Letter from New Delhi: The turban, Sikhism's most distinguishing symbol, is imperilled with increasing numbers of young adherents to the faith opting to discard this headgear.
They find the elaborate rigmarole of maintaining the mandatory long hair knotted underneath and tying the six-yard-long starched turban time consuming and tiresome.
"Across their northern home state of Punjab, a large number of Sikh youth have cut their hair and, sadly, the turban-tying ceremony for teenage boys has also become rare, even in villages," lamented senior priest Avtar Singh Makkar.
The turban tied over the kesh (the hair-cutting or trimming which renders a Sikh "patiputna"), apostate-kanga (comb), kada (steel bangle), kirpan (knife), and kutcha (knee-length cotton underwear) constitute the five essential physical symbols of Sikhism. Known as the five "Ks", they were declared mandatory by Gobind Singh, the 10th and last Sikh guru of the monotheistic religion founded by Nanak Bedi in the early 16th century.
There are more than 20 million Sikhs worldwide, with the majority concentrated in rural Punjab where the turban crisis is most acute. "More and more Sikh youth are cutting their hair in an attempt to improve their appearance. Unfortunately, their parents don't seem to care either," clergyman Jaswinder Singh said in Sikhism's holiest city of Amritsar, 450km (280 miles) north of New Delhi.
Barbers in Punjab's villages who, some years earlier, had to supplement their income with additional jobs, are now doing brisk business cutting the hair of land-owning Jat Sikh youth. "The majority of my daily clients are young Sikhs who do not want to be bothered to maintain their hair or tie turbans," said Tarsem Lal, a barber who runs his saloon 30km (19 miles) from Amritsar.
A large number of Sikh youth are also flocking to Bollywood to seek their fortune in films, as well as careers in modelling, and find turbans unfashionable. Indian cinema and fashion audiences like their heroes and glamour boys clean shaven and turbanless.
Concern over the decline in turban-tying has led to the emergence of social and religious associations across Punjab with the aim of sustaining and popularising the headgear. Glitzy fashion shows featuring male Sikh models have also been organised recently in Delhi by concerned members of the community in a bid to popularise the turban.
The upcoming April 13th harvest festival of Baisakhi has been declared International Sikh Turban Day, while the newly founded Save Hair Campaign Society has opened two turban-tying schools in Amritsar and Jalandhar.
A competition to select Mr Singh International - all Sikhs use the appellation Singh, meaning lion, after their name - open only to turbaned Sikhs is also held annually in Amritsar.
Contestants participate in a round called "My turban, my pride, my identity", where they are judged on how stylishly their turbans are tied.
The reigning champion is Navjot Singh Sidhu, former test cricketer and MP from Amritsar, who recently held a procession in his constituency to revive the use of turbans and instill a sense of pride among Sikh youth in wearing one.
Every region in Punjab has its distinct style of tying a turban, with each one claiming theirs as the trendiest.
Popular Sikh folk singer Pammi Bai's most recent video music album Son of Punjab uses pictures of prominent personalities such as prime minister Mahmohan Singh and India's chief of army staff, J J Singh, to portray the turban's dignity and usage.
Other concerned Sikhs are launching turban clinics near the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine in Amritsar. They aim to provide turban-tying facilities to youngsters at their homes, in the hope that this will help check apostasy among Sikhs.
Meanwhile, concern over violence against Sikhs in the US and other western countries including Britain who have been mistaken for members of the Taliban (who also sport turbans) and either killed or severely beaten, has also prompted overseas campaigns to "dignify" the headgear.
The Sikh clergy in Amritsar, which launched a massive campaign after France last year banned all school-going children from wearing headgear including turbans, said there was an urgent need for the West to understand their distinct identity. The turban, they said, is an integral part of this individuality.
