Significance Of The Head Turban

By Amanda Baird


The head turban consists of continuous wrapping of clothing usually mounted on hair. Hair gears are regarded differently in the various parts of the world as they have varied uses on the wearer. The culture, medical grounds or religion of a person dictates on how he wears it. However, the wearer is required to maintain cleanliness of the hair by preserving it and not exposing it to dust and dirt.

For the Sikhs, these scarves are seen as part of the skull wear by people from the community. They cover their heads suing the cloth in a bid to respect their beliefs and cultural practices. The practice symbolizes their respect towards their creator. They must wear it as they visit the temple because the place is sacred and must be respected. They also believe that God id everywhere so they have to wrap the scarves all the time.

People in this community also believe that the practice is a requirement from Guru. Hair of a wearer is wrapped inside a cap under the scarf. Therefore, the practice indicates respect for an individual and dedication to the Sikhism. Another belief among people from this community is that they regard it as sacred because it promotes equality among members of the community. Men wear the piece of cloth to symbolize uniformity and unity. They never cut their hair.

In the Islam community, religious leaders must wrap their heads with these scarves. The caps are used to contain hair because of their shapes. They have a conical shape and are mostly white in color. They come in various sizes to suit the needs of each wearer. The Islam community wears white scarves because they regard the color as holly. Green on the other hand is regarded to as a paradise color.

Countries that are governed by the teachings of Islam do require nationals to use scarves as national dress. Different wrapping styles are adopted as prescribed by them and this helps distinguishing the nationals from foreigners. Members of the Taliban community, use long scarves twinned together and having loose ends on them. Loose ends rest on shoulders. Governments in such countries do provide that hats be used as alternatives for scarves.

North African men mostly located along the Saharan Desert do use long scarves to cover themselves from dust and sand. This is because of wind blowing occasionally in the desert. Nomadic tribes like the Tuareg use scarves to disguise themselves from their enemies. Different colors used by them, represents different tribes and is easily spotted across the sand dunes.

Caste and class systems prevalent in India use scarves as a distinguishing feature. Different professionals and medical reasons provide need for scarves to be worn. Hair cancer patients need to cover themselves. Wealth and influence of a person in the society, is dictated by the type of scarves he wears. Palestinian nationals fold hair gears diagonally and then drape them on their hair. Black cords are then used to tie is preventing it from falling off.

Rastafarian also wraps them for religious reasons. They use the head turban to cover their dreadlocks. They use a hand knitted scarf made of three colors.




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