Talk:Five Ks/Archive 1

Five K's? Shouldn't it be Five Ks?

I can't move this. Can someone move this to the Five Ks? Montysol (talk)

It's a plural not a possessive. It's the Five Ks.

Montysol (talk) 00:39, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

I agree. Salopian (talk) 18:01, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

Should 5K redirect here?

I am not familiar with your sometimes elaborate rules of order but I think when people search 5K they are probably looking for the run. I am not switching it because I don't feel qualified or informed to. 24.181.29.106

Shorts eh? What about the Kris? Wetman 04:46, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Sikh sex

"at all times" they must wear these?

What if they're having sex? Do they wear all the Ks then? And I've always wondered with the sword - surely that'll have to a) get sharpened sometime so they'll have to take it off; or b) when they go through those metal detectors-what then? Surely they cant take them through? Or maybe Sikhs dont travel? I dunno. Explanations would be awesome --Thewayforward 16:20, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Is a kesh just the long hair, or is it a turban????

I think this question highlights a problem with this article and its subsidiary articles. Obviously, these rules are kept with varying degrees of strictness within the Sikh community. Not all Sikh men have an uncut beard. Sometimes it's cut for reasons of practicality or culture. But these articles give the impression that any Sikh who cuts his hair is immediately ostracized. Someone needs to figure out how strictly these rules are obeyed in the community at large. --Kerowyn 08:39, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Although I have no firm statistics, I would say that the majority of Sikhs no longer keep their hair uncut (either in India or outside of India). And no, a Sikh with long hair who purposefully cuts his hair may be looked down upon by fully adhering Sikhs, but not ostracised. Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 20:33, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Spelling of Kaccha/Kachha

This has been spelt two different ways on the page. I don't know the right spelling and so cannot fix it myself.

Elsewhere on wikipedia it is also speld Kacha, and the subject heading to that section is Kachera. The first thirteen I could see being equally correct due to transliteration, but Kachera seems like an odd one out if it's pronounced as it's spelled. A little explaination would be helpful in that section. Cat Parade 17:27, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

It's the result of DIY transliteration from Gurmukhi to Latin script. This problem is evident across all the Sikhism pages and needs to be fixed - which I'm working on atm :D Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 19:12, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Kesh

What is kesh (the kesh)? Long hair? A comb?

Ah, I found the answer in Sikhism. (It's long hair.) Rangek 03:39, 2005 Apr 14 (UTC)

Also, the last paragraph makes the following extraordinary statement with no information to back it up:

"Recent scientific research into hair has revealed that it has greater functions that previously thought. It appears that the length of hair is linked to the intelligence of an individual, health, spirtuality and many other things."

I have not heard of this "recent scientific research" before and I don't believe it. I will take the liberty of removing this paragraph unless some one can point me to a credible source. --Rangek 19:00, 2005 Apr 13 (UTC)

I remember someone telling me that sikhs will cut their hair if and when all the muslims in the world (or is it india?) die.. I know this sounds silly and outrageous but if someone will clarify if this is just an old wives tale or based partly on truth. Tx and I don't mean to offen any religion, just a bit curious to know the truth. Idleguy 03:29, August 13, 2005 (UTC)

POV?

I believe the statement "It is important to remember that a Sikh would never use the Kirpan in anger or for a malicious attack." is untrue and POV. I know of at least [3 cases] in western Canada where kirpans were used in exactly that matter. I have no particular issue with Sikism, and only ask that this sentence be removed.

I realize the contentiousness of this statement, in fact the local media was heavily criticized merely for reporting the Surrey attack. However, false POV statements like that quoted only discredit Sikhism. Corvus 04:45, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

Page move

I've moved this form 'Sikhs Five Ks' to simply 'Five Ks' because "Sikhs" in this context is both unnecessary and ungrammatical.--Pharos 19:00, 5 May 2005 (UTC)

Split

Each of the Five Ks is worth a separate article. On the Sikhism page there is a separate link for each term all leading back here. I think it might be a good idea to keep this as a disambiguation page, but have Main Articles for each K. freestylefrappe 20:05, September 8, 2005 (UTC)

• I agree in principle that each of the Five Ks does certainly deserve a separate article, but I don't think the information here is developed enough to warrant a split as yet. This isn't really an issue of disambiguation, but of an overlying concept with a number of set elements, so it is quite useful to have them discussed together. When we get some more dedicated editors knowledgable about Sikhism and the individual sections develop beyond a few paragraphs each, then it will be appropriate to split off the info and keep only summaries of the elements at this page.--Pharos 01:06, 9 September 2005 (UTC)

clarification...

