A kara (Punjabi: ਕੜਾ, Hindi: कड़ा) or kada or karra is a bangle, worn by both male and female initiated 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 the tenth Sikh guru Gobind Singh at the Baisakhi Amrit Sanskar in 1699. Guru Gobind Singh Ji 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]
The kara is to constantly remind the 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 as a weapon in hand to hand combat.
References
- ^ Siri Guru Gobind Singh Ji in the Dasam Granth, page 1350
- ^ Guru Granth Sahib, page 76
- ^ ||213|| - Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, page 1376
See also
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