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Symbolism of the Turban: Cultural Change in Rajasthan, Part Three
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18937 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1991 |
2,963 Words |
| Author
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Christi Ann Merrill
Christi Ann Merrill is a free-lance writer and teacher
residing in New York City. |
Pumpa Khan is a Rajasthani folk musician who has traveled all over the world. He recalls the beautiful streets of Paris and the friendly manner of people in Washington, D.C. Wherever he goes, be it Moscow, London, or Tokyo, he always wears his turban. "I started wearing one when I was ten or twelve, and I wear it everywhere," he says. Then a mischievous smile flickers beneath his bushy mustache as he adds, "Even in the airplane."
In the harsh desert region where Pumpa Khan grew up, wearing a turban is mandatory. The mass of twisted cotton serves as needed insulation from the glaring sun; the ends of the sheer fabric can be used to cover the face when dust storms tear across the dunes; and, during emergencies, the turban can be unwound and tied to a bucket to draw water from a well. A turban is, after all, simply ten meters of cloth wound round one's head. A man can use his turban as a pillow when he sleeps on the cool desert floor at night or to lash bundles onto his camel cart. Yet the turban is also a lingering symbol of the lore of spilled blood, a reminder of the bone-breaking, sword-slashing culture that was old Rajasthan.
A symbol of strength
Historically, turbans were used to conceal knives and cushion blows, to stanch the blood of open wounds and to bind opponents after a brawl. As long ago as 3,000 B.C., notes Ruth Edwards Kilgour in A Pageant of Hats, Ancient and Modern, "The warriors of India wore a tall, conical, black headdress made by wrapping cloth around the head. ... The holder not only for knives but for the dreaded chakra," a metal disk sharpened 360 degrees to a deadly razor's edge.
"When danger threatened," Kilgour observes, "the wearer lifted the chakra from his turban, spun it on his forefinger, and hurled it at his enemy," severing a nose, splitting open a lip, or lopping off an ear. Thus, a man with a bare head was unprotected, vulnerable, and impotent.
Throughout the ages, a warrior's appearance did as much to enhance his reputation as did his prowess in battle. Whether it was the amount of gold a king wore around his neck or the color and shape of a foot soldier's turban, a man's attire proclaimed the breadth of his powers. A great deal of attention was bestowed on appearance, as is evident in the following description of a chieftain's army on its way to battle, written during the Gupta period (A.D. 320-470) and cited in
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