In GURDWARA KESHGARH AT ANANDPUR are preserved six
arms connected with important events in sikh history or the
life of guru gobind singh.the most important of these is the the STEEL KHANDA- a double-edged broad sword-which was used by guru gobind singh,when he prepared amrit or the baptismal water, at the time of the inauguration of the khalsa in 1699.the fresh waters of the sutlej mixed with sugar crystals in an iron vessel ,were stirred with this khanda to prepare amrit which gave new life and spirit to the nation.the second one IS KATAR,OR A SHORT SWORD guru gobind singht wore this weapon on his person and used it on many an occasion for fighting hand to hand in battle or in sport to kill tigers and leopards.
KARPA BARCHHA is broad spear with a blade fashioned in the style of the palm of the human hand.history recoreds twooccasions when it was used.
First it was used by the Youthful Guru Gobind Singh on the occasion of his wedding at a place,about six miles to the north of anandpur sahib ,known as “GURU KA LAHORE”.The guru chose this beautiful spot,rich in natural hill scenery for the celebrations, since he did not like it to travel all the way to Lahore,the provinicial capital of the Mughals.
This spear was used again during the famous siege of Anandpur sahib.The siege had lasted for long time and there were no sign of Sikhs surrending. Kesri Chand,one of the the besieging chiefs proudly said that he would bring guru gobind singh dead or alive,by the next sunset,or not show his face ti his comrades again.This was communicated to the guru,who named his chief of the army,bhai ude singh,to try his strength with the mughal general.Bhai ude singh,armed with weapon of offence and defence including this spear,went out of the fort and challenged Raja Kesri Chand to fight a duet with him.
The challenge was accepted and,in the fight that followed,Kesri chand was vanquished and killed and his severed head,pierced with this spear,was brought to the guru’s camp where it was laid to rest with becoming honours
Nagni barchha is another spear.its blade is cast in the form of SNAKE.In the battle of anandpur it was used by bachittar sigh,a reputed sikh warrior and a younger brother Bhai ude singh.
To break open the gates of the guru’s fort,the enemy brought a mighty,drunken elephant.Seven plates of steel,one upon the other,covered the forehead of the animal,which was following by a large number of soldiers bhai bachittar singh was commissioned by the guru to fight the elephant.the great warrior went forth armed with nagni barchha and a sharp steel sword.ridding his horse and standing in the spear the seven steel plates and wounded the elephant in forehead.with lightning alacrity,he attacked again and cut the elephant’s trunk with a blow of his foot those who were following him. The nagni barchha keeps fresh the memory of the brave deed of bhai bachittar singh ji.
Note :===if u see the weapons of guru gobind singh ji.There weapons r shown every day at 8:00pm in Keshgarh sahib