Amrit Sanchar

The word amrit describes something sacred and ambrosial. Since a-mrit means ‘beyond death’, it evokes the sweetness of connecting with the undying Divine, and of awakening timeless, sublime qualities within us.

Amrit is also the sanctified water used in the amrit sanchar, or Sikh initiation. To prepare it, water (evoking purity and humility) is poured into an iron bowl or bata. To this, sweet wafers, or patasay, are added (evoking kindness and compassion). A khandā, or double-edged sword, is then moved back and forth while five daily prayers (nitnem) are recited. The metal signifies strength and resilience, whilst the prayers infuse the amrit with wisdom and sanctity.

At the first historic amrit sanchar, in April 1699, some 230 years of service and sacrifice, by all ten Sikh Gurus, were now distilled into each drop of amrit and the Khalsa’s way of life. By transcending their fear of death, the Panj Pyare had deepened the meaning of amrit as an ‘elixir of immortality’.

The amrit sanchar, then, marks a conscious commitment to the lifelong cultivation of a bond – between our atma (soul, or eternal inner being) and Param-atma (God, the Eternal Supreme Being).