As a thirteen-year-old boy, Gobind Rai saw most of a huge crowd of Sikhs run away in fear after witnessing the beheading of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru and great martyr to the cause of religious freedom. Gobind Rai was determined that when he became the Guru, his Sikhs would not be cowards.

In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, created the “Khalsa” (pure ones). To ensure their appearance would always make them recognizable as Sikhs, he gave them the gift of bana, a way of dressing that is an unmistakable display of Sikh identity and all that it stands for.

Just as firemen, policemen, nurses, and clergy wear clothing that immediately reveals who they are and what service they provide to the public, similarly Sikhs were given a ‘uniform!’ Bana goes far beyond this though, and in the Sikh view bana is a spiritual technology that strengthens our awareness of ourselves as divine beings.

The form of a Sikh is simple. Uncut hair covered with a cloth turban and a steel bracelet (called a kara) worn on the wrist. Many Sikhs also wear a kurta or chola—a loose-fitting tunic over churidars—pants that are loose-fitting around the thighs and buttocks and tight around the ankles, and a cummerbund—a cloth wrapped around the mid-torso region to maintain mild pressure on the solar plexus and internal organs.

Sikhs keep their physical form as the Creator created it, not removing or cutting hairs from any part of the body. A Sikh will not alter his or her body except for medical necessity.