s takes
the termination Singh to his name on initiation, and hence they
are sometimes known as Singhs in distinction to the Nanakpanthis. A
man is also not born a Sikh, but must always be initiated, and the
_pahul_ or rite of baptism cannot take place until he is old enough
to understand it, the earliest age being seven, while it is often
postponed till manhood. Five Sikhs must be present at the ceremony,
when the novice repeats the articles of the faith and drinks sugar
and water stirred up with a two-edged dagger. At the initiation of
women a one-edged dagger is used, but this is seldom done. Thus most
of the wives of Sikhs have never been initiated, nor is it necessary
that their children should become Sikhs when they grow up. The faith
is unattractive to women owing to the simplicity of its ritual and the
absence of the feasts and ceremonies so abundant in Hinduism; formerly
the Sikhs were accustomed to capture their wives in forays, and hence
perhaps it was considered of no consequence that the husband and
wife should be of different faith. The distinguishing marks of a true
Sikh are the five _Kakkas_ or _K's_ which he is bound to carry about
his person: the _Kes_ or uncut hair and unshaven beard; the _Kachh_
or short drawers ending above the knee; the _Kasa_ or iron bangle;
the _Khanda_ or steel knife; and the _Kanga_ or comb. The other rules
of conduct laid down by Guru Govind Singh for his followers were to
dress in blue clothes and especially eschew red or saffron-coloured
garments and caps of all sorts, to observe personal cleanliness,
especially in the hair, and practise ablutions, to eat the flesh of
such animals only as had been killed by _jatka_ or decapitation,
to abstain from tobacco in all its forms, never to blow out flame
nor extinguish it with drinking-water, to eat with the head covered,
pray and recite passages of the Granth morning and evening and before
all meals, reverence the cow, abstain from the worship of saints and
idols and avoid mosques and temples, and worship the one God only,
neglecting Brahmans and Mullas, and their scriptures, teaching, rites
and religious symbols. Caste distinctions he positively condemned
and instituted the _prasad_ or communion, in which cakes of flour,
butter and sugar are made and consecrated with certain ceremonies while
the communicants sit round in prayer, and then distributed equally
to all the faithful present, to whatever caste they may belong. The
above r