Pioneering Turban Tying Competition for Young People Extremely Successful

Extremely Successful
Winner Children of youngest group
As part of the 300th Anniversary celebrations of the Guru-ship being conferred to the Sikh holy scripture Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s Sahebzadey a pioneering Turban {Dastaar} Tying competition in this country was organised by the Punjabi Listeners’ Club, Leicester {UK} on saturday 27th December 2008 from 1.00 pm to 5.30 pm at Gurdwara Shri Guru HarKrishan sahib, 48 Kenilworth Drive, Oadby, Leicestershire, LE2 5LG, England was extremely successful in which nearly 100 young people ranging from 1 year to 18 years participated.

After registration the children were divided into Under 10 years’ and Over 10 years’ groups who were both shown “SUNDRI”- The Brave Kaur which is a ground breaking animated movie about Sikh women based on highly acclaimed historical novel ‘SUNDRI’ by the poet, scholar and exegete Bhai Vir Singh Ji who was honoured with the Brother of the Sikh Order very early in his career. This was also enjoyed by the parents and relatives of the younger children.

Before the competition began demonstrations were given on how to tie 3 different styles of turbans. Thereafter a local Amritdhari Sikh Kuljit Singh Ji gave an in-depth talk on the importance of the Turban in the Sikh religion which was very interesting, educational and informative and kept everyone wanting to know more.

The competition was divided into different age groups 8-10 years, 11-14 years, and 15 –18 years. Due to their young age the Under 7 years’ age group were allowed to have their Turbans tied by a family member. Three baptised Sikhs Jaspreet Kaur, Harinder Singh and Navdeep Kaur who presents a weekly programme on local satellite channel Matv were chosen as judges. The latter said that Mr. Tarlochan Singh Virk and the rest of his Punjabi Listeners’ Club team are to be congratulated for organising such a high level programme on the very important issue currently effecting the Sikh community that has given a massive encouragement to the young people.

In a special section ‘Have a go at Turban Tying, David Parsons, the Leader of Leicestershire County Council, Terry Hall of Leicester Mercury and Community Police Officer Nadeem from Leicestershire Constabulary had a turban tied on them by volunteers.

In the glittering presentation ceremony in the presence of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji a 12 year old Gavandeep Kaur Ji who attends the Punjabi classes at the Gurdwara read a letter from Buckingham Palace in which Her Majesty The Queen sent good wishes to all concerned for a successful and enjoyable competition and hope that the event will help to promote the wearing of the Sikh Turban.

Gurjeet Singh, an executive member of the Gurdwara Management Committee who managed the stage proceedings could not hide his delight in welcoming and introducing the two special guests the Mayor of Oadby and Wigston Borough Council Councillor Jill Gore who was accompanied by the Mayor’s Consort Colin Gore; the leader of Leicestershire County Council Mr. David Parsons who was accompanied by Mrs. Parsons.

The Mayor said she was very grateful to be at this place of worship and pointed out that she did not knew that there were so many different styles of Turbans worn by the Sikh community. She was also pleased to offer her full support in the Gurdwara’s planning application recently. The Mayor was pleasantly surprised to receive a cheque of donation from the congregation presented by Harjinder Singh for the Mayor’s charities Age Concern and Wish Upon A Star.

Speaking from the stage the Leader of Leicestershire County Council David Parsons said that he was very happy to be among the congregation and that it is great to see so many Sikhs together. he also commented that he was very happy to have had the Turban tied on him and he thanked those volunteers for that. He also said the Turban was very comfortable on his head.
















On behalf of the organisers Mr. Virk said that we are very grateful to www.emgonline.co.uk; Terry Hall of Leicester Mercury; F.C. Khalsa {Leicester} UK; Dr. Jagtar Dhiman of Punjabi Culture Study Circle International {PCSCI}, Ludhiana, Punjab, India; Shamsher Bahadur Singh Gill; Mangal Singh, Asli Sweet Centre; and above all the Sikhs of Leicester for their support; the guests for making this event a successful successful.

Website Launched To Make Turban Popular Among Sikh Youth.

An informative website (www.pagrihouse.com) is launched by a Sikh youth from Chandigarh. The goal behind this launch is to promote and glamorize Sikh turban especially among young Sikh generation.

PRLog (Press Release) – Dec 02, 2008 – An informative website (www.pagrihouse.com) is launched by a Sikh youth from Chandigarh. The goal behind this launch is to promote and glamorize Sikh turban especially among young Sikh generation.

Turban is guru’s gift to us and we are so thankful to Guru Gobind Singh ji for blessing his Sikhs with it. This website provides detailed information about Sikh turban in terms of philosophy / history behind Sikh turban and different styles.

I used to travel a lot and found Sikh turban is becoming less popular among Sikh youth especially outside India. One of the possible reasons behind this could be that it is almost impossible to find nice colors with good quality turbans outside India.

A large number of Sikhs outside India just wear black turban without trying different colors and styles. Although it is a very personal choice to wear any color but non availability of cool turban colors is also a major contributor to this decreasing popularity of turban. “This motivates me to launch this online store so that everyone have access to good quality turban with all color shades, as we can usually find in India especially in Punjab” said Amandeep Singh, promoter of http://www.pagrihouse.com/.

Another motivation is from glamorous Sikhs, especially from former cricketer Navjot Sidhu. His different turbans colors made him so popular not only in India but also all parts of the globe. By making all Sikh turban varieties and colors accessible will create many more Navjot Sidhu, we really hope. A nice turban with good color combination matching with overall dress provides a unique king like look to Sikhs.

With launch of this website, now it is possible to place orders for Sikh turbans on internet. Users can buy all kind of Sikh turban colors, keskis and variety of turban accessories even without visiting a turban shop. Deliveries are promised all parts of the globe using most economical mode of shipments. In this era where a significant part of Sikh youth is opting to move away from turban, www.pagrihouse.com is expected to motivate Sikh youth back to glory of turban.

Moving forward, www.pagrihouse.com is planning to organize online turban tying competitions to encourage turban wearing especially among kids. Sikh kids with unshorn hair and nice turbans are real symbols of sikhi, concludes Amandeep Singh.