Victorinox’ Baptism By Kirpan

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: Coinciding with the 400th anniversary celebrations of the compilation of the holy book Guru Grantha Sahib on Wednesday is the worldwide launch of the ‘Khalsa’ range of kirpans. This unique initiative comes to Sikhs courtesy Swiss army knife-maker Victorinox.

A few months back, Victorinox executives had told FE that prototypes of the kirpan were being developed in Switzerland with design inputs from Amritsar. “The first kirpan — with a handle made of solid gold and studded with diamonds and precious stones — will be presented to the Darbar Sahib at the Golden Temple in Amritsar before being rolled out in India, UK, US and Canada.”

The tradition of five Ks - kkada (wristwear), kesh (uncut hair), kachh (underpants), kangha (comb) and kirpan (a double-edged dagger-like object) — holds strong among Sikhs. Who are, of course, a prosperous and influential community in the USA, UK and Canada, besides India.

It will be interesting to see how the Swiss-designed kirpan, earlier slated for a Baisakhi release, competes with those made in umpteen factories of Amritsar and sold for Rs 30 to Rs 1,000 to gurudwaras.

For now, nobody’s complaining. Gurmeet Singh, a manager at Bangla Sahib, says that international firms’ promotion of the product will create awareness among a larger section of people about the tradition and teachings of the Khalsa.

Mr Singh points out that demand for kirpans zooms during the collective Amrit-shakhna at gurudwaras when a child, usually at the age of 10-12 years, embraces the kirpan.

Adds Jaspal Singh, Sikh scholar and principal, Guru Gobind Singh College, New Delhi, “The wearing of kirpan is a 400-year old tradition.”

“It was started by the sixth Guru Hargobind after the martyrdom of the fifth Sikh guru. However, the 10th Guru made its wearing compulsory amongst Sikhs,” added Jaspal Singh.

Incidentally, New Delhi’s Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, which receives on an average 50,000 pilgrims a day is gearing up to receive a very special person — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — on September 2.

Mr Singh is likely to visit the shrine in the forenoon to inaugurate the Guru Granth Saheb Research Centre. The new institution will undertake works of historical and literary significance centred around the holy book.

President APJ Abdul Kalam is now in Amritsar paying his respects at the Golden Temple.