Times Square soaks in Sikh tradition on Turban Day
Monday, 15/04/2019
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NEW YORK: A sea of colours and tradition of the Sikh culture inundated Times Square, the crossroads of the world, as members of the community tied turbans to thousands of New Yorkers and tourists in an annual fixture aimed at spreading awareness about the Sikh identity.
Sikh organisation “The Sikhs of New York” organised the annual Turban Day on Saturday in association with the consulate general of India in New York. This year’s Turban Day also marked the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak and the festival of Baisakhi.
Deputy consul general of India in New York Shatrughna Sinha said the consulate is commemorating the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak with gurbani recital programmes.
“This is a great environment and ambience and the crowd is fantastic,” Sinha said, sporting a blue turban as he took part in the commemoration.
“There is no better way than this to raise awareness about Sikhism as well as propagating the message of universal brotherhood and humanity of Guru Nanak Dev ji,” he said.
Turban Day was started in 2013 at Baruch College to promote and educate people about the Sikh religion and identity.
Sikhs of New York co-founder Chanpreet Singh said in the seven years that Turban Day has been organised in the city, there has increasingly been awareness about Sikhism, not just through people who are getting turbans tied but by the thousands others on social media following the event. He said more than 38,000 turbans have been tied in the past seven years since the day started being organised in the city.
