Punjab

Punjab is a state in northwest India. The population of about 30 million, speak Punjabi. The Indian state borders the Pakistani province of Punjab to the west, Jammu and Kashmir to the north, Himachal Pradesh to the northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, Chandigarh to the southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest. The state is the location of one of the world's first and oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization, India's first civilization.



Sanghol and its neighbourhood date from at least the time of the Indus Valley Civilization. Sanghol, say the archaeologists, was very likely a prosperous and flourishing town around 3000 B.C. – that is, some five thousand years ago. Subsequently, Sanghol rose to be a major cultural centre in the Buddhist period.

Indian Army

Punjab regiment and Sikh Regiment - the most decorated regiment with medals in the Indian Army.



Punjabi Culture

Punjabi culture is one of self-dependence, self-reliance and hard work, which have made Punjabis statistically on average the wealthiest in India.. These character traits comes from Punjab's difficult history, particularly due to the number of outside invasions (Greeks, Persians, Scythians, Kushans, Turks, Mughals and Afghans). The heroism of the ancient residents of Punjab was highlighted during Alexander the Great's invasion, most notably that of King Porus & his army at the Battle of the Hydaspes River.

In a letter to his mother, Alexander wrote, "I am involved in the land of a leonine and brave people, where every foot of the ground is like a well of steel, confronting my soldier. You have brought only one son into the world, but everyone in this land can be called an Alexander.”

Traditional historic Punjabi culture is renowned for its tolerance, progressive and logical approach to life. Punjabis customarily value and show great respect for their traditions and history.

Punjab (the five rivers region) is one of the most fertile regions on earth. The region is ideal for wheat-growing. Rice, sugar cane, fruits and vegetables are also grown. Indian Punjab is called the "Granary of India" or "India's bread-basket." It produces 60% of India's wheat, and 40% of India's rice.

Major Cities of Punjab - Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala



Few pictures of Punjabis

Giddha is a popular folk dance of women in Punjab and exhibits teasing, fun and exuberance of Punjabi life. Giddha dance is just as energetic as bhangra and at the same time it manages to creatively display feminine grace and elasticity. Gidha is essentially danced in circles. Girls form rings and one of the dancers sit in the centre of this ring with a dholki (drum). Just as in bhangra, one girl comes forward and sings a boli (verse). As she comes to the end of it, the others pick up the refrain and join. Most commonly girls dance in twos.

Giddha dance is stylistically simple. Jingle of the bells, thumping of the feet, beat of the drum and the resplendence of Punjabi women in salwar kameej creates an enchanting atmosphere for it. What makes Giddha so popular is that it is not performed according to any cut-and-dried rule. Harmony is the essence in gidda movements that are inclusive of swinging and twisting the body, shaking of the shoulders, bending to a double and clapping. Giddha dance incorporate village life scenes of woman spinning, fetching water from the well and grinding. This is accompanied with appropriate boli and songs.


A performer of Giddha (Folk Dance of Punjab)

Some videos of women and girls performing Giddha.
Gidha Performance @youtube.com
New Years 2006 Gidha @youtube.com

Not to down punjabis but was there a point to this thread?

To educate people on Punjab.

Youre not putting Punjabis/Indians down...the point?...well its obvious if you read.

Nice clips VaMan they wicked!...the ladies Giddha dance is lively.

In contrast the men version is called Bhangra.

Bhangra is a lively form of dance that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent

Bhangra, in the traditional sense, is a folk dance and not a music form. While Bhangra began as a part of harvest and Vaisakhi festival celebrations, it found its way to the performance stage after the division of Punjab in 1947 A.D.
The Punjabi dance performed at this time in ecstasy with the beat of Dhol came to be known as Bhangra. The tradition spread slowly to other parts of the region and developed into a unique folk dance form.

