Far more than a hat
Shade and warmth: a turban shields the head from a desert sun that can pass forty-five degrees, and keeps out the cold of a Thar winter night.
A tool kit: on the road it becomes a pillow, a rope for a well bucket, a filter for muddy water, a sling for a bundle and, in the old days, a bandage.
- Length
- Several metres, more for a formal pagri
- Cloth
- Cotton, voile, muslin, silk for great occasions
- Tied by
- The wearer, or a specialist for weddings
- Shows
- Region, community, occasion, season
- Women wear
- The odhni, a long veil-scarf, instead
- An identity card: a farmer, a herder, a merchant and a Rajput nobleman from the same district tie their turbans differently, and everyone local can read the difference.
- A calendar: the colour changes with the season and the festival, so a crowd of turbans tells you the month as surely as the weather.
- A family's honour: above all, the turban stands for the honour of the man and his family. That idea runs through the customs below.
- Still worn every day: in the cities younger men keep turbans for weddings, but in villages across Rajasthan most older men still tie one every morning.
Safa, pagri and the words in between
Safa: the broader, looser turban of Marwar and the desert, often tied with a long tail falling down the back. A safa is usually a few metres of cloth.
Pagri or pag: a longer, narrower cloth wound tightly and precisely into a firm shape, the formal turban of the courts of Mewar and Jaipur. It can be many times the length of a safa.
- Paag and pagdi: in village speech the words blur, and people simply say paag or pagdi for whatever they wear.
- The tail: in a safa, the free end is called the turra or pench in many families. Its length and fall are part of the style.
- The fold: how the cloth is pleated before tying decides the final look, and a master can tell another man's teacher from his pleats.
- Ready-tied turbans: stitched onto a light frame, these are sold for weddings and children. They look the part, but a true turban is tied on the head.
Reading turbans, region by region
Marwar and Jodhpur, the safa with a tail
The look: broad, generous and tied with a long tail falling down the back or over the shoulder. It is the most famous turban in Rajasthan.
- The colours: Rajputs in Marwar often wear saffron, red or bold bandhani, while Bishnoi men wear white. Our page on the Bishnoi villages explains why.
- The outfit: it goes with the bandhgala jacket and the riding breeches that carried the name of Jodhpur around the world.
Mewar and Udaipur, the compact pagri
The look: tighter, neater and more compact, wound in close folds into a shape that sits firmly on the head, with little or no tail.
- In the portraits: court paintings of the Maharanas show it at its most refined, often with a jewelled ornament at the front.
- In the villages: older men in Mewar wear a saffron or patterned safa tied the local way. The turban gallery at Bagore ki Haveli shows styles side by side.
Jaipur and Dhundhar, pink and saffron
The court turban: Jaipur's nobles wore a carefully wound pagri, and the pink-and-saffron safa is still worn at weddings and festivals in the city.
- Before Teej: Johari Bazaar fills with leheriya turbans in the weeks before the festival. Our guide to the bazaars of Jaipur shows where.
- In the villages: styles change from district to district, and a guide from Jaipur can point them out on the drive to Amer.
The desert, Bikaner and Jaisalmer
The look: big and bright, often deep red, orange or pink, tied loosely so the end can be drawn across the face against sun and sand.
- The musicians: Manganiyar and Langa singers wear especially fine turbans when they perform. Our piece on Manganiyar music introduces them.
- The contests: the Bikaner Camel Festival in January and the Desert Festival in Jaisalmer both include turban contests.
Godwar and the herders
- The look: Rabari and Raika herders wear a large red or white turban with their white jackets, often with heavy gold or silver earrings.
- Why it works: in open country a turban shades, signals and carries. Walking with a herding family, as our page on the Rabari herders describes, shows it in use.
Shekhawati, the merchants' towns
- In the frescoes: the painted havelis show merchants, soldiers and even early motorists in turbans of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Our painted havelis page explains them.
