THE FIVE SYMBOLS OF SIKHISM

Abstract

The paper addresses three contemporary issues pertaining to the five Sikh symbols known as the Five Ks, specifically the decline in their observance in the Sikh homeland, that is, the State of Punjab in India; the difficulties being experienced by Sikh immigrants in Europe and North America in preserving their formal identity; and the academic controversies over the genesis, meaning and significance of the Five Ks. The first brief section describes the scale at which the Sikh youth are abandoning the two main markers of their traditional identity – unshorn hair and the turban - and stresses the need for a deeper investigation of this phenomenon in the light of sociological theory and research. The second section exposes the problems that the baptized, or traditional, Sikhs face in preserving their identity and symbolism in North America and Europe. Although the discussion primarily references restrictions placed on the wearing of Sikh symbols in public schools in America and France, the problem is more general. It is suggested that the Sikhs need to non-violently resist discriminatory or exclusionary practices in western countries guided by the ethos of their own faith. The third and last section, which forms the main body of the essay, deals with academic controversies surrounding the origin and significance of the Sikh symbols. On the basis of close textual analysis, the paper critically examines a host of interpretations – commonsensical, mystical, cosmological, structural, empiricist, psychoanalytical and feminist – of the Five Ks, and presents conclusions. The Sikh symbols signify and affirm that the spiritual concerns of human beings cannot be separated from their temporal and material concerns.