You are here

Home » News & Lifestyle » Identity

24 Reasons Sikhs Keep Kesh

Why do Sikhs keep long, un-cut hair? Seriously, give me a good reason! What’s the point of my kesh?...

Lakhpreet Kaur

by Lakhpreet Kaur

Source

Sep 17, 2018

Why do Sikhs keep long, un-cut hair? Seriously, give me a good reason! What’s the point of my kesh? Kesh, or uncut hair, is considered to be an essential part of Sikhi. Yet, growing up, no one gave me a convincing answer as to why it is essential or why the Gurus commanded Sikhs to keep long hair. Throughout my life, I keep getting half-baked, unsubstantiated answers. So, I decided to go on a quest, compiling all the solid answers that I could find.

I am not going to give a “seal of approval” to any points or counter any reasoning. Each person’s connection to their kesh is personal and not for me to judge. I will not critique any reasons, as I am not in a position to unearth the validity of each claim, but rather I present them to you so you can judge for yourself.

Below is a brief summary of the different reasons I could find that people give for why Sikhs keep uncut, long hair. Through this limited research, my personal reasons for keeping kesh have become clearer and more resolute. Different reasons resonate with different people.  Hopefully, this may help you find your reasons too. I hope you enjoy this catalogue and find reasoning that works for you.

FAITH

Reason 1: Because the Gurus Said So

  • “When you have faith, you don’t need any absolute reason for doing anything. The Gurus said to keep long hair, so I do. I don’t question it,” someone once told me.

LINK WITH THE GURU

Reason 2: Because the Gurus had Long Hair

  • According to Trilochan Singh in The Turban and Sword of the Sikhs, Sikhs live in the physical image of the Guru, and since the Gurus kept long hair, so do Sikhs. This may be as a tribute to the Gurus’ lives or as a way to live in line with the Gurus’ lifestyle.

Reason 3: Physical Connection to Gurus

  • Long hair can help a Sikh feel connected to the Guru. It is a physical commonality a Sikh shares with their Guru and thus, can serve as a reminder that a Sikh can be Guru-like and must strive to embody qualities the Gurus had.
  • Gobind Singh Manasukhani in Sikh Rahat Maryada and Sikh Symbols  long hair is regarded as the seal of the Guru. Typically, a seal authenticates a document or is placed on package holding valuables. In this light, kesh is the Guru’s seal authenticating the Sikh as his disciple, or long hair can be considered the emblem upon the valuable mind/soul contained within the body.
  • This author believes that long hair symbolizes the spiritual link a Sikh has with the Guru’s power.

Reason 4: Orders

  • Another theory is that keeping kesh honors Guru Gobind Singh’s 1699 Vaisakhi Hukam (command/order) that amritdhari (initiated) Sikhs, must wear the Five Kakars, one of which is kesh. In June of 1699, after the first Sikh Vaisakhi, Guru Gobind Singh Ji issued a hukam nama specifically for the sangat of Kabul on Jeth 26, Sammat 1756 (Bikrami calendar). In this hukham, Guru Ji refers to kesh several times, “Keep your hair (kesh) uncut – this is the seal of the Guru….Look after your hair and comb (with a kanga) it twice a day….Never have any connection whatsoever with those who…celebrate the cutting of children’s hair.”
  •  Some point to the rehatnama (code of conduct) written by Bhai Daya Singh Ji, a contemporary of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, that states, “The hair resides on the body, forsake cutting it.”
  • The Damdami Taksal Rehat Maryada also indicates the importance of kesh, “Unshorn hair
 from your head down to your toes. All hair is to be kept unshorn and your hair is to be tied
 and complemented with a turban.”
  • Writer Sukhmandir Khalsa notes that almost all other rehatnamas lay special emphasis on the maintenance of unshorn hair.

SPIRITUALITY

Reason 5: Saintliness or Holiness

  • In ancient India, it was a general practice with Hindu sages and ascetics to keep long hair tied in a knot on top of their head and keep a long beard. Gurdev Singh hypothesizes in his paper, Perspectives on the Sikh Tradition, that Guru Gobind Singh wanted his Sikhs, despite being householders, to also be karma yogis, or practical saints. Kesh was a way to symbolize this balance of being both in the spiritual and temporal world.
  • This is reiterated by Gobind Singh Manasukhani who states that even today in India, kesh is a symbol of saintliness or holiness.
  • Long hair, says writer G.S. Sidhu, serves as a reminder for Sikhs to behave like the saints and Rishis of the past.
  • Author G. A. Gaskell writes, “Hair of the head is a symbol of faith, intuition of truth, or the highest qualities of the mind.”

