Participants celebrate Turban Day at Christchurch's Bridge of Remembrance. Photo: Supplied
The Sikh communities in Christchurch and Tauranga have celebrated Turban Day earlier this month.
The Canterbury Punjabi Association organised an event to commemorate the occasion at Christchurch's Bridge of Remembrance on 12 October.
A week earlier, Gurdwara Sikh Sangat held an event in Tauranga's Memorial Park.
Similar events have been held in other years in Auckland - home to the largest Sikh population in New Zealand.
The event started in Christchurch in 2018 after Narinder Singh Warraich, president of the Canterbury Punjabi Association, witnessed some young people using racial slurs towards an elderly Sikh person with a beard and turban in Hagley Park.
"I was struck by their ignorance of Sikh culture, as they confused the man to be a Muslim and were chanting 'Osama's brother, Osama's brother'," Warraich said. "They thought the elderly Sikh man must be related to the terrorist Osama Bin Laden.
"A Sikh turban represents a commitment to protect and save humanity. We aim to create awareness about this as well as educate locals about the Sikh faith as part of the event," he said.
"That's why every year we organise the Turban Day right in the city centre and not in a Gurdwara, so that more locals can join in," he said.
"With celebrations carrying on for a few years now, we have regulars coming in and sharing stories about how Turban Day has changed their perception of the Sikh faith, which is heartening."
Turban Day in New Zealand is part of a global movement that began in the early 2000s to raise awareness about Sikh religion, culture and its various articles of faith, especially the turban.
On this day, Sikhs worldwide teach people about Sikhism and help them put on headwear that is also known as dastar, dumalla or pagri.
