Keshgarh Sahib still holds weapons its founder is said to have personally carried, kept as relics rather than as museum pieces behind glass alone.
Weapons kept as living relics
The gurdwara preserves a collection of arms attributed to Guru Gobind Singh and other Sikh figures, including swords and other weapons displayed and, on specific occasions, ceremonially presented to the congregation, treated as sacred objects connected directly to the Guru's own person rather than only as historical artefacts.
A festival built around martial display
Hola Mohalla, an annual festival established by Guru Gobind Singh as a martial counterpart to the Hindu festival of Holi, is celebrated at Anandpur Sahib with mock battles, horse riding and displays of traditional Sikh martial arts performed by the Nihang warrior order, a deliberately physical, disciplined alternative to Holi's more informal celebration.
As this entry's companion article covers
The founding of the Khalsa in 1699, the Panj Pyare who volunteered their lives, and the Guru's reciprocal initiation by the very disciples he had just initiated, are addressed in this entry's companion article rather than repeated here.