If you’ve ever lamented the time and effort it takes you to make yourself look presentable in the morning–and we all have–you need to talk to Avtar Singh Mauni.
Singh, who hails from Patiala in Northern India, spends six hours each morning preparing himself before he goes to his local temple. Why? To put on his turban.
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The holy man’s turban is no ordinary one. Singh wears a turban that, when unwound, stretches some 2,115 feet, which is the same length as 13 Olympic swimming pools.
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For comparison, the average turban worn by men who follow Sikhism measures about 16 to 23 feet of fabric. Singh figured he could do better.
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As of now, he stands to break the world record for largest turban.
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The turban is multicolored and decorated with silver ornaments and weighs about 100 pounds. That’s 100 pounds of fabric resting on the 60-year-old’s head all day every day.
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But he’s used to it. So used to it, in fact, that he feels strange not wearing it. “On the rare times I don’t have my turban on, I keep getting this feeling of being incomplete, that some part of me is missing,” he says. “I get afraid that I may fall and I keep wondering ‘Have I lost something, where is my turban?'”
Here he is discussing his headwear:
Singh has declared that he will wear his enormous turban until he is no longer able to hold it up. ““I don’t consider it a burden. I’m most happy when I wear it,” he says. And considering he wears it every day, he must be quite a happy person. And considering the weight, he’s also probably in great shape.
Of course, the huge turban has some challenges. It makes it hard, if not impossible, for him to ride in cars. So on his regular pilgrimages across Punjab, he rides a motorcycle–which just makes him even cooler.
