I bring my turban, culture and mother tongue: Punjabi singer-star Diljit Dosanjh on Met Gala debut

New Delhi, Popular singer-star Diljit Dosanjh honoured his Sikh roots and home state Punjab in his debut at the Met Gala 2025 with a regal white ensemble complete with a kirpan, turban and a layered necklace in a hat tip to the Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala.

Diljit, known for songs such as "5 Taara", "Lover", "Peaches", and "GOAT", wore an ivory and gold sherwani along with a tehmat by American-Nepalese designer Prabal Gurung.

The musician, who hails from Punjab's Dosanjh village, completed his look with a bejewelled turban adorned with a white 'kalgi' and a lion-headed, jewel-studded kirpan, a cape with the silhouetted map of Punjab and alphabets in the Punjabi script Gurmukhi embroidered on it. His belt bore hand-embroidered traditional Indian motifs like lotus flowers and peacocks.

"Main Hoon Punjab #metgala," Diljit wrote on Instagram, quoting the lines from a song in "Chamkila".

"Inspired by the Theme of Black Dandyism, I bring my turban, my culture and my mother tongue Punjabi to the Met Gala," he said.

Diljit's team shared a series of videos of the Punjabi superstar's appearance at the gala on its official Instagram page.

"HISTORY #diljitdosanjh #metgala #diljit," was the caption of one of the posts featuring the singer climbing down the stairs as he leaves the hotel for the Met ball.

A video of the actor twirling his moustache was captioned as: "He wore a Legacy #diljit #metgala #diljitdosanjh."

Diljit who has emerged as a global artiste from India in the last few years with his Coachella concert and sold-out international music shows confirmed his attendance at the Met Gala 2025 on Sunday via social media.

The singer's look was based on archival images of the Maharaja of Patiala, known for his extravagant and colourful lifestyle, according to his stylist Abhilasha Devnani.

In an interview to The New York Times, Devnani said she tried to borrow the maharaja's iconic Cartier necklace for the night but it remains locked up in a museum.

In 1928, the maharaja commissioned Cartier, the luxury jewellery brand favoured by the wealthy, royals, and celebrities, to make him a diamond necklace of 1,000 carats, which was "the largest necklace" the French jeweller had ever made.

The necklace went missing from India in 1948.

Devnani said she eventually reached out to Indian jeweller Golecha's to create jewellery inspired by the original collection.

Gurung, who also dressed Shakira, Nicole Scherzinger, Tessa Thompson, Chimamanda Adichie for this year's Met ball, said Diljit was very forthcoming about the details of his cape.

"He’s unapologetically himself," the designer told The New York Times.

Gurung's official Instagram page also shared a selfie of Diljit, Shakira, and Nicole. Diljit also posed for the shutterbugs along with Hollywood couple Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas.

Back in 2022, American influencer Emma Chamberlain stirred up a controversy when she wore Maharaja of Patiala's diamond choker as part of her Met Gala appearance.

The maharaja, who ruled the princely state of Patiala from 1900 to 1938, always sported the choker along with his famous layered necklace.

Many on social media criticised Chamberlain for cultural appropriation and demanded that the necklace should be returned to India.

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