Rajasthan, with its varied traditions, has a prolonged culture of tying safas around one’s head as a mark of prestige and honour. The golden pages of history that showcase the emergence of this attire trace back to the 7th century under the rule of Rajputs. It was during this era that the intrinsically patterned turbans were patronised and promoted as a symbol of status and identity.
This culture is now on a sharp decline with ravages of time that an artist from Bikaner is trying hard to keep in the limelight. Pawan Vyas, in an attempt to draw the long-due attention to the dying art, has set an extraordinary record in The World Book of Records-London by tying the world’s longest turban.
The unimaginable feat of tying a turban measuring 478.5 metres long was achieved in under half an hour without using a single hairpin or glue at Bikaner on December 16, 2020. The certificate of inclusion was presented by Princess of Bikaner, Ms Siddhi Kumari – MLA and entrepreneur Ms Savita Purohit.
The 20-year-old has been practising the art of turban draping for the last 12 years now and knows 108 different ways to tie a turban around one’s head. In the recent past, Vyas made it to the India Book of Records for tying the smallest Rajasthani turbans on fingers.
