September

"Charaina" literally means "four mirrors" and consists of a breast plate, back plate and 2 side plates with cutaways to go under the arms, it is held together by leather straps and buckles on the shoulders and sides. Guru Gobind Singh wore this armour at the Battle of Bhangani which took place on 18 September 1688.

HISTORY

Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth in the line of the Sikh Gurus. He created the saint soldiers known as the Khalsa or 'fraternity of the pure'. The battle with the Hill Chiefs (Pahari Rajas) is narrated by Guru Gobind Singh in his Sri Bachitra Natak in the scriptural text Sri Dasam Granth Sahib. It is in this battle that after having 3 arrows shot at him by Hari Chand that Guru stated 'Jabe Baan Lagyo, Tabe Ros Jagay' or when the edge of the arrow touched my body, it kindled my war spirit.

The Breastplate has verses from the Sikh scriptures the Guru Granth Sahib and the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib. These include parts of the Mul Mantra (root formula) or Japji Sahib, Jap Sahib, Rakhya Shabad, and the Akal Ustat.

The Guru had many swords which had the lines from the Sikh Scriptures etched onto them. One of these was known as the Raekote sword which was taken into the UK by Governor General Dalhousie after the Anglo Sikh Wars. This sword also had verses from the Akal Ustat.

Other sacred objects known as the Toshkhana Sword and the Kalgi (Plume of the Guru) have never been located in the UK. Many objects related to Guru Gobind Singh were returned to India in 1966 by the Dalhousie family. These are now kept at Takht Keshgarh Sahib, Anandpur, Punjab. The 3D version was first demonstrated at California and New York, 2016.