Timeless wedding headgears worn by Indian bridegrooms

Wedding is such an occasion wherein the bride and the groom are the center of the attraction. Generally, they strive to look unique by opting for exquisite attires, beautiful and big jewelry pieces, or by opting for anything that helps them in looking outstanding. Apart from beautiful attires, there are many ways through which uniqueness can be achieved. Selecting a fascinating wedding headgear or Shehra is among those effective ways that can make the bride and the groom appear stand apart from the rest of the crowd. For the brides, a headgear is basically is in the form of a jewelry piece, headband or a flower. Even on the wedding invitation, the bride and groom symbol is there in which they are dressed in the traditional wedding attire in which the groom has a Shehra on his head.

Wedding headgear for men, Shehra is also widely known as pagari or saafa. In English language, it is known as Turban. The credit of an origin of Saafa goes to a royal state of India called Rajasthan. Saafas refer to those turbans that are made from a colorful strip of a cloth. The culture of tying Saafa has almost become an inherent part of the Indian weddings and it is considered as one of the most essential accessory for the Groom. Most of the time, a kalgi, that is in the form of a little broach, is tucked on the turban from its front side. It generally accompanies feather with it.

Rajasthani turbans are knows for offering a royal appeal to its wearer. It is known to the all, that during olden time; kings would wear turbans that would also feature a kalgi in it. Generally, a kalgi would include precious stones and a feather and by looking at the richness of it, it was easy to make out that who is the king. However, turbans are still the inherent element of the attires of the traditional village men. It is really surprising to know that round about thousand varied types and styles of turbans do exist in Rajasthan. The diverse styles differ from one region to another and from one caste to another. Generally, the width of a pagari is 9 inch width and its length is 52 feet. On the contrary, Saafa is of small length and it is broader.

Earlier, the majority of the people knew an art of tying turban but due to the modernization, this art is now gradually dying. It is generally the older generation that ties the turbans during weddings or some expert is being called to tie the turban to the groom. These experts are known as pagribands. A falguniya turban featuring red or white color is worn during spring season. The dotted chunri or bright colors indicates an auspicious occasion like marriage or birth of a child. A panchrangi turban features five different colors and is worn by the rajputs mainly that too of Jodhpur region. A lahariya turban is worn during the season of rains. Zari turban is created out of the rich-textured cloth like silk and Zari and is worn by the groom during the formal occasion of marriage. According to the colors as well, the turbans differ from one and another. For an instance, bright colors like pink, green, red, etc are worn during auspicious occasions and during festivals. On the contrary, dull colors like maroon, khaki, etc are worn during distressing occasions.