The panj kakkar, informally known as the five k's, are an integral part of Sikh tradition. Comprised of kaccha (undergarments), kara (bracelet), kanga (comb), kirpan (strapped sword or dagger) and kesh (uncut hair), these were the symbols devised by the 10th Sikh guru Gobind Singh to solidify the visual identity of all baptised Sikhs.
Last month Aberdare Girls' School excluded 14-year old student Sarika Singh for wearing her kara bracelet, in apparent contradiction to the school's strict regulations regarding the display of jewellery.
Sarika Singh's family are contemplating judicial review, arguing that the school is infringing on her religious expression.
“I think if she believes in it she should be allowed to wear it,” says Sagoo Singh-Gurcharan, the project manager at the Gurdwara temple in Pearl Street, Splott.
In light of this recent case, he displayed some insight regarding his views on Cardiff, where he has been living for nearly 40 years.
“I came [to Cardiff] in 1970, but prior to that I was in Chesterfield for 10 years and before that I was in Manchester for three years so I’ve been in this country for a while. In fact the longest time I’ve been in any country is Britain," he says, “Although I was born in India, as a child my family moved to Kenya, my schooling was in Kenya and then I came over to Britain to study my degree in civil engineering. I personally have never had any problems in this society – in fact I think this is a very admirable society.”
Despite these positive assertions, I still wondered if this was the case for any of Sagoo Singh’s friends, to which he replied “Over the years you meet so many people; I would say yes, people have experienced, you know, difficulties, but is there anybody who doesn’t? There is always somebody in life who will find difficulties.”
The temple itself has two floors, with a capacity for around 200 people. Upstairs, there is a prayer room, architecturally designed so that beams of light from the window above can shine onto the altar where the Guru (the Sikh holy text) is placed during prayer.
Downstairs, the prominent Sikh symbol of Ek Onkar hangs on the back wall. The Gurdwara’s president, Varinder Singh Bhogal is a figure without religiosity or defensiveness, who is also a contrast to the clean shaven Sagoo Singh, wearing both a turban and a long, white beard.
“A Sikh is always learning – it takes a long time to become pure,” he says. He goes on to explain Ek Onkar more clearly as the principle of oneness with God.
Sikhism does not believe in conversion, but always attempts to offer assistance to people of all different religious backgrounds, “My daughter-in-law is a born-again Christian and I am a Sikh but we just get on very well,” says Sagoo Singh, “We share the greatest respect and I will often ask her for books on Christianity and vice versa.”
This openness expressed by Sagoo Singh is reflected in the weekly Sikh practice of langar, a meal made every Sunday which is open to visitors of all religious denominations. Although Sikhs are not strictly vegetarians, langar food contains no meat so as not to exclude vegetarians from the proceedings.
The practice of kesh, or never cutting one's hair, has an important religious symbolism for Sikhs, who grow their hair as a symbol of God's grace. In recent times, there has been a move away from this tradition, particularly among younger Sikhs. Earlier this year in Scotland, a Sikh boy made claims he was assaulted and had his hair cut off by a gang, but it transpired that he had in fact been lying about it as a convenient and sadly plausible excuse.
Sagoo-Singh has short hair and is clean-shaven, and cites practicality and integration as motivating factors for his emotionally-charged decision.
“I came to this country in 1957 and cut my hair in 1964, when my first child was born," he says, "And I had to ask myself, 'is my child going to have long hair or not?', and I couldn’t see any real reason why he must have, and then I questioned myself ‘if he is not having long hair then why should I have long hair?’”
He then says, “That is not to say there aren’t people who would insist on having long hair…I am one of those who perhaps has slightly moved away [from traditions], but I still believe in the Sikh values.”
On an interesting final note, the taxi driver who provided transportation from the temple, David, has some interesting revelations about his working environment when I mention Sikhism.
“We’ve got a Sikh fella called Dai-Singh, he’s got the turban and all that,” he says, added by “He’s the only one who speaks Welsh out of all of us,” a telling sign of diversity and adaptation within Cardiff’s Sikh population.
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