspects of the lives of the soldiers of God--their keenness to live and readiness to die in the service of <i>dharma</i>. Similarly, the pair of <i>kirp&#257ns</i> is for the Sikhs reminiscent of the two swords worn by Gur&#363 Hargobind, one representing <i>M&#299r&#299, te<u>gh</u></i> or <i>shakti</i>-- temporal power, and the other <i>p&#299r&#299, deg</i> or <i>bhakti</i> ---spiritual power, charity and devotion. The <i>chakkar (chakra) </i> is one of the oldest Indian symbols representing <i>dharma</i>, a comprehensive term variously interpreted as religion, righteousness, devotion, duty, a system of thought and practice, etc. <i>Chakra</i> is also associated with the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Even Time is conceived in traditional Indian thought as <i>k&#257lchakra</i> and space is visualized as successive spheres. Taken together, the insignia of <i>chakkar ate kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> may be taken to signify "One Omnipotent Being (<i>kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i>) extending beyond the circle (<i>chakra</i>) of Time and Space and flanked by two powers (<i>kirp&#257ns</i>), temporal and spiritual, coalescing at bottom around the feet of the One. Sikhism, though deeply spiritual and devotional, has never been another-worldly religion. For it, the social involvement is as crucial as the mystical experience. The Sikh insignia symbolizes most appropriately the fusion of <i>m&#299r&#299</i> and <i>p&#299r&#299, shakti</i> and <i>bhakti, deg</i> and te<u>gh</u>, saintliness and soldierly valour inherent in the philosophy of the Gur&#363s.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Kohli, Surindar Singh, <i>Sword and the Spirit</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"> Santokh Singh, <i>Sword of the Khalsa</i>. Jammu, 1991<BR> <li class="C1"> Kapur Singh, <i>Par&#257&#347arapra&#347na</i>. Amritsar, 1989<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>Deg Te<u>gh</u> Fateh</i>. Chandigarh, 1986<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>