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Summary of Question:	Do We Cover The Head, Or Cover The Hair?
Category:	Gurdwara
Date Posted:	Wednesday, 8/18/2004 10:47 PM MDT

Sat Nam.

A bizarre thing happened at Gurudwara over the weekend. I usually braid my hair, and cover it in a long, wide cloth. An older lady who spoke only Panjabi caught me on my way to the restroom and started scolding me--something I could understand in any language--and took my scarf, rearranged it round my head and tossed one end over the shoulder. She then looked at me like she was checking her handiwork, muttered "naheen, naheen" and poked and shuffled the braids until they were out of sight and completely concealed; then muttered a broken "thank you," as if I had corrected something that had been wrong.

I was flabbergasted. Now I know that the head is to be covered in Gurudwara, but is it just the head or is it all the hair? The auntie seemed very offended to see me in long braids and to see them showing, and I wondered if maybe there were some old tradition about married ladies keeping their hair in a certain style. It was that way in old Europe, that once upon a time a single female could not put her hair up, and after marriage had to wear a headdress. I had never seen the young women chastised for the ends of their braids sticking out from the bottom edges of their chunnees, and the older ladies who have kept their hair all seem to bun it up. So is it just head, or all hair? Please help on this growing (no pun intended!) concern!

Elizabet

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Sat Nam Elizabet,
It is the top of the head, at the least, if not the whole head. Apparently this auntie thinks you should cover all your hair, so to keep the peace, perhaps you should. But I have been to so many gurdwaras where the only headcover was a kufi or large yarmulke with lots of hair showing (on men) and seen just as many young women with their heads covered but not all of their braid covered. It might have something to do with being married. I suggest you ask the auntie with the help of an interpreter. Good luck.
Guru ang sang,
-DKK