A length of cloth that tells a whole life
The first thing you notice: across Rajasthan the turban is the first thing you see about a man and the last thing he will part with.
Shade and warmth: it shields the head from a desert sun that can pass forty-five degrees, and keeps out the cold of a winter night.
- Names
- Safa, pagri, pag, paag and pagdi
- Safa
- Broad and loose, with a tail
- Pagri
- Long, narrow, wound tight
- Length
- A few metres for a safa, far more for a pagri
- Tying time
- A minute or two for a master
- A tool: it serves as a pillow, a rope to draw water from a well, a filter for muddy water and, in the old days, a bandage on the battlefield.
- An identity: a herder, a farmer, a merchant and a Rajput nobleman from the same district tie theirs differently, and anyone local can read the difference at once.
- Safa: the broader, looser turban of Marwar and the desert, often tied with a long tail down the back.
- Pagri or pag: a longer, narrower cloth wound tightly into a firm shape, the formal turban of the courts of Mewar and Jaipur.
- In the villages: people simply say paag or pagdi, and the meaning is the same.
- It varies: the length, width and fabric all change with the region.
The honour of the turban
Pagdi ki laaj: the honour of the turban, a phrase that means the honour of a family.
The gravest insult: to knock off a man's turban.
- The most desperate plea: to place your turban at another's feet.
- Brothers for life: two men who exchanged turbans became pagdi badal bhai, turban-exchanged brothers, a custom that appears again and again in Rajput ballads.
- Read more: our journal on the turbans of Rajasthan tells many of these stories.
Reading the turbans, region by region
Marwar and Jodhpur, the safa
Rajasthan's most famous turban: the Jodhpuri safa, broad, generous and tied with a long tail, the turra or pench, falling down the back or over the shoulder.
- Who wears what: Rajputs in Marwar often wear saffron, red or bold bandhani, and Bishnoi men white. Our page on the Bishnoi villages explains their white dress.
- The outfit: it goes with the bandhgala jacket and the riding breeches that took the name of Jodhpur around the world.
Mewar and Udaipur, the pagri
The shape: tighter, neater and more compact, wound in close folds that sit firmly on the head with little or no tail.
- At its most refined: in court portraits of the Maharanas, often with a jewelled ornament at the front.
- In the villages: older men wear a saffron or patterned safa tied in the local way.
- See them side by side: in the turban gallery at Bagore ki Haveli.
Jaipur and Dhundhar, pink and saffron
The court turban: a carefully wound pagri.
- The royal colours: a pink-and-saffron safa, still worn at weddings and festivals in the city.
- In the villages: styles and colours change from one district to the next.
- Before Teej: Johari Bazaar fills with leheriya turbans. Our guide to the bazaars of Jaipur explains where.
The desert, Bikaner and Jaisalmer
Big and bright: deep red, orange or pink, tied loosely to shade the face and neck from sun and sand.
- Reading strangers: older men in Bikaner can still tell where a stranger comes from by his headgear.
- A contest: the city's camel festival in January includes one for the best-turned-out turban.
- Musicians: Manganiyar and Langha performers wear especially fine, colourful turbans.
The herders of Godwar
Rabari and Raika: a large red or white turban with white jackets, often with heavy gold or silver earrings, visible across any field.
- Read more: our page on the Rabari herders of Jawai tells their story.
- Practical proof: a morning walking with a herding family shows how useful a turban is in open country.
Colours for every season and every mood
In many families, on the twelfth day after the death of the head of the household, his eldest son is given a turban before the gathered relatives, a ceremony called the pagdi rasm, marking that he is now responsible for the family. A turban, in other words, is tied for every chapter of a life.
Saffron, kesariya: the colour of courage and celebration. Rajput warriors were said to put it on before a last battle, and a saffron safa is now the turban of weddings and great occasions.
- Saffron, kesariya
- Courage and celebration
- Red and pink
- Festivals and family joy
- Panchranga
- Five stripes, festive
- Leheriya
- The monsoon and Teej
- White or pale
- Mourning
- Red and pink: joyful colours, worn at festivals and family celebrations.
- Bandhani: spotted cloth made by tying tiny points before dyeing, seen at weddings and fairs.
- Panchranga: striped in five shades, a festive favourite in many families.
- Leheriya: the wave pattern of the monsoon, in greens, pinks and yellows like water over sand, worn by men and women alike for Teej.
- Mothda: the crossed version of leheriya, a checked pattern of waves. Our page on leheriya and bandhani explains the dyeing, and our Teej page the festival.
- Mourning: in many communities men wear white, pale or dull shades after a death, and bright turbans return only when mourning ends.
Plumes, jewels and the turban of a king
Royal turbans
Specialist tiers: servants whose whole job was the ruler's headdress.
