However, it is more appropriate to use the term for the entire community or a representative gathering of it such as 'Khalsa Panth' or 'Sarbatt Khalsa.' The Khalsa in this context implies the collective, spiritually-directed will of the community guided by the Guru Granth Sahib.Īfter 1699, the Khalsa was established as a Saint-soldier and was ordained to carry the five symbols, Panj Kakka, or the Five Ks: The words 'Khalsa ji' are also used loosely for addressing an individual Singh or a group of them. In Guru Gobind Singh's Dasam Granth, and in many later religious and historical Sikh texts, such as Sarbloh Granth, Prem Sumarg Granth, Gur Bilases, Gur Pratap Suraj Granth and Prachin Panth Prakash, the Khalsa is repeatedly extolled as composed of men of excellent moral qualities, spiritual fervour and heroism. Even the government of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) was called Sarkar-i-Khalsa. During the eighteenth century the volunteer force organized by the Sikhs was known as Dal Khalsa (literally the Khalsa army). Guru Gobind Singh, at the time of his departure from this mortal world, conferred guruship itself upon the Khalsa along with the holy Guru Granth Sahib. The phrase Vahiguru ji ka Khalsa became part of the Sikh salutation: Vahiguru ji ka Khalsa, Vahiguru ji ki Fateh (Hail the Khalsa who belongs to the Lord God! Hail the Lord God to whom belongs the victory!!) Sikhs so initiated on that Baisakhi day were collectively designated as the Khalsa - Khalsa who belonged to Vahiguru, the Supreme Lord. The term 'Khalsa', however, acquired a specific connotation after Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) introduced, on 30 March 1699, the new form of initiatory rites- khande di pahul (rites by khanda or double-edged sword). The word occurs in Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, once, but there it carries the sense of the term khalis, i.e. It has also been employed in the same sense in one of the letters of Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-75) addressed to the sangat of Patna.

In the Sikh tradition, the term appears again in one of the hukamnamas (literally written order or epistle) of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) where a sangat of the eastern region has been described as 'Guru ka Khalsa' (Guru's own or Guru's special charge).

The Sikhs celebrated the 300th anniversary of the day in 1999 with thousands of religious gatherings all over the world. The first time that this ceremony took place was on Baisakhi, which fell on 30 March 1699 at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, India. Khalsa which means 'pure' is the name given by Guru Gobind Singh to all Sikhs who have been baptised or initiated by taking Amrit in a ceremony called Amrit Sanchar.

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