Mr Stillwater wrote:brahmin wrote:their (sikh's) religion tells them never to cut their hair.
they wear te turban to give all that unkempt hair a presentable appearence. the turban is purely a culural thing, and they would be violating the tenets of their religion one bit if they didnt wear a turban and adopted the hairstyle of rockstars and long hairs.
they are religion bound NEVER to cut their hair though.
They'd end up with the dreaddies of Rastafarians if that was the case. Saddhus will end up with a great mat of hair - so it is not uncommon in the practice of Hinduiism.
The hair and turban are VERY practical. To have a mass of hair on top of your skull and metres of cloth around your temples will act as effectively as a metal helmet in absorbing a blow to the head in battle. The origins of Sikhism is in the martial resistance to Islam, they weren't just taking on the symbols of religion they were part of their lives as warriors.
One other fact. Every Sikh has the surname 'Singh', this means 'lion'.
wow thanks for the "facts", especially the last one !!
like i didnt know !!
not every sikh, though 90% yes. and its not a surname that means lion, its a title.
you said that sikhs have a good chance of ending up as rastafarians "had that been the case". had WHAT been the case ?
yes i know where the origins of sikhism lie. i also know that their religion tells them something like THOU SHALL NOT CUT YOUR HAIR, but doesnt follow it up with THOU SHALL WEAR A TURBAN, but that is something they did and still do all the same, not the least for the reason you mentioned.
now a days, despite the threats of getting clubbed by a muslim on the cranium being considerably lower than what it was back in the hey days of islamic barbarism in india, they still continue with the practice, precisely because, the turban is identified with a sikh's cultural identity.
and the sadhus who end up with a great mat of hair - a not uncommon practise in "hinduism" as you so astutely observed, after multiple visits to this part of the planet, i presume, and not just from tit-bits doing the rounds in local grape vines, do so, because they dont comb their hair.
most rock stars, on the average have longer hair than most sadhus worth their salt, but never quite manage to take that important step towards hinduism by (virtue of) rendering their hair all matty, because they comb it or in other ways prevent it from forming one single lump.