- In the squares: men still gather in turbans to play cards and talk in the shade of the old havelis of Mandawa and Nawalgarh.
Colours for every season and every mood
Kesariya, saffron: the colour of courage and celebration. Rajput warriors are said to have worn saffron before a last battle, and today it is the colour of weddings.
Red and pink: joyful colours for festivals and family celebrations, and for many grooms and their parties.
- Saffron
- Weddings, courage, great occasions
- Leheriya
- The monsoon, Teej and Sawan
- Panchranga
- Five colours, festive and auspicious
- Bandhani
- Weddings and fairs
- White or pale
- Mourning in many communities
- Leheriya: the wave-patterned cloth of the monsoon, in greens, pinks and yellows, worn by men and women for Teej. Our piece on leheriya explained shows how it is dyed.
- Mothda: leheriya tied and dyed in two directions so the waves cross into a fine check, a favourite for the rains.
- Bandhani: cloth tied in tiny dots before dyeing, worn at weddings and fairs. Our leheriya and bandhani page explains the craft.
- Panchranga: five colours striped together, festive and auspicious, often worn at weddings and on great family days.
- White and pale: in many communities men wear white or muted turbans after a death in the family, and the colours return when mourning ends.
- At Holi: old white turbans are worn for the colour play and come home pink, green and purple. Nobody wears a good one.
Honour, brotherhood and the turban ceremony
Pagdi ki laaj: the honour of the turban means the honour of a family. To knock off a man's turban was a grave insult.
A desperate plea: to place your turban at another man's feet was the most humble of requests, and hard to refuse.
- Pagdi badal bhai: two men who exchanged turbans became brothers for life. The custom of turban-exchanged brothers appears again and again in Rajput songs.
- Pagdi rasm: in many families, on about the twelfth day after the death of the head of the household, his eldest son is tied a turban before the gathered relatives, to show he now leads the family.
- Taking it off: men remove their turbans in a few moments of grief or deep respect, which is why seeing a man bareheaded in public can be startling here.
- A guest's honour: if a host ties a turban on you or gives you one, it is an honour. Accept it with both hands.
Plumes, jewels and the turban of a king
Specialist tiers: royal turbans were tied by servants whose only job was the ruler's headdress, using the finest muslin, silk or brocade, sometimes woven with gold.
The sarpech: a jewelled ornament of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls worn at the front of the turban. Some survive in palace collections.
- The kalangi: a plume of feathers rising from the sarpech, a mark of royal or noble rank in the old courts.
- Strings of gems: pearls or emeralds were sometimes wound around the turban itself, and you can see them in court portraits.
- Fashion changed: turban shapes followed or broke away from Mughal fashions over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Our miniature painting page explains how to read the portraits.
- Where to see them: the painting galleries of Mehrangarh and the City Palace in Udaipur are the best places to practise.
- At festivals: at Gangaur, when the goddess goes in procession, the men of the old families still wear their finest turbans.
The wedding turban
The groom: wears a safa with a sehra, a veil of flowers or pearls hung in front of his face, and often a turban ornament from the family's jewellery.
The party: at big Rajput weddings, male guests may all wear matching safas, tied for them on the morning of the ceremony by a team of tiers.
- Colours by ceremony: saffron or pink for the main wedding, leheriya for a monsoon event, lighter colours for daytime ceremonies.
- The women: wear an odhni, the long veil-scarf, often matched to the men's turbans for the photographs.
- Learn the rituals: our piece on Rajput weddings explained describes the ceremonies, and our destination weddings page explains how we arrange turbans for a whole party.
- Shoes to match: embroidered slippers finish the look. Our piece on mojari shoes explains how to choose them.
Where to see turbans at their finest
The Pushkar Camel Fair
- Why: herders and traders from across Marwar and Mewar gather in their finest turbans, and the fairground is a living gallery of styles.
- When: in Kartik, in October or November. We confirm the dates each year on our Pushkar Camel Fair page.
