India’s Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and former Ambassador to the United Nations, Hardeep Singh Puri, has urged the Central Government to ensure the safekeeping and respectful display of the “holy Jore Sahib,” footwear belonging to the tenth Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, and his wife, Mata Sahib Kaur Ji.The sacred relics have remained in the custody of the Puri family for over three centuries.
Announcing the development on X, Minister Puri wrote: “Along with a committee of several eminent and well known members of the Sikh Sangat, called on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to submit the recommendations of the committee for the safekeeping and befitting display of holy ‘Jore Sahib’, belonging to the founder of Khalsa Panth, Dasam Pita Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj and his wife Mata Sahib Kaur Ji.”
The relics include one footwear each – Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj’s right shoe (measuring 11 inches by 3½ inches) and Mata Sahib Kaur Ji’s left shoe (9 inches by 3 inches). According to the family, these relics were bestowed upon their ancestors by Guru Sahib and Mata Ji over 300 years ago.
Following Puri’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the question of where the “holy Jore Sahib” should be housed for public “darshan” has sparked animated discussions among Sikh scholars and community leaders. Suggestions include major Sikh shrines and museums at Sri Amritsar Sahib, Sri Anandpur Sahib, Sri Patna Sahib, or New Delhi. Notably, Sri Anandpur Sahib, where Guru Gobind Singh Ji established the Khalsa in 1699, already hosts two Sikh museums.
Sharing the family’s historical connection with the relics, Puri wrote on social media, “Our ancestor had the great divine blessing to be in the direct service of Dasam Pita. Legend has it that pleased with his seva, Guru Maharaj commanded him to ask for any reward in return. Our ancestor requested Guru Sahib to kindly grant him his divine permission to keep the sacred ‘Jore Sahib’ so that the direct blessings of Guru Sahib and Mata Ji continue in his family and their generations to follow.”
The last custodian of the relics was Puri’s late cousin, Sardar Jasmeet Singh Puri, who lived in Delhi’s Karol Bagh. In recognition of the sanctity of the relics, the street was renamed ‘Guru Gobind Singh Marg.’ After his passing, Jasmeet Singh Puri’s wife, Manpreet Kaur, requested Hardeep Singh Puri, as one of the eldest family members, to find an appropriate home where devotees could pay obeisance to the revered ‘Jore Sahib’ in larger numbers.
The relics have since been examined by the Ministry of Culture and authenticated through carbon testing, confirming their religious and spiritual significance. A committee of Sikh representatives has prepared and submitted recommendations to Prime Minister Modi regarding their preservation and display.
Puri underscored the Prime Minister’s commitment to Sikh heritage, stating, “PM Modi Ji’s unmatched affection towards our Sangat reflects in several compassionate & visionary decisions taken under his farsighted leadership in the last transformative eleven years.”
According to the Minister, Modi has also shown “keen personal interest” in enhancing Sikh religious sites and improving connectivity and accessibility to these places of pilgrimage.