International Sikh Turban Day
Vaisakhi-Eve, 13th April
· What is Sikh Turban Day?
International Sikh Turban Day Project is promoted by "Sikh Children Forum"; established in February 2002 the project is devoted to promotion of Turban amongst Sikhs worldwide. Project primarily goal is to popularize adoption of Turban as a personal, religious and social symbol of identity amongst Sikh children and our no-turban wearing Sikh brothers and sisters.
· What day we Celebrate Sikh Turban Day?
We celebrate the Turban Day once a year on eve of Vaisakhi (13th April)
· How do we celebrate Sikh Turban Day?
Non-Turban Wearing Sikhs: We celebrate the Sikh Turban Day by wearing a Turban other than that do your normal routine what you usually do on Vaisakhi Day eve, like going to Work, park, shopping or Gurudwara Sahib. So, wearing a Turban of your favorite color is itself a celebration.
Turban Wearing Sikhs: We celebrate the Sikh Turban Day by promoting the Turban adoption amongst your friends, family and peers and offering advise and assistance to Non-Wearing Turban day as required.
· Where do we celebrate?
Wearing a Turban and visiting your local Gurudwara Sahib is a great place to celebrate, but in case you are unable to go to Gurudwara Sahib, you can celebrate by wearing a turban at home and taking family picture with your friends and family. You can also celebrate the occasion by meeting your neighbors, colleagues or friends from other community and by educating them about the Sikhism. Educating them about importance of Turban in our religion.
· Where can I buy a Turban?
Most of your Neighborhood Indian garment stores carry Turban. In case you have any problem getting it, please contact us through our web site www.sikhchildren.com (visit our online store) we will try to make all the arrangements to get a turban to you as soon as practically possible.
· I want to buy a Turban I don’t know how long length I should buy.
Normally for adults turban length varies anywhere from 5 yards/meter to 8 yards/meters (depending on you physique). For those who do not regularly wear a turban, we recommend smaller turban of approxi. 5 to 6 yards/meters. For kids the length should be 3 to 5 meter or yard.
There are some exceptions where some people (like Nahang Singh) may go with Turbans as long as 10 meters or more.
· I don’t know how to wear a Turban?
Our Volunteers are there in your neighborhood Gurudwara Sahib few days before and also on Vaisakhi Day. They will train if you are interested in learning how to wear a turban. If you need a Turban they can also supply you one. All this is free of any cost to you by the grace of Vahe Guru Ji. In case you are unable to go to your local Gurudwara Sahib, please (don’t hesitate) contact any Sikh in your locality who usually wears a Turban – they will be very glad to help you out.
· On Turban day when I am wearing turban if somebody asks me about my reasoning for celebration!
One of the main reasons to celebrate Turban day is to educate the community surrounding us about Sikh religion and about our traditions. So, in case someone ask you about the Turban – that is what we are waiting for.
It is to raise the awareness in this part of the world and to get the recognition that we are not anybody else but “Sikhs” and to let them know about the uniqueness of our Turban.
We should explain them that unlike some other religions like Muslims where only a Mullah or religious leader wears the turban, most of the Sikhs wear the Turban and our Turban is different from all of them. That’s the message we want to spread. We can also use the opportunity to educate them about our rich cultural heritage which is full of un equivalent sacrifices for the freedom and well being of people in general without caring about any cast and creed. Don’t forget to ask we are celebrating foundation of our religion that is “Vaisakhi Day”.
· Being not used to wear turban for long time, what can I do if my head itches or what if I feel minor headaches?
We can understand that as you may not be used to wearing a Turban so you may feel a bit awkward if you wear it for the first time. Once you start wearing Turban on regular basis – you will feel more comfortable with it.
You can reduce itching or headache by doing the following:
1) Hold your turban from front and back and move it left and
right by keeping your head state and stable.
2) You can also check with your neighborhood Indian stores
for a “ Suaa “ or “Baaz” or “ Silai” which is a kind of
needle you can keep with you for itchiness. If you are not
able to get it anywhere else please write to us and we will
make arrangements to get you one.
3) In case the headache or itching still continues, you can
take off the turban
(We recommend to keep comb with you to dress up your heir in case you need to remove the Turban during work hours.) or please consult a doctor as you may have some other reasons for the same.
· What do we achieve by wearing turban just on Turban Day on Baisakhi eve ?
Wearing Turban just one time on Vaisakhi eve takes away any doubt, hesitation or any unasked complex like it won’t look good on me. Result of just trying once might surprise you. It already did to some people we know. We have first hand experience, how some of our brothers transformed themselves.
This opportunity to wear turban on Vaisakhi day can also be helpful for our friends who used to wear a turban but gave it up after coming to a foreign land. This could be because of many known, important and valid reasons good for the survival and advancement in a foreign land. Now that most of us individually and our community as a whole is well established in most of the popular destination Countries in the world so we invite you all to please join us in the most needed and timely celebration of the Turban day celebrations. Together let us set an example for our upcoming generations to come and prosper in the countries where we choose to live and bring up our families. Lets not forget about the cultural past which gave us the strength and power – which enabled all of us to succeed in this foreign land. Let us make turban a way of life.
It is very disheartening to see the new Punjabi generation not being able to understand Punjabi language, culture and our rich heritage. It becomes our duty to educate them about our rich cultural and religious background and Turban Day can be one occasion to talk to them about all this and answer all of their questions.The new generation tries to idealize what they see, feel and get impressed with – let us try to impress them with our great culture and religion.
Wearing a Turban just for one day can set up a reminder in our children’s mind that we are Punjabi and we come from a beloved land called Punjab. By wearing turban we are identifying ourselves with Punjabi style of turban, not only just to our children but to raise awareness amongst our fellow citizens. Just by wearing turban and raising awareness about it can do a great favor to our community as this will make it easy for many of our regular turban wearing Sikhs.
· How can I contribute toward Turban day?
Turban Day’s is a day which is more successful with participation of all of us. All of us can help in various ways – we can volunteer our time by going to our neighborhood Gurudwara Sahib, we can help by generating awareness about Turban Day amongst our friends, colleagues and other fellow Sikhs and talking to them about the Turban day celebrations. You can also help by donating and distributing Turbans amongst the community. Just sending your feedback about Turban day celebrations to us, itself is a great help.
Please visit our website located at http://www.sikhchildren.com and register.
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