Reason 6: Devotion

  • Another theory is that the head of a devout Sikh is an offering to the Guru and long hair is proof of the Sikh’s devotion and a sign of a Sikh’s commitment to their Guru.
  • Others say that kesh indicates a life decided to the services of Wahgeuru and humanity.
  • Some say that kesh is a mark of dedication to the Guru,.

Reason 7: Truth

  • Writer Sukhmandir Kaur Khalsa says that keeping kesh honors truth. Hair, like truth, continually asserts itself despite whatever measures are taken to deny it. Whether plucked, shaved, or curled, or colored, the hereditary disposition and condition of hair cannot be changed or concealed, for hair always returns to its original genetic growth pattern.

INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT

Reason 8: Hair Makes a Person Whole

  • According to author Pamela Margaret Wylam, another reason a Sikh may keep long hair is to establishes a complete and natural person. When the body is whole, it represents a whole spirit, a spirit unlimited by worldly consideration.

Reason 9: Sikh Sovereignty

  • Ideally, Sikhs strive not to conform to time-bound, secular fashion trends; Sikhs seek to be unattached to the world. Thus, Wylam says, long hair indicates a freedom from socially deemed fashionable haircuts. The Sikh is sovereign from social standards of beauty and only behaves in accordance with the Gurus’ standards.

Reason 10: Discipline

  • Personal discipline is central to Sikhi and Gurdev Singh believes that keeping long hair, combing it every day and washing it, develops disciplines.

Reason 11: Vanity

  • Some Sikhs feel that keeping kesh vanquishes vanity. Keeping hair intact is a constant reminder to make conscious choices when facing the challenges of confronting ego.

Reason 12: Self-esteem

  • Keeping kesh builds self-esteem, in another point of view. Keeping hair intact allows one to experience courage, conquer fear, and realize unconditional love.

Reason 13: Eliminates Duality

  • Personally, I believe that keeping all of one’s kesh helps the Sikh eliminates the duality in the mind that may come with cutting hair; that Waheguru made the human perfect but somehow the Sikh is not perfect and thus must cut their hair. Bringing thoughts and actions in line with each other can help establish inner peace.

PANTHIC DEVELOPMENT

Reason 14: A Common Denominator

  • Since every practicing Sikh keeps long hair, it is the common denominator between all Sikhs. It helps connect everyone mentally, reminding Sikhs that they are all striving to reach the same religious, spiritual, social objective, together, says Wylam. Long hair across the panth (global Sikh community) psychologically connects Sikhs to their fellow Sikhs.

Reason 15: Collective Consciousness

  • In his paper A Brief Introduction to Sikhism, G.S. Sidhu writes that long hair across the panth builds collective consciousness among Sikhs; it is a mark of dedication and group consciousness.
  • A Sikh collective consciousness is a set of shared beliefs, values, history, ideas, and moral attitudes which serves as a unifying force within the panth. It plays a role in uniting Sikhs to achieve communal goals and overcome obstacles. “The totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the average members of a society forms a determinate system with a life of its own. It can be termed the collective or creative consciousness,” write sociologist Emile Durkheim.
  • The contents of an individual Sikh’s consciousness are shared in common with all other Sikhs within the panth, creating solidarity through mutual likeness. Such solidarity facilitates the advancement of Sikh interests, objectives, and standards within the panth and also, beyond it.
  • Furthermore, according to Mary Kelsey’s theory (sociology lecturer at UC Berkeley), collective consciousness can bring Sikhs together as a dynamic group to share resources and knowledge.
  • Lastly, collective consciousness in the Sikh context can endow the Sikh panth with unique agency: it contributes to an individual Sikh to think and act in a way that reflects the panthic values. This often promotes positive behavior and deters negative behavior. For example, Sikhs who are highly visible (with a beard, long hair, and/or turban) may think twice about stealing, for instance, since it reflects poorly on all other Sikhs. As Tom Burns and Erik Egdahl state in The Social Construction of Consciousness, those in collective consciousness, “can be considered to possess agential capabilities: to think, judge, decide, act, reform; to conceptualize self and others as well as self’s actions and interactions; and to reflect.”

