While addressing the Indian expatriates in New Zealand, PM Modi shared an emotional anecdote from Sikh history. He told how the family of Union Minister Hardeep Puri had preserved Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s ‘Jode Sahib’ for 300 years.
auckland [न्यूजीलैंड]July 11 (ANI): Addressing a lively gathering of Indian expatriates in New Zealand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared an emotional and unheard anecdote from Sikh history related to his cabinet colleague Hardeep Singh Puri. The Prime Minister revealed how the Union Minister’s family had secretly preserved and cherished the Jode Sahib (sacred Khadau) of the tenth Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, and his spiritual wife, Mata Sahib Kaur Ji, for more than three centuries.
Lauding the family’s final decision to hand over these holy relics to the global Sikh Sangat (community), PM Modi said that these holy relics have now found their permanent home at Takht Sri Harmandir Ji Patna Sahib, Bihar, the holy birthplace of Dasham Patshah. Describing the incredible journey of these remains, the Prime Minister emphasized that they remained safe even during the turbulent times of the Partition of India in 1947.
Puri family had saved ‘Jode Sahib’ for 300 years
The Prime Minister said, “My colleague in the government, Hardeep Singh Puri Ji’s ancestors were dedicated servants of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Hardeep Puri Ji told me that his family had cherished and preserved the ‘Jode Sahib’ of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Mata Sahib Kaur Ji for 300 years. During Partition, Puri Sahib’s family, his ancestors, had brought them safely to Delhi.”
For generations, the Puri family preserved a piece each of Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s right shoe and Mata Sahib Kaur Ji’s left shoe in their personal custody. Recognizing the deep spiritual significance of these objects to millions of people, the family approached the government to facilitate their placement in a permanent repository for public viewing.
The committee of experts took the final decision
PM Modi said that a high-level expert panel versed in historical Sikh protocols was constituted to scientifically validate and determine the final resting place of these antiquities. The PM said, “His family wanted to hand over these sacred ‘Jode Sahib’ to the Sikh ‘Sangat’ so that more and more people can have darshan and respect them. We formed a committee of people well-versed in Sikh traditions. We took the advice of experts and decided to take these sacred ‘Jode Sahib’ to the place where Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji first stepped on this holy land, to his birth place, our Sri Patna Sahib.”
Relics installed in Patna Sahib after grand journey
The installation of these relics was preceded by a massive ‘Guru Charan Yatra’, a 9-day, 1,500 kilometer spiritual procession. This journey took ‘Jode Sahib’ from New Delhi through four states and reached Bihar on 1 November. PM Modi recalled his personal good fortune to witness this divine occasion.
Concluding his address with a heartfelt request to the Indian-Kiwi community, PM Modi urged NRIs to make a spiritual pilgrimage to Bihar during their next visit to India. He said, “I am happy that these sacred ‘Jode Sahibs’ are now on the sacred ground of Patna Sahib, and it was my good fortune to witness and be present there on that sacred occasion. I would also urge you that whenever you come to India, you must visit Patna Sahib.”
Scientific investigation confirmed it to be 300 years old
‘Jode Sahib’ refers to a pair of 300-year-old sacred slippers. The relic includes a right shoe (measuring 11 inches by 3.5 inches) of the tenth Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, and a left shoe (measuring 9 inches by 3 inches) of his spiritual wife, Mata Sahib Kaur Ji. Its last direct patron was Jasmeet Singh Puri, a cousin of Hardeep Singh Puri, who lived in Karol Bagh, New Delhi. Following his demise, his family requested Hardeep Singh Puri, as the eldest male member, to find a permanent, public home for the remains so that the global Sikh community (Sangat) could view them and pay their respects.
Before the remains were shifted, a high-level committee of Sikh scholars, historians and leaders was formed to evaluate their safety. The Ministry of Culture of the Government of India was entrusted with the task of verifying their antiquity. The Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts (IGNCA) conducted extensive scientific analysis, including carbon-14 testing, on the materials. In April 2024, the IGNCA formally released a report confirming the 300-year-old antiquity and authenticity of the ‘Jode Sahib’, which matches the time-frame of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
In September 2025, Minister Hardeep Singh Puri met PM Modi to present the recommendations of the committee. It was decided that the holiest destination for the remains would be Takht Sri Harmandir Ji Patna Sahib in Bihar. On October 22, 2025, after a formal ardas (prayers) at Puri’s residence, the remains were handed over to the Panth. On October 23, a massive, 9-day, 1,500 kilometer spiritual procession named “Charan Suhawa – Guru Charan Yatra” began from Gurudwara Moti Bagh Sahib in New Delhi. Protected by the Panj Pyaras, the yatra crossed Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. On November 1, 2025, ‘Jode Sahib’ was permanently and ceremoniously installed at Takht Sri Patna Sahib, where it is now kept for public viewing.
Sikh community in New Zealand
Notably, in 2013, New Zealand was home to more than 19,000 Sikhs, a religious and ethnic community based in the Indian state of Punjab. The population more than doubled between 2006 and 2013, and had increased nearly sevenfold since the 1990s. The New Zealand Sikh Society was established in 1964. Before changes in immigration policy in the 1980s, the number of Sikhs was very small. The first Sikh Gurdwara (temple) opened in Hamilton in 1997. Seven more Gurudwaras were established in the Auckland region, and others in Tauranga, Te Puke, Hastings, Palmerston North and Wellington, and in 2009 the first South Island center was opened in Christchurch. (ANI)
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