(Better Business Bureau and Khalsa Raj)
Blades of faith
Jot S Khalsa owns Khalsa Raj in Millis, MA, where he designs, creates and sells fine jewelry, artful objects and collectible knives. His artful designs can also be purchased via Khalsa Raj’s online store.
Interestingly, Khalsa discovered his faith and the practices of yoga and meditation in the early 70s. These discoveries influenced the designer’s choice of careers. For reference, Khalsa practices Sikhism, an Indian monotheistic religion India that believes in equality for all and serving others.
When Khalsa was in his late teens, he moved to California and worked for an artist whose specialty was creating display pieces. Khalsa’s job was to add the finishing touches to the objects. “I learned I was quite capable with my hands,” he said. The budding artist moved back home six months later and then enrolled at the State University of New York (SUNY) to study metalsmithing.
Khalsa reminisced about his time in college. “I spent six years in an undergraduate program learning from master metalsmith professors and graduate students while deeply immersing myself in art, metals and mostly jewelry fabrication.”
While honing his craft at SUNY, Khalsa created a kirpan, a small dagger that Sikhs wear as a part of their religious practice. “It was 1978 when I made this first kirpan, and it was fabricated as a senior studio project in my metalsmithing class. It was more decorative than anything else—solid sterling silver with brass rivets and resin. It was the beginning of a life-long love of and devotion to the Sikh faith and ethos through the creation of swords, kirpans, jewelry and artwork,” the metalsmith said.
Khalsa attended the New York Knife Show in the early 1980s, which inspired him to start his own design business. “With the help of a colleague, I took out a loan, invested in some knife-making equipment and materials and set up a small studio.”
The knife and sword maker elaborated on a kirpan’s purpose. “[It is] a sacred defensive weapon. It’s only meant to be used to protect oneself or others. And so that’s why we offer all of the edged weapons, the kirpans, the knives. That’s who I have been for almost 45 years now—custom knife and sword maker.”
The designer shared a little bit about his customers. “My clientele for quite a few years was collectors all over the world. I used to go to knife shows in Switzerland, in France, all through the United States and Japan. Yeah, I have been doing that kind of thing for almost 45 years, creating one-of-a-kind artifacts. I created almost a $70,000 special kirpan for a gentleman's wife. We finished that, and I just texted him this morning because he wanted to have us build a special stand.” Khalsa continued and said, “A very special kirpan that we made was given as a gift to a temple in India back in just a few years ago.”
Additionally, the designer shared that he believes that sacred knives and swords are symbols that can inspire their owners to find strength and inner peace. “I’m afforded the capability to create things I’ll refer to as things that can help people heal themselves, can help people get the strength they need these days to carry on, to continue what they’re given to do in this life.”
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