A dastār is an item of headwear associated with Sikhism and Sikh culture. The word is loaned from Persian through Punjabi. In Persian, the word dastār can refer to any kind of turban and replaced the original word for turban, dolband (دلبند), from which the English word is derived.
Among the Sikhs, the dastār is an article of faith that represents equality, honour, self-respect, courage, spirituality, and piety. The Khalsa Sikh men and women, who keep the Five Ks, wear the turban to cover their long, uncut hair (kesh). The Sikhs regard the dastār as an important part of the unique Sikh identity. After the ninth Sikh Guru, Tegh Bahadur, was sentenced to death by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru created the Khalsa and gave five articles of faith, one of which is unshorn hair, which the dastār covers."Importance of turban in Sikhism", earlytimes.in. 2018-05-29.
History
The dastār has been an important part of the Sikh religion since the time of the First Guru, Guru Nanak who honoured Guru Angad Dev who honoured Guru Amar Das with a special dastār when he was declared the next Guru. When Guru Ram Das died, Guru Arjan was honoured with the dastār of Guruship.
Marne di pag Pirthiye badhi. Guriyaee pag Arjan Ladhi"Partakh Hari," Jiwni Guru Arjan Dev Ji, by Principal Satbir Singh
Guru Gobind Singh, the last human Sikh Guru, wrote:
Bhai Rattan Singh Bhangu, one of the earliest Sikh historians, wrote in Sri Gur Panth Parkash:Bhai Rattan Singh Bhangu. Sri Gur Granth Parkash. Page 78. According to Jvala Singh, the seli topi was worn by the first five Sikh gurus rather than a turban. It was only during the period of the sixth Sikh guru, Guru Hargobind, that the turban gained prominence amongst the Sikhs. Guru Hargobind tied a turban rather than donning the traditional seli topi of the predecessory gurus. Later, the practice of tying a turban became fully tied to Sikhs with the formalization of the Khalsa order by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. The appearance of Sikh men, including their turban styles, was later standardized during the Singh Sabha movement and the participation of Sikhs in the British Indian military and polices, which had a formulated uniform policy.Linden, Bob van der. 2021. "Emily's Eden: Contemporary Sikh Drawings by Emily de Klerk." Sikh Formations 17 (4): 450–67. doi:10.1080/17448727.2021.1988215. Retrieved on 13 June 2026 from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17448727.2021.1988215
The turban is not one of the five Ks mandated in mainstream Sikhism, rather it has become a tool to help manage one of the actual five Ks, kesh (uncut hair). Rather, the turban was a male-signifier of Sikh identity. As per Purnima Dhava, respect and prestige in 18th century Punjab was tied to both women and turbans, where alliances were made through the exchanging of turbans and offering their womenfolk (daughters) to be wed. Ceremonies associated with the Sikh turban were also male-gendered, such as the turban tying ceremony, known as the Rasam Pagri or Rasam Dastar, when a patriarch dies and his eldest son takes over the familial responsibilities by tying a turban in front of others. Furthermore, during Sikh wedding ceremonies, such as the Anand Karaj, the male groom will wear a turban, regardless if he does so in his regular life or not. The practice of Sikh women wearing turbans was not historically common.
Significance
In the Khalsa society, the turban signifies many virtues:
Sayings There are many Punjabi idioms and proverbs that describe how important a dastār is in Sikh's lives. Bhai Gurdas wrote:Vara(n) Bhai Gurdas, Var 32, pauri 19
Uniform of Sikhism
The dastār is considered an integral part of the unique Sikh identity. The bare head is not considered appropriate as per gurbani. If a Sikh wants to become one with his/her guru, he/she must look like a guru (wear a dastār). Guru Gobind Singh stated:
Maintaining long hair and tying the dastār is seen as a token of love, obedience of the wishes of Sikh gurus, and acceptance to the Will of God. A quote from Sikhnet:Learn How To Tie Different Sikh Turbans
Styles of dastārs
Modern Sikh men mainly wear four kinds of turban: Wattan Wali Turban, Patiala Shahi Turban, UK/Kenyan style and Dumala. The more traditional Turban styles are the Darbara Singh Dummala, Dastar Bunga (the original turban of the Khalsa) and the Puratan Nok Pagg. A comfortable and casual style of turban tied is the gol parna.
The Dastar are closely related to Dumalla.
Dastar Bunga
Dastar bunga, or turban fortress in Persian, is a style of turban used by a specific sect within the Sikhs, the Akali Nihangs (egoless immortals). As an essential part of their faith the warriors used the turban as a store for their expansive range of weapons.
This was the original Turban of the Khalsa Fauj of the Gurus. The Gurus wore this style during battle and the Mughal style while in peace. The Dastar Bunga is common in the Nihang traditions. The dark blue tunic (chola) and turban (dumalla) surmounted with quoit and dagger were first worn in 1699 at the time of the first Khalsa initiation ceremony of the double-edged sword (khanda-pahul). Next came the turban-flag (farra or farla), which was introduced by Guru Gobind Singh in 1702 during a clash with a Rajput hill king in the vicinity of Anandpur. The Khalsa's battle standard was cut down when its bearer, Akali Man Singh Nihang, fell wounded. Henceforth, the Guru decided that the dark blue flag should be worn as a part of Man Singh's turban, fluttering from its peak should be a yellow loose cloth for as long as its bearer had life in him. It is said that the full magnificence of the Akal-Nihang uniform emerged the following year.
