Chandigarh: When Union Minister Hardeep Puri handed over the ‘Jore Sahib’—the sacred footwear of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, and his wife Mata Sahib Kaur—to the Sikh Panth last week, the move was deemed deeply significant for the Sikh community.
Bestowed upon Puri’s ancestors over 300 years ago, the ‘Jore Sahib’ were carefully preserved by generations and will now be relocated to Takht Sri Harimandir Sahib in Patna, Bihar, where they will be displayed.
The relics include the right sandal (size 11” by 3½”) of Guru Gobind Singh and the left sandal (size 9” by 3”) of Mata Sahib Kaur. Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa Panth in 1699, and Mata Sahib Kaur is revered as the “mother” of the Khalsa Panth.
The widely-publicised event has drawn attention to the historical significance of hundreds of relics associated with the ten Sikh Gurus—including manuscripts, clothing, weapons, copper plates, gifts and other personal items—spread across India and abroad. Many are preserved in gurudwaras, or are with individual families upon whom they were bestowed as an acknowledgement for their service.
The Puri family’s dedication of the ‘Jore Sahib’, little known until recently, to the Panth has also sparked discussion among experts, who highlighted the critical need to document these widely scattered relics, and ensure they are scientifically preserved for future generations.
Patna Sahib already houses other relics of Guru Gobind Singh, including a gold-plated cradle (Pangura), his sacred sword, a pair of sandals and four iron arrows.
Among the more prominent and oldest documented relics of the Sikh Gurus in Punjab is a chola, or robe, belonging to Guru Nanak, the first Guru. Believed to be presented to Guru Nanak by a Muslim devotee in Baghdad, the chola bears Quranic verses and Arabic numerals. It is displayed in a glass case at the Gurdwara Langar Mandir Chola Sahib in Dera Baba Nanak.
Apart from Guru Nanak’s chola, another sacred relic is the Chola Sahib, the 400-year-old sacred robe of the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind Sahib, that he wore on the first Bandi Chhor Diwas (Day of Liberation) on Diwali in 1619. The robe with 52 tassels is preserved at Ghudani Kalan, a village near Ludhiana, and is conserved annually.
Guru Hargobind’s other personal items are in a collection maintained by the family of his contemporary, Bhai Roop Chand, in Bhai Roopa village in Bathinda. They include a chariot, a handkerchief, a burner and utensils. Guru Hargobind’s suit of armour is displayed at the Satkartaria dharamshala at Sri Hargobindpur.
Among other relics, Guru Gobind Singh’s sword is at the City Palace in Jaipur. The sword was believed to have been bestowed upon Raja Medini Prakash of Sirmaur. When Padmini Devi, the Sirmaur heiress, married into Jaipur’s royal family, she carried it as part of her dowry.
Elsewhere, the Bagrian family, associated with Guru Hargobind and Guru Gobind Singh, has a collection of relics that includes the Gurus’ ladle, khanda (a small sword), turban adornments, and Gutka Sahib (a breviary). These are displayed on special occasions at the Bagrian Fort in Malerkotla.
“These relics hold profound spiritual, historical and cultural significance for the Sikhs,” Dr Jasbir Singh, head of the Department of History, Panjab University, Chandigarh, told ThePrint.
“These physical artefacts are more than just museum pieces. They are material witnesses to the evolution of the Sikh faith, its ethos of sacrifice and service, its journey from a spiritual movement to a socio-political community, and its struggle for survival through periods of persecution, exile and colonial subjugation.”
He further said, “Their management, display, authentication and preservation are fraught with problems: incomplete provenance, conflicting claims of ownership, pilferage, inadequate conservation, dispersal across private and public collections, and controversies over display and interpretation. These issues need to be addressed.”
Documentation of relics
Experts say that many of these relics, especially those in private hands, are at risk of getting lost or damaged without systematic documentation.
Sikh scholar Roopinder Singh, who authored Sikh Heritage: Ethos and Relics, along with Bhayee Sikandar Singh, told ThePrint that there is an urgent need to systematically document these relics, complete with their history, journey, current location, measurements and condition.
“In our book, we tried to do a small part of the chronicling. The details of relics with some private families had not been put together, which we did. But there are still a lot of relics in India and abroad with families and gurudwaras which need to be catalogued,” he said.
However, experts say the documentation of these relics is challenging as many have been lost or are in private hands.
Scholars say relics held in private families, such as royal descendants or diaspora collectors, are not publicly accessible and at risk of getting lost, damaged, or even sold beyond the community’s oversight.
