Living tradition, India
Amritsar
The city of the Golden Temple, the spiritual centre of Sikhism, where unshorn beards are part of faith.
Amritsar is the home of the Harmandir Sahib, the Golden Temple, the holiest gurdwara of Sikhism. For initiated Sikhs, kesh, uncut hair, including the beard, is one of the five articles of faith set by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. The full, untrimmed beard, often tied or rolled under the chin, is among the most widely recognised faces of faith in the world.
Kesh and the beard
Kesh is the practice of leaving hair uncut as a sign of accepting God's creation. Many Sikh men wear the beard full and open; others tie it, roll it or set it with a fixative under the chin, especially for work or sport. The turban, the dastar, covers the head hair. Practice varies, and many Sikhs who trim keep the faith in other ways.
Service and identity
Sikh soldiers have served with beards and turbans in the Indian Army and earlier in the British Indian Army, in their own regiments such as the Sikh Regiment. Armies elsewhere, including in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, now allow Sikh service members to keep beards. The Golden Temple's langar, its free kitchen, serves tens of thousands of people every day.
Guides of Amritsar
Still to be written: Facial hair in the military.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kesh: Carl W. Damman, Public domain, source
- Beard: @nazanin, CC0, source