How Sikhs With Short Hair Can Make a Joora

Sikh men marching in a Vaisakhi parade

 

Stefano Montesi / Getty Images

If you've just embraced the Sikh faith, or been baptized with Amrit, as a Khalsa Sikh, you may need some help keeping your kes as mandated by the code of conduct and growing your hair out long. In the event that your hair is still is too short to tie up into a top knot (also known as a joora or rishi knot), or if you are thinning, here's how to use a keski (short turban) in place of kes (hair) to make a joora bun and tie your turban (patka) properly.

Completely Bald or Hair Up to Six Inches

Take a piece of turban cloth about two yards/meters in length, and rip it in half lengthwise, so that it is between 18 to 22 inches wide.

  • Lean over so that your hair falls forward with your head bent down.
  • Center the keski so that the middle of it wraps around the back of your head. Cover your head, and any hair, with the keski so that it reaches to the edge of your hairline. Leave your your ears uncovered, and the two ends of the keski hanging free.
  • Grasp the ends of the keski together tightly at your forehead and twist them together. Tuck in your kanga (wooden comb). Stand up and wind the ends into a knot on top of your head to make a bun from your keski in the shape of a joora.
  • Practice several times until you can make a desirable shape joora from your keski that will form a stable base to secure your turban.

Kes Longer Than Six Inches

Whether your kes is six inches short, or six feet long, you may use a keski to shape your joora. (If your hair is very long you may use a longer length of turban, up to double your body height.)

  • Lean over so that your hair falls forward with your head bent down, and gather your hair together with your hands to form a tail.
  • Center the keski so that one end falls forward in the direction of your hair, and the other end falls down your back.
  • Smooth the keski over and around your scalp and the length of your hair so that all hair is covered and wrapped within the front half of the keski, leaving your ears free.
  • Twist the keski around the kes next to your scalp. Stand up and gently twist the tail of kes that is covered with the keski on the top of your head winding into a bun to make a joora.
  • Tuck your kanga (wooden comb) beneath the joora. Take up the back half of the keski and cover the joora you have made. Smooth the fabric as you twist and wind it around your joora. Tuck in the edges of the keski to make a base for a patka turban, or domalla.
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Khalsa, Sukhmandir. "How Sikhs With Short Hair Can Make a Joora." Learn Religions, Apr. 5, 2023, learnreligions.com/make-bun-without-long-hair-2993355. Khalsa, Sukhmandir. (2023, April 5). How Sikhs With Short Hair Can Make a Joora. Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/make-bun-without-long-hair-2993355 Khalsa, Sukhmandir. "How Sikhs With Short Hair Can Make a Joora." Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/make-bun-without-long-hair-2993355 (accessed March 28, 2024).