Roopinder Singh added that several individuals are reluctant to reveal the relics they possess, fearing the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) or the government will force them to hand them over.
“If an assurance can be given by these authorities that individuals who have the relics of the Gurus can continue to own them, preserve and display them, many more relics might surface, which can then be properly documented,” he said.
Jogeshwar Singh, who heads the Sikh Itihaas Research Wing of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), also says that any effort to document the relics is replete with challenges, as many have been lost, while others are either disputed or are in inaccessible private collections.
He added that over the years, some relics that found mention in the earlier texts have gone missing, and pilferage is also not unheard of. The SGPC’s Itihas Board used to give details of these relics in a history journal, the Itihaas Patar, but that stopped being published 40 years ago.
“Some very heroic efforts have been made. One of the most comprehensive works on relics of Sikh gurus came out in 2024, called Sri Sahib ji Sahai by Gurbir Singh and Gagandeep Kaur. It has encapsulated almost every publicly known relic,” said Jogeshwar Singh.
“But a perfectly complete list is not possible to draw up. This is because over the years, relics have been lost and some have been newly found. The claims made by those who have found relics sometimes do not reconcile with the period they are of. Then, there are non-relics with families who refused to display them for the devotees. Replicas of relics have also found their way into public spaces.”
Moreover, there is still no account of the relics that the British administrators of the Punjab took away after the fall of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s empire in 1849.
Gurbir Singh, who wrote Sri Sahib ji Sahai: Relics of the Sikh Gurus, told ThePrint that families blessed to have received the relics as gifts from the Gurus should not be asked to deposit these with the authorities.
“The SGPC or any religious body should not be overzealous in reaching out to the custodians and asking for these back, as these belong to them and are sacrosanct to them. Please do not insist on a central repository or collection that is displayed together in one place,” he said.
“We have tried to chronicle almost all of the relics, and these have been corroborated with the earlier works and references. In documenting these… we have kept in mind that in the Sikh doctrine, there is no place for miracles. So there is no association of these relics with miracles or worship. The weapons are objects of salutation and celebration and they are kept on a pedestal always. Relics connect the dots in our history, give a storyline,” added Gurbir Singh.
Preservation of relics
Gurbir Singh, who travelled for over 11 years chronicling and photographing relics for his book, said that the relics with private individuals are as well preserved as those in gurudwaras and other institutions.
“For these families, these are revered objects, and over the years, they have begun to understand how to preserve them scientifically. They have learnt the process of keeping these items, including weapons, in good shape. Knowledge has been borrowed from the best museums in the world and applied by these families while handling the relics,” said Gurbir Singh.
However, he added that a lack of knowledge in preserving relics has led to damage in some cases.
“For instance, in some cases, rare manuscripts have been stuck in a cardboard or other stronger material to make them last longer, not realising that this is not the correct way of doing it because the sticking material (made of flour and water) itself starts to corrode the paper,” said Gurbir Singh. “Even weapons that might look as if they can last without care need to be taken care of a lot. The amount of light and humidity has to be controlled around these relics.”
Roopinder Singh suggested that the families who own these relics should be provided with assistance to maintain them. While museums have the technical know-how and wherewithal to take care of their possessions, private custodians do not have access to facilities to maintain the relics properly.
Confirming authenticity
Jogeshwar Singh said authenticity claims by several individuals regarding the relics they own, especially when those that have surfaced recently, like in Puri’s case, should be corroborated. Multiple sources available in Sikh literature can be used for such an investigation, he said.
Faced with the possibility of questions being raised about the authenticity of the ‘Jore Sahib’, Hardeep Puri had requested the Ministry of Culture to get the relics examined by experts. Reports from Sikh scholars of the Ministry of Culture concluded that they were indeed the holy ‘Jore Sahib’ mentioned in various historical documents. The ‘Jore Sahib’ are mentioned in the Gurshabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh, written in 1930 by the famous Sikh scholar, Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha.
Carbon testing by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) also confirmed their authenticity. “Puri ji had handed over the ‘Jore Sahib’ to the custody of the culture ministry, and they were maintained by professionals,” added a source.
What next for the relics?
Roopinder Singh says that since these relics are spread all over the world, it is not possible to bring them all under one roof, but they can be documented digitally.
“They are pieces of a common heritage, but in diverse locations. Now, technology is available that can make digitisation and 3D imagery of these relics possible. That way, these can be documented and displayed,” said Roopinder Singh.
But Gurbir Singh said the charm of visiting the places where the relics are kept is incomparable and cannot be matched by digitised versions. “The entire experience of being face-to-face with these relics leaves an unforgettable experience,” he adds.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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