UK/Kenyan Style
The British Raj mandated all Sikh soldiers in lower ranks tied a single turban (not double-stitched), which was folded instead of stretched as a pooni and wound around the head without a pinch. This style similar to that of which constables of the Punjab Police still tie today. When Sikhs left India to work abroad in Kenya, they took this style with them but adapted it slightly for fashion, shortening the length (5 metres instead of eight) and tucking in the final wrap at an angle which produced a sharp, triangular point above the centrepoint (known as a "Chunj"). They also commonly starched their turbans, allowing them to stay in shape and be re-worn for up to 3 months after tying. When Kenyan Sikhs arrived in the UK during the 1960s and 70s, they continued to tie this style of triangular and starched turban there, making it known as both the UK and Kenyan style turban due to its popularity in both regions.
Nok Pagg This is a very common Sikh Turban style and is most common in the Indian state of Punjab, India. The Nok (meaning point) Dastar is a double wide Dastar. 5 or more meters of the dastar cloth are cut in half then in two or three meter pieces. They are sewn together to make it double wide, thus creating a "double patti" or a nok dastar. This dastar is larger than most Sikh dastars but contains fewer wraps around the head. It is generally divided into two sub-styles: Wattan Wali (wrinkled) and Patiala Shahi (Patiala Royal). Both have the exact same shape, except Patiala Shahi features clear lines (known as "Larrs") on its left side, whereas Wattan Wali replaces these "larrs" with wrinkles instead of clear pleats and is slightly flatter at the front of the turban due to how the fabric is folded to create the wrinkles (as opposed to the pleats in Patiala Shahi turbans creating a more "beaked" look at the front, known as a Nok).
Morni Dastar
Another common Nok style is the Morni Dastar. This is essentially a Patiala Shahi pagg with a very pointed front (Nok) as compared the flatter Patiala Shahi style, and was given the name "Morni" (meaning "peacock" in Punjabi) due to its "beaked" Nok resembling the beak of a peacock. The style often features very clean larhs (lines or layers, typically on the turban's left side) and is very popular amongst younger boys in Punjab due to its elegant, neat and royal appearance.
Bhangra singer Inderjit Nikku is famous for his Morni style Dastar and to helped boost its popularity in the early 2000s, as well as other popular singers such as Lehmber Hussainpuri and Diljit Dosanjh, whose song "Paggan Pochviyan" (pointed turban) launched him to fame and was written to honour the style.
Chand Tora Dumalla The Chand Tora Dumalla is the style of turban generally worn by Nihang Sikhs. This is a warrior style turban meant for going into battle. The "Chand Tora" is a metal symbol consisting of a crescent and a double edged sword, it is held in place at the front of the turban by a woven chainmail cord tied in a pattern within the turban to protect the head from slashing weapons. This was not the original battle turban for the Khalsa as the Dastar Bunga was the first.
Harassment faced by turban-wearing Sikhs
After the September 11, 2001, attacks in USA, a number of dastār-wearing Sikhs faced assaults by some Americans who confused them with Muslims, who were being associated with terrorism. Due to Sikh turbans resembling the imama turban that Osama bin Laden wore in his most iconic photo, United States Department of Justice worked with the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) to issue a poster aimed at getting Americans acquainted with Sikh turbans.
Conflicts with civil law
In modern times, there have been conflicts between Sikhs—especially those outside India—and laws which conflict with always wearing a dastār. Sikh soldiers refused to wear helmets during World War I and World War II. Many Sikhs have refused to remove the dastār even in jails. Sikh scholar and social activist Bhai Randhir Singh underwent a fast to be able to wear a dastār in prison.
In the UK in 1982, the headmaster of a private school refused to admit an orthodox Sikh as a pupil unless he removed the dastār and cut his hair. This led to the long legal battle, Mandla v. Dowell Lee, a case which contributed to the creation of the legal term "ethno-religious".
In Canada in 1990, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Baltej Singh Dhillon, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, should be allowed to wear a dastār while on duty. See the case of Grant v. Canada A.G (1995) 125 D.L.R. (4th) 556 (F.C.A.) aff'd (1994) 81 F.T.R. 195 (F.C.T.D.) (Reed J.) where the court said that the Sikh RCMP officer had a constitutional right to wear his dastār and that the government's decision to accommodate him was required to protect freedom of religion:
"The defendants and the intervenors, particularly the able argument of Ms. Chotalia for the Alberta Civil Liberties Association, turn the plaintiffs' argument respecting discrimination on its head. They argue that the Commissioner's decision was designed to prevent discrimination occurring to Khalsa Sikhs. As such they argue that that decision offends none of the provisions of the Charter, indeed that it is required by section 15 of the Charter." para 103 Shirish Chotalia, Alberta lawyer, represented the Sikh Society of Calgary, the Alberta Civil Liberties Association, and the Friends of the Sikhs, pro bono.Precedents buoy Sikh's turban fight, lawyer says
In the United States in 2002, Jasjit Singh Jaggi, a Sikh traffic policeman employed with the New York Police Department, was forced to leave his job because he insisted on wearing a dastār on duty. He petitioned with the New York Human Rights Commission, and in 2004 a US judge ruled that he should be reinstated.