The cloth: the finest muslin, silk or brocade, sometimes woven with gold thread.
- The sarpech: a jewelled ornament of gold set with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls, worn at the front.
- The kalangi: a plume of feathers rising from the sarpech.
- Pearls and emeralds: strings of them might be wound around the turban itself.
- Where to see them: some ornaments survive in palace collections, and many more appear in paintings.
Dating a painting by its turban
Fashion changed: portraits of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries show styles that followed the Mughal court or broke away from it.
- An expert's trick: a painting can be dated within a few decades by the turban alone.
- Where to practise: the painting galleries at Mehrangarh and the City Palace in Udaipur. Our miniature painting page explains how to read them.
Weddings today
The groom: wears a safa with a sehra, a veil of flowers or strings of pearls hanging before his face, and often a turban ornament borrowed from the family's jewellery.
- The guests: at large Rajput weddings they may all wear matching safas, tied for them on the morning of the ceremony.
- Read more: our journal piece on Rajput weddings explained describes the rituals, and our destination weddings page explains how we arrange turbans for a wedding party.
How a safa is tied, step by step
- Steps
- Fold, first turn, build, tuck
- Master
- A minute or two
- First-timer
- About ten minutes
- Mewari pagri
- Close, neat turns, little tail
- Jodhpuri safa
- Broad turns, long tail
Folding the cloth
Into a band: the cloth is pleated or folded lengthwise into a long, narrow band that holds its shape on the head.
- The fold decides the look: of the finished turban.
- Tension: a master folds in a few quick movements, often holding one end between his teeth or under his foot.
The first turn
The tail: one end is left free to become the tail, or tucked away.
- Across the forehead: the cloth is laid across the forehead and taken round the back of the head.
- Firm, not tight: if it slips, the whole turban slips, and if it squeezes, you will have a headache by lunch.
Building the shape
Turn after turn: each laid at a slightly different angle so the turban rises, widens or sits flat according to the style.
- Checking the front: the tier adjusts the pleats in a mirror or by eye so they fan evenly.
- Mewari pagri: close, neat turns.
- Jodhpuri safa: broader, looser turns, with room to breathe.
Tucking and the tail
The tuck: the last length goes firmly into the folds at the back.
- The tail: in a safa, the free end is drawn out to fall down the back.
- Like a hat: a good turban can be lifted off and put back on, and keeps its shape for days.
- Speed: a master ties a safa in a minute or two. Guests usually take ten minutes and a lot of laughter.
Where we arrange a turban lesson
Jodhpur, the home of the safa
The best place to learn: Jodhpur itself, with a turban tier at your hotel, perhaps on the terrace of Umaid Bhawan Palace or a rooftop facing the fort.
- Then the gallery: the turban gallery at Mehrangarh, where everything you just learned makes sense.
- Buy cloth: the shops around the clock tower and Sardar Market sell turban cloth by the metre.
Udaipur, with the turban gallery
The pairing: a lesson and an afternoon at Bagore ki Haveli, whose turban gallery shows the styles of Mewar and beyond.
- In the evening: the folk dance show in the haveli courtyard is full of beautifully tied turbans.
- Buy cloth: Bada Bazaar and the lanes near Hathi Pol sell wedding turbans and cloth.
Jaipur and Bikaner
Jaipur: a lesson in your palace hotel or haveli, and a walk through Johari Bazaar to buy leheriya or bandhani for your own turban.
- Bikaner: an evening session with someone who ties turbans for weddings makes the next day's photographs far better.
- Bikaner in January: the camel festival brings the city's finest turbans out on parade.
At the fairs and festivals
The contests: men race to tie a turban fastest or best, and visitors are often invited to try.
Pushkar Camel Fair: in Kartik.
- Desert Festival: in Jaisalmer, in Magh.
- Bikaner Camel Festival: in January.
- Bundi Utsav: in Kartik. We confirm all dates each year.
What happens in a lesson
The cloth: the tier arrives with an armful in different colours and patterns, saffron, leheriya, bandhani, pink, red and the five-coloured panchranga.
Choose: he explains the styles and meanings, lets you pick, then ties one on you in a minute or two so you can see it done.
- Allow
- About an hour
- Where
- Your hotel, terrace or haveli
- Cloths
- Saffron, leheriya, bandhani, panchranga
- Good for
- Men, women and children
- You keep
- The cloth
- Your turn: he folds a second cloth with you, guides your hands through the first turns and corrects you, patiently and with great humour.
- Women welcome: many of our women guests learn a safa or have an odhni, the long veil-scarf, draped the Rajasthani way.
- Children: love it, especially a tiny turban with a long tail.
- A short talk on dress: the angrakha, the old tied jacket, the bandhgala, and the women's ghaghra and odhni. Our guide to Rajasthani dress and textiles covers the same ground.
