Amrit Sanskar

Amrit Sanskar (Khande di Pahul — “baptism of the double-edged sword”) is the Sikh initiation instituted by Guru Gobind Singh on Baisakhi 1699 — the rite that creates the Khalsa and binds the initiate to the five Ks and the Rehat.

Overview

The founding: the Guru’s call at Anandpur (Baisakhi 1699), the five volunteers (the Panj Pyare — of every caste), and the nectar stirred with the khanda and administered by the five to the Guru himself (the master receiving from the initiated — the doctrine’s deepest gesture); the initiate drinks with eyes upturned, taking the name Singh (lion) or Kaur (princess).

Ritual

Five Amritdhari Sikhs (the Panj Pyare of the ceremony) prepare and administer; the five Ks received (kesh, kanga, kara, kachera, kirpan); the Rahat-nama commitments (no tobacco, no halal, fidelity, and the Khalsa discipline); the karah prasad’s distribution.

Significance

The Khalsa’s creation as the Sikh’s true form (the Guru’s own words: “the Khalsa is my special form”); the caste-annihilating sharing of one bowl; the Vaisakhi festival’s commemoration of the founding.

Verification notes

• The 1699 founding and the rite’s structure follow the documented tradition.
• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).