Meet Kothari brothers, who designed turban for Narendra Modi

It’s unlikely that the Kothari brothers from Udaipur will ever forget August 29, 2017. It’s not every day that one gets a chance to design a turban for the Indian prime minister.

Jayant and Jinesh Kothari designed a special Rajasthani turban for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was presented to him during his visit to Udaipur on Tuesday.

“It took us 10 days to make the traditional turban commonly known as ‘morda’,” said the duo. “Four people worked for 10 days to prepare the bandhej cloth using the tie-and-dye technique. After that the turban was decorated with a golden lace,” they added.

Jayesh said ‘morda’ is an ancient turban worn by the kings of Mewar. The art of preparing Modra was introduced by his forefathers almost a hundred years ago for the Maharanas of the region. During the medieval period, the art went extinct in the absence of artists.

“We decided to prepare a turban using the ancient art as we wanted to show our gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said a beaming Jayant and Jinesh.

The turban was made in three steps. First, the cloth was dyed in multiple colours using the tie and dye technique, the turban then was made in a Bhopal Shahi style (one that was worn by the king of Mewar, Maharana Bhopal Singh, a hundred years ago), and finally it was decorated with 54 inches of golden lace and shining handmade broaches.

Jinesh added that before Modi they have designed special turbans for cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar and veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan and spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

The brothers live in the Bada Bazaar area of the city and run a turban shop at Kol Pol area of the old city.