FTA: "Like breeches, Kaccha can be worn on their own without causing embarrassment. Thus it is quite useful in hot weather, swimming and sports activities." -- I am unclear... does this mean that they are worn like underwear!? Could someone please reword this to make it more clear if they know the answer to my question ... -- Abscissa 03:25, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Etymology of Kirpan

The article says "Kirpan comes from the word 'KIRPA' and 'AAN'. Kirpa means an act of kindness or a favour; 'aan' means honour, respect, and self-respect."

I'd like to see a linguistic reference for this. I think "kirpan" is Sanskrit or proto-Sanskrit for an object that cuts. Compare to Lithuanian "kirpti", meaning to cut, or "kirpėja" meaning hairdresser (she who cuts). So, I find it more likely that "kirpan" comes from words about cutting than it comes from words for kindness and honour. Another reason for this is that the "-an" at the end of "kirpan" is a grammatical nominative ending. Compare to "shuoan", Sanskrit for dog, and Lithuanian "shuo", a dog. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.93.190.84 (talk) 08:53, August 25, 2007 (UTC)

Incorrect 'Kachera' picture

I would request someone to change the picture of the Kachera. The one shown currently is NOT the traditional Kachera worn by Sikhs. Eharpinder (talk) 15:58, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I second the above opinion, the pic should be changed. The ideal item would be a homemade garment traditional Sikhs normally wear. This seems to be an industry made thing.  Jon Ascton  (talk) 19:22, 24 September 2010 (UTC)

Rewrite

This article is in need of significant revision - not so much in content, but certainly in style. Phrases like "...if you see a Sikh around today..." and "...so it is not a tricky job when they tie their hair..." are hardly encyclopedic quality. I will attempt to rewrite and ask others to do so too. Zengakuren (talk) 00:54, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

I had the _exact_ surprise reading "...if you see a Sikf around today..." When "today" is used, does it mean the epoch or literally today as November 18? Even though I know nothing about Sikhsm, I was sure it was just a bad sentence. Should be modified. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.165.135.208 (talk) 04:16, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Brass knuckles and 3 m daggers

Are we sure about this: "Kara - iron bracelet ... used as brass knuckles, ... circular edged weapon that can be thrown" and "Kirpan - strapped curved sword ... up to one to three meters in length" (emphasis added)? Keeping a weapon under the turban sounds like an urban myth, and a 3 m long dagger would be highly impractical to carry. In fact, this sounded so much like vandalism added by a single user, that I have reverted it. Astronaut (talk) 14:03, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

Quotations

Can someone who reads Punjabi take a look at the quotations. "ਨ, ਕੰਘਾ, ਕੇਸਕੀ, ਇਹ ਪੰਜ ਕਕਾਰ ਰਹਿਤ ਧਰੇ ਸਿਖ ਸੋਇ ॥" seems incomplete (barely long enough for the translation), the translation of "ਕੰਘਾ ਦੋਨਉਂ ਵਕਤ ਕਰ, ਪਾਗ ਚੁਨਹਿ ਕਰ ਬਾਂਧਈ ॥" stops in mid-sentance, and for "ਸ਼ਸਤਰ ਹੀਨ ਕਬਹੂ ਨਹਿ ਹੋਈ, ਰਿਹਤਵੰਤ ਖਾਲਸਾ ਸੋਈ ॥" the trnslation makes little sense ending with "...Khalsa with excellent rehats" (what is a rehat?).

I also think it would be a good idea to add an appropriate quotation to the Kara section. Astronaut (talk) 16:26, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

Turban

I strongly hold the belief that the turban is only meant for male Sikhs, it's clearly a highly masculine item and looks awfully ridiculous on women, for ideal Sikh lady keeping a chunni, (on uncut hair of course) is more than good. I would even recommend SGPC from forbidding women to wear a turban. Kindly give reply on my talk page. Thanks  Jon Ascton  (talk) 19:28, 24 September 2010 (UTC)