- Keep it: many guests buy a second or third length, and some learn well enough to wear one at a family wedding at home.
Turbans for a wedding party
For every guest: at a destination wedding, vow renewal or big celebration, turban tiers tie safas for everyone on the morning of the ceremony, usually in the family's colours.
Speed: a good team ties dozens of turbans an hour, and the result looks magnificent in photographs.
- When
- The morning of the ceremony
- Pace
- Dozens of turbans an hour
- Main wedding
- Saffron or pink
- Monsoon events
- Leheriya
- Book ahead
- When you first plan the wedding
- Colours we suggest: saffron or pink for the main wedding, leheriya for a monsoon event, a lighter colour for a daytime ceremony.
- Matching: women guests often have their odhnis matched to the men's turbans.
- The moment it starts: the turban morning is often when the whole party first feels part of Rajasthan.
- Read more: our destination weddings and vow renewals in a palace pages explain how we plan these celebrations.
Buying turban cloth to take home
Jodhpur: around the clock tower.
Jaipur: Johari Bazaar and the walled city.
- Jodhpur
- Around the clock tower
- Jaipur
- Johari Bazaar
- Udaipur
- Bada Bazaar, near Hathi Pol
- Bundi
- Sadar Bazaar
- Look for
- Hand-tied cotton or voile
- Udaipur: Bada Bazaar.
- Bundi: the Sadar Bazaar, where farmers buy it for themselves.
- What to look for: hand-tied bandhani and leheriya, with a slight unevenness that machine prints lack, in fine, soft cotton or voile that folds well.
- Cut to style: ask the seller to cut the length for the style you want to tie.
- Ready-tied turbans: stitched onto a light frame, sold for weddings and good gifts for children, but not the same as a turban tied by hand.
- Honest shops: we take guests to shops that sell to local families rather than tour groups, and never take commission. Our shopping guide explains how to tell handwork from machine work.
The turban calendar: when to come
October to February, the wedding season
The streets: full of saffron, pink and red turbans, grooms on white horses and bands in the lanes.
- The festivals: the Pushkar fair in Kartik, the Bikaner Camel Festival in January and the Desert Festival in Jaisalmer, usually in February.
- Our advice: to see turbans at their most splendid, come now.
March and April, Holi and Gangaur
- Holi: old white turbans go out for the colour play and come home pink, green and purple.
- Gangaur: men wear their festival best to watch the processions, finest in Jaipur and Udaipur. Our Gangaur page explains the festival.
July and August, the leheriya months
Waves everywhere: men's turbans and women's odhnis ripple with green, pink and yellow.
- Before Teej: the bazaars of Jaipur and Jodhpur are full of new cloth.
- A monsoon memory: the most beautiful season for colour, and a lesson in leheriya is a lovely keepsake.
The hot months, May and June
- What a turban is for: farmers and herders wrap their heads and faces against the sun and hot wind.
- Lessons: held indoors in the cool of the afternoon.
Who will love it
Families: funny, hands-on and ending in photographs children treasure. Our family journeys usually include a lesson in Jodhpur.
Couples: a light, playful hour.
- Photographers: a wonderful start to a day of portraits.
- Wedding parties and big groups: get the most fun out of it, especially when everyone chooses a different colour.
- The culturally curious: the turban opens a conversation about community, honour, marriage and mourning that no museum label can match.
- Limited mobility: can enjoy it fully, seated.
- If you dislike your head being touched: tell us and we arrange a demonstration instead.
Respecting the turban
Hands off: never touch or knock a man's turban, or try it on without being invited. It is deeply disrespectful.
Photographs: ask first, as with anyone. Most men say yes, and some adjust it first.
- Temples and mosques: wear your turban with good humour, but not inside unless your guide says it is appropriate.
- In a gurdwara: everyone covers their head, but a Sikh turban is a religious article with its own meaning. Don't treat it as a costume.
- A gift from a host: it is an honour. Accept it with both hands and thank them warmly.
- Taking it off: lift it gently and set it on a clean surface, never the floor.
- Tipping: tip the turban tier at the end. Our money and tipping guide explains what is usual.
Before your lesson
Hair: tie long hair low at the nape, so the first turn of cloth sits flat and firm.
Glasses and earrings: take them off before the cloth goes on, and put them back once the turban is tucked.
- What to wear: a plain shirt, a kurta or a bandhgala shows a coloured turban best in photographs.
- Choosing a colour: ask the tier before choosing white or pale shades, which many communities wear for mourning. Saffron, pink and red are always safe for a celebration.
- The light: book the lesson for the late afternoon if you want portraits afterwards in soft, low light.
- Practising at home: ask the tier whether you may film him folding the cloth, so you can practise the first turns later.
- Patience: expect the first attempt to slip. The tier will retie it with you as often as you like.