Turbans and their Art

In English, Turban refers to several types of headwear popularly worn in the Middle East, North Africa, Punjab, Jamaica and Southwest Asia. A commonly used synonym is Pagri, the Indian word for turban Contemporary turbans come in many shapes, sizes, and colours.

• Middle Eastern, Central Asian, South Asian, and Sikh turban wearers usually wind it anew for each wearing, using long strips of cloth. The cloth is usually five meters or less. However, some elaborate South Asian turbans may be permanently formed and sewn to a foundation. Turbans can be very large or quite modest dependent upon region, culture, and religion.
• Traditionally, "turban" has been the name of a type of headwear worn by women in Western countries. The wear of such turbans by women in Western societies is less common than it was earlier in the 20th century. They are usually sewn to a foundation, so that they can be donned or removed easily.
• Women in many parts of Africa and the West Indies often cover their heads with intricately tied scarves which may be called scarves, head wraps, or turbans.
• Men of the Tuareg, Berber, Songhai, Wodaabe, Fulani, and Hausa peoples of North and West Africa wear turbans, often veiling the face to block dust.
• People of Kenya tie a distinct style, sometimes called "valeti style". [citation needed] The cloth they tie it with is sometimes starched and the finishing normally includes a sharp point. This style is most commonly tied in the UK and in Kenya.
• Afghan turbans

• Turbans are part of the national dress in Afghanistan. In this particularly pious country, they are used more widely than elsewhere in the Muslim world, and are worn in a wide range of styles and colors. The turbans worn by the Taliban are either black (for descendants of Muhammad) or white, and have particularly long tails, while most other Afghans prefer shades of gray, green and brown. In the country's southeast, turbans are wrapped loosely and largely, whereas in Kabul turbans tend to be smaller and tighter. In traditional Afghan society, Turbans also serve practical purposes such as for wrapping oneself against the cold, to sit on, to tie up an animal or to carry water in the cap.
• In 2011 during the war in Afghanistan, a number of suicide bombers used their turbans to hide bombs in – a phenomenon termed "turban-borne improvised explosive device" (TBIED) by American troops. In response to this, turbans are now systematically searched during security checks, a practice perceived as demeaning by many Afghans.
• Indian turbans
• In India the turban is referred to as a pagri, meaning the headdress that is worn by men and is manually tied. There are several styles, specific to the wearer's region or religion, and they vary in shape, size and colour. The pagri is a symbol of honor and respect everywhere it is worn; it is a common practice to honor important guests by offering them one to wear. Colours are often chosen to suit the occasion or circumstance: for example saffron, associated with valour, is worn during rallies; white, associated with peace, is worn by elders; and pink, associated with spring, is worn during that season or for marriage ceremonies.
• During the British period the Muslim elites of South Asia, especially in western Punjab, used to wear a long pagri which was also a symbol of nobility, honor and respect. In the Muslim majority regions of Punjab and Sindh members of the land aristocracy always wore elaborate turbans known as the pagri. It was a part of the full formal dress that included the sherwani.
Sikh turbans
The Sikh turban, known as the Dastar or a Dumalla, is mandatory for all Khalsa Sikhs to wear. (In the West, many Sikhs who wear pagri, olden Arab style turban, are sometimes mistaken for Muslims or Arabs). The Rajastani turban is also commonly called the pagari. The Sikhs have a long history of being warriors and referred to as saint-soldiers, since their rise in the 1600-1700's. Their turban style and attire gives the identity of a warrior religion
All Sikh Gurus since Guru Nanak Dev Ji have worn turbans. However, covering one's hair with a turban was made an official policy by Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs. The main reasons to wear turban are to take care of the hair, promote equality, and preserve the Sikh identity.
As a symbol of respect for God, Sikhs do not cut their hair. The turban protects the hair and keeps it clean. People from many other religions including Hindus, Jews, and traditionally many Christians including Catholics only cover their head during worship (Source: Christian Head Covering). Because Sikhs believe God to be present everywhere, they wear their turban at all times.

Rastafari turbans
Members of the Bobo Shanti mansion of the Rastafari movement keep their hair and beards, mainly keeping their hair in dreadlocks, they have been wearing turbans over their dreadlocks protecting and keeping their dreadlocks clean, along with wearing robes since their founding in the 1950s,being a small population it makes them more distinctive in appearance in Jamaica and elsewhere.

Sikh men commonly wear a peaked turban that serves partly to cover their long hair, which is never cut out of respect for God's creation. Devout Sikhs also do not cut their beards; so many Sikh men comb out their facial hair and then twist and tuck it up into their turbans along with the hair from their heads. Sikhism originated in northern India and Pakistan in the 15th century and is one of the youngest of the world's monotheistic religions. There are an estimated 18 million Sikhs in the world, with some 2 million spread throughout North America, Western Europe and the former British colonies

Muslim religious elders, like this man from Yemen, often wear a turban wrapped around a cap known in Arabic as a kalansuwa. These caps can be spherical or conical, colorful or solid white, and their styles vary widely from region to region. Likewise, the color of the turban wrapped around the kalansuwa varies. White is thought by some Muslims to be the holiest turban color, based on legends that the prophet Mohammed wore a white turban. Green, held to be the color of paradise, is also favored by some. Not all Muslims wear turbans. In fact, few wear them in the West, and in major cosmopolitan centers around the Muslim world, turbans are seen by some as passé.

Afghan men wear a variety of turbans, and even within the Taliban, the strict Islamic government that controls much of the country, there are differences in the way men cover their heads. This Taliban member, for example, is wearing a very long turban — perhaps two twined together — with one end hanging loose over his shoulder. The Taliban ambassador to Afghanistan, on the other hand, favors a solid black turban tied above his forehead. And some men in Afghanistan do not wear turbans at all, but rather a distinctive Afghan hat. Iranian leaders wear black or white turbans wrapped in the flat, circular style shown in this image of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The word turban is thought to have originated among Persians living in the area now known as Iran, who called the headgear a dulband.

Iranian leaders wear black or white turbans wrapped in the flat, circular style shown in this image of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The word turban is thought to have originated among Persians living in the area now known as Iran, who called the headgear a dulband.

Indian men sometimes wear turbans to signify their class, caste, profession or religious affiliation — and, as this man shows, turbans in India can be very elaborate. However, turbans made out of fancy woven cloths and festooned with jewels are not unique to India. As far away as Turkey, men have used the headgear to demonstrate their wealth and power.

The kaffiyeh is not technically a turban. It is really a rectangular piece of cloth, folded diagonally and then draped over the head — not wound like a turban. Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, has made the kaffiyeh famous in recent times. However, the kaffiyeh is not solely Palestinian. Men in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Arab Persian Gulf states wear kaffiyehs in colors and styles that are particular to their region. Jordanians, for example, wear a red and white kaffiyeh, while Palestinians wear a black and white one. And a man from Saudi Arabia would likely drape his kaffiyeh differently than a man from Jordan. The black cord that holds the kaffiyeh on one's head is called an ekal.

Desert peoples have long used the turban to keep sand out of their faces, as this man from Africa is likely doing. Members of nomadic tribes have also used turbans to disguise themselves. And sometimes, the color of a person's turban can be used to identify his tribal affiliation from a distance across the dunes. This man's turban is a very light blue. In some parts of North Africa, blue is thought to be a good color to wear in the desert because of its association with cool water.