The Desert Festival, Jaisalmer
- Why: turban-tying and moustache contests, and a whole town dressed in its best. Visitors are often invited to try.
- When: usually in February. Our Desert Festival page has more.
Bikaner, Bundi and Marwar festivals
Bikaner: the camel festival in January includes a contest for the best-turned-out turban.
- Bundi: the Bundi Utsav in Kartik has turban contests too.
- Jodhpur: the Marwar Festival around the autumn full moon brings turban and moustache contests to the city.
The museums
- Bagore ki Haveli, Udaipur: its turban gallery shows the styles of Mewar and beyond in one room, and the evening folk show is full of well-tied turbans.
- Mehrangarh, Jodhpur: the museum's collections and paintings show the turbans of the Rathore court and its nobles.
Wearing one yourself
A lesson: a turban tier comes to your hotel with an armful of cloth, explains the styles, ties one on you and then guides your hands through your own. Our turban-tying session explains how it works.
Women too: many of our women guests learn to tie a safa, and most also enjoy having an odhni draped the Rajasthani way.
- Buying cloth: turban cloth is sold by the metre around the Clock Tower in Jodhpur, in Johari Bazaar and in Udaipur's Bada Bazaar. Ask the seller to cut it for the style you want.
- Choosing the right colour: saffron for a celebration, leheriya in the rains, a bandhani for fun. Avoid white unless you know the local meaning.
- Keeping it tied: a tier can stitch a turban lightly so it lifts on and off like a hat and survives the flight home.
- For the whole family: children love a tiny turban with a long tail. It is one of the easiest happy hours on our family journeys.
How a master ties a safa
Folding the cloth
- Pleating: the cloth is folded lengthwise into a long, narrow band so that it holds its shape. The width of the band decides how tall the turban will sit.
- Holding the tension: many tiers grip one end in their teeth or under a foot while they fold, keeping the band tight and even.
The first turn
- Firm, not tight: the band is laid across the forehead and taken round the back. If the first turn slips, the whole turban slips. If it squeezes, you have a headache by lunch.
- The tail: for a safa, one end is left free at the start and drawn out at the finish to fall down the back.
Building and finishing
Turn by turn: each wrap is laid at a slightly different angle, so the turban rises, widens or sits flat according to the style.
- The tuck: the last length is tucked firmly into the folds at the back. A good turban can be lifted off and put back on, and it keeps its shape for days.
- Speed: a master ties a safa in a minute or two. Guests take ten minutes, and laugh the whole time.
Buying turban cloth to take home
Hand-tied is best: hand-tied bandhani and leheriya have a slight unevenness in the dots and waves that printed cloth lacks. Pieces sold still knotted are almost always genuine.
Soft fabric folds well: look for fine cotton or voile that pleats easily and breathes. Heavy or stiff cloth makes a turban that will not sit.
- Ask for the right length: tell the seller which style you want, safa or pagri, and let them cut accordingly.
- Where locals buy: Sadar Bazaar in Bundi, the lanes around the Clock Tower in Jodhpur and Johari Bazaar in Jaipur, where farmers and grooms buy for themselves.
- Wash it gently: hand-dyed cloth often releases colour in its first washes. Wash it alone in cold water and dry it in the shade.
- No commissions: we take guests to shops that sell to local families, and our shopping guide explains how to tell handwork from machine work.
Respecting the turban
Never touch: do not touch, knock or try on a man's turban without being invited.
Ask before photographing: most men will say yes, and some will straighten their turban first.
- Sacred spaces: do not wear a novelty turban into temples or mosques unless your guide says it is appropriate. Our temple etiquette guide explains the rest.
- The Sikh turban: it is a religious article with its own meaning. Treat it with the same respect, never as a costume.
- Setting it down: lift a turban off gently and place it on a clean surface, never on the floor.
- Thank the tier: a tip at the end of a lesson is customary. Our money and tipping guide explains what is usual.