Vikramjit Singh (Vicky) of Amritsar has been tying turbans for the last 12 years. What started as a hobby became his profession over the years. On an average he ties turbans for 40-50 people daily. These people of mixed communities tie turbans for various occasions, including weddings and also just out of interest. Vicky can tie 5-6 styles of turbans.

A turban (from Persian dulband) is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with prominent turban-wearing traditions can be found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Central Asia, North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, and among some Turkic peoples in Russia as well as Ashkenazi Jews.

Turban, now associated with only Sikhs, was worn by people of all communities in Punjab as safa. Punjabi turban also known as dastar, is a loan word from Persian. Among the Sikhs, the dastar is an article of faith.

There are several styles of dastar/ pagg/ turban: nokk pagg, Chand Tora Dumalla, Amritsari Dumalla, Shia Afghani Turban, Taksali Dumala, Mughali Pagg, Darbara Singh Dumala, Barnala Shahi Pagg, Wattan Wali Pagg, Patiala Shahi Pagg (parna), Dastar Bunga, Puratan Nok Pagg, Amritsari Shahi Pagg and Kenyan or UK style turban.

Bhupinder Singh Thind, the ‘turban coach’ from Jalandhar holds the Limca Book of World Records for the fastest time to tie a turban Patiala Shahi style in 2 minutes and 15 seconds. A documentary showcasing his talent of tying a turban with his eyes covered has also been screened on the National Geographical channel. Youngsters join his academy to learn to tie different styles of turbans including those as worn by their favourite singers such as Inderjit Nikku, Ravinder Grewal, Diljeet Dosanjh style and Ammy Virk. Besides weddings he gets orders from NRI customers also.

Turban tying competitions have been held in various cities of Punjab and also in schools of Jammu. Pagdi Museum at the Gobindgarh Fort, Amritsar displays the history of turbans, tracing the evolution of the Sikh and other pagadi’s from a safa -worn by all (Hindus, Muslims & Sikhs) up until a few decades ago… to the hat-type NRI pagadi.

#turban #punjab