Reason 16: Kinship

  • Long hair forges an association of the Guru’s disciplines as equals, says Gurdev Singh in Perspectives on the Sikh Tradition, decided to the services of Wahgeuru and humanity.

HISTORICAL CONNECTION

 Reason 17: Kesh Psychologically Connects Sikhs to their History

  • Tirlochan Singh asserts that long hair is a way of keeping Sikhs bound to their past. As Sikhs in the past kept long hair, keeping long hair in the modern era can help connect contemporary Sikhs with the historical Sikh panth, keeping history alive and giving Sikhs strength.

WILL OF THE DIVINE 

Reason 18: It’s a Gift from Waheguru 

  • Some Sikhs believe that hair is provided by Waheguru, with its peculiar distribution over the body, and it should be respected.
  • For some, hair is the symbol of love and respect for Waheguru.

Reason 19: Waheuguru Made Us This Way

  • Another reason some Sikhs keep long hair is to live in harmony with the will of Waheguru. Trimming or shaving only emphasizes the futility of human effort.
  • Kesh indicates a Sikhs acceptance of Waheguru’s will says G.S. Sidhu.
  • Sukhmandir Khalsa says that keeping kesh intact honors the Creator’s intention. Hair is a birthright inherent in the Creator’s design.
  • Others say that kesh is just like any other part of the body and as one would not cut or mutate an arm, for instance, one should not do that to kesh either.

UNIFORM

Reason 20: Sikh Identity

  • The Sikh Coalition asserts that kesh is a part of the daily uniform of a Sikh; kesh forms an external identity for a Sikh.
  • Keeping kesh identifies one as a Sikh, says Sukhmandir Khalsa. Hair is a visible identifier, which distinguishes the Sikh from all other religions and walks of life. Keeping hair intact encourages and gives support to fellow Sikhs.

Reason 21: Fierce Image

  • Gurdev Singh proposes the idea that keeping long hair was to create a fierce and bold, warrior appearance for the Khalsa. The warrior tribesmen of the historic North West Afghan frontier kept long hair, though trimmed, and perhaps the Gurus wished the Sikhs to have a similarly impressive and alarming appearance, thus mandating the keeping of kesh.

 Reason 22: Inexpensive

  • Kesh contributes to the Sikh’s uniform and it is an inexpensive, impressive, permanent uniform accessible to all says Gurdev Singh. Regardless of how poor you are, because kesh costs no money, you can have at least this one article of faith connecting the Sikh to the Khalsa.
  • Adding to this idea, Gobind Singh Manasukhani writes that kesh is a natural uniform.

RELATION TO OTHER FAITHS

 Reason 23: Long Hair as the Antithesis of Hindu Renunciation

  • Some Hindu saints, those who practiced asceticism (abstaining from worldly pleasures with the aim of pursuing spiritual goals), would shave their heads to proclaim their detachment from the world. Sikhs, according to author J.P.S. Uberoi, keep hair to take a stand against this practice: to renounce renunciation, to indicate that they can be part of this world, and still pursue spiritual goals. This Sikh practice fused together the householder/common citizen with the renouncer/spiritual ascetic.

EQUALITY

Reason 24: Reduce Sexual Dimorphism

  • When Singhs adopt the stereotypically “feminine” characteristic of long hair, sexual dimorphism between Kaurs and Singhs is reduced. (Sexual dimorphism is the presences of physically obvious differences between the male and female.) It has been scientifically observed that the lower the sexual dimorphism in a species, the more the social equality. My personal belief is that, the sharing of a physical characteristic (long hair) between Kaurs and Singhs can foster greater social equality and cross-gender empathy.

CONCLUSION

There you have it. 24 reasons people have proposed as to why Sikhs keep kesh. I hope you find one that resonates with you.

Are there any reasons I didn’t come across? Fill me in!

Also, I would love to hear your opinion as to why you, personally, keep kesh.

Sources

Lakhpreet Kaur

Lakhpreet Kaur

Lakhpreet's personal purpose is to help create a more just, compassionate, sustainable, and creative world, specifically through healing the environment, advocating for Sikh rights, and promoting women's empowerment while embracing beauty and humor.

More Articles by This Author

What do we really know about Mai Bhago?

Kaur

Balwinder Kaur Reminisces about Competing in the 1980 Olympics

Notable Sikhs

My Favorite Things About Being Sikh

Perspectives

Tips From Parents: How To Build Strong Sikh Families During Covid-19 Times

Family & Relationships
More articles

Add a Comment