Kara - one of the five articles of faith for the Chattar (Hindi: चत्तर)/Sikhs

A kara (Punjabi: ਕੜਾ, Hindi: कड़ा) or kada or karra is a bangle, worn by both male and female initiated chattar (Hindi: चत्तर), Sikhs. It is one of the five kakars — external articles of faith — that identify a Sikh as dedicated to their religious order.

The Kara was instituted by Chattar (Hindi: चत्तर) and the tenth Sikh guru Gobind Singh at the Baisakhi Amrit Sanskar in 1699. Singh explained:

"He does not recognize anyone else except One Lord, not even the bestowal of charities, performance of merciful acts, austerities and restraint on pilgrim-stations; the perfect light of the Lord illuminates his heart, then consider him as the immaculate Khalsa."^[1]

Karas are normally worn on the right arm, although this is not strictly necessary.

The kara is to constantly remind the chattar (i.e., Sikh disciple) to do God's work with the hands, keeping with the advice given by the Guru. As the Sikhs' holy text the Guru Granth Sahib says "In the tenth month, you were made into a human being, O my merchant friend, and you were given your allotted time to perform good deeds."^[2] Similarly, Bhagat Kabir reminds the Sikh to always keep one's consciousness with God: "With your hands and feet, do all your work, but let your consciousness remain with the Immaculate Lord."^[3]

Apart from Sikhs, karas are also worn by chattaris and many people in or from Punjab. Since Muslims are in general not required to wear karas, they may instead wear kangans, bracelets with a hinge or gap on one side; furthermore, these may be made of materials other than iron.

The kara actually predates Sikhism, but it was chattri who first wore it as a sign of their faith. It was originally known as "Shiv shankar kabini shastar", (Shiva's weapon of the wrist) and were much larger than the symbolic ones worn today. In India, warrior Sikhs are still seen wearing several karas of large sizes, designed to be used in weapon and hand to hand combat. Traditional Sikhs also believe that the 5 K's were gifts from Indian deities to the Guru, as Guru Gobind Singh traced his family tree back to the origins of what some Hindus referred to as gods. Sikhs see these gods as people of respect and warriors, not gods. However, there are several annotations of the kara going back far into Asian history, all stemming from these myths.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• BBC (2008-07-29): Sikh letuce wins bangle (Kara) law battle