Ferrari & Dähnhardt/Soulless Matter, 9. Deg Tegh Fateh

Today’s Khalsa (nucleus of Sikhs committed to a shared discipline) is a complex of several strands of tradition, each represented vigorously among globally connected Sikh youth. Iron holds a central place in two of these – the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and the Nihangs.

Neither reliance on iron’s protection nor respect for weapons is peculiarly Sikh, nor, as Jewish and Christian scriptures illustrate, is extolling God’s protective power through images of weapons and armor, and invoking this imagery to describe spiritual preparedness. However, the significance of iron for the sixth and tenth Gurūs and its centrality in Khālsā initiation and daily discipline, as well as the invocation of God as sarab loh , combine both to ensure iron’s pre-eminence as an element in Khālsā experience and the Khālsā’s uniqueness among religious communities in this respect.