People Group Focus: Punjabi of India

Punjabi men



Meet "Sydney," a twenty-two year old guy who has not been able to finish college because of his faith in Jesus. He has been persecuted physically, emotionally, and mentally because of his choice to follow Jesus and he was disowned by his Jat Sikh family. Sydney is working as an evangelist to see that his own people, the Jat Sikhs, have the chance to find eternal life in Jesus. In the past year Sydney has started one church and several house churches. He is training several other young men to share their faith and start new churches. Sydney has a vision to reach the 11 million Jat Sikhs.
Read his story.

http://www.imb.org/newsletter/thETASK/October2004.htm

^ Religion is a different issue, there are different religions in Punjab...Punjabi and Sikhism do not mix. If a person or any other person from different religions in the world sees Christianity or any other religion the path to the Lord, than good for him.

There are people 'converting' to Sikhism too. Ultimately Sikhs believe all religions be it Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhi etc lead to the same destination.




The "Great" Gama (1882-1960), also known as Rustam-e-zaman Gama Pahelvan, born Ghulam Muhammad, in Amritsar, British India, was a renowned wrestler and a practitioner of Pehlwani wrestling. He was awarded the Indian version of the World Heavyweight title on October 15, 1910. To this date he is the only wrestler in history who remained undefeated his whole life; his career spanned more than 50 years.

I didn't say it did. I read somewhere that only 60% of Punjabis are Sikh.

Yeah, about 70-75% or so of the Punjab , India population are Sikhs. Sikhs can also be found in Pakistan... mainly in Punjab in minority.

Posting stories from a Christian evangelical group doesn't count as "research".

Ok, this was never done before?

Punjab is also one of the fastest growing states in India (along with Haryana) and is considered to be one of the top high income states of India (along with Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Karnatika and Kerala.


http://www.rediff.com/money/2002/feb/26spec.htm

Some of this stuff was really interesting to read. I knew some of the stuff copied from Wikipedia but I hadn't really read all of it.
It's really interesting!
As for the Christian dude getting disowned by his Jat Sikh family, I feel bad for him but I guess it could happen with any person converting to a religion not of their family's choice.

You mean that India's Punjab is 60% Sikh? I heard that most Punjabis are Pakistani Muslims. Many Hindu Punjabis settled in Delhi, Bombay, UP, etc also.

*sigh....wish we could disown jackasses from representing an entire nation...

Yeah I'm talking about Indian Punjab. 40% of Punjabis are non-sikh.

Punjabis are fun people especially the pakistani punjabis that I've know in the US, now the ones that wear their pride on thier sleeves (or username ) and push it down everyones throat give the rest a bad name

LOL! I agree with you 100%!!! I never seen a Paki Punjabi with a name like "Proud_Paki_Punjbai," Paki_5abi," etc.. but I've seen so many "Putt_Jutt_Da,"Punjabi_Munda_Jutt," etc etc.. LOL! It's almost like these people are trying way too hard to get noticed!

I've seen Pakistani Punjabis rep their pride on their forums, as well as Pathans. I also heard that the Muhajirs and Punjabis in Pakistan don't like each other and compete over who's better.

All what you need is jiggyjiggy coming in and telling everyone is a fob.

LOL!!...username giving a bad reputation and trying to get noticed, I never heard anything preposterous...

Pakistani-Punjabis say that Indian-Pakistan Punjab people are the same, I think too, some may not...The Greeks, Italians, Portuguese are also called to be 'proud'. I know 'Goa'n' Indians that are proud too.

I didnt want to bring in religion, converting etc, but will do once, as this is not an 'article', some proper facts...

The person is a 'Jatt', Punjabi "culture"...in "religion", Sikhism there is no castes, equality amongst the human race...Thats why I said Sikhism and Punjabi do not mix...Culture and Religion do not mix in Sikhism.

In Punjab, India... Sikhi is practised by 70%-75% of the population. Sikhs can be found in states of Haryana, Himachal and Dehli too, 'ethnic' Punjabis...also Pakistan. There are 4 million Sikhs that live outside India, Punjab. High populations in UK, Canada and America. Sikhism is a universal religion can be practised by anyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrsfNkaqIIE -

Guru Granth Sahib. Word of God, Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Miracle...only scripture written by its founders. Quite a population in the area became Sikhs...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h4sYEpQY5g -

Miri Piri Academy, Amritsar...Christians etc convert now practising Sikhs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pIuJlp9mqs -

Converts to Sikhi in the West....

Ultimately all religions lead to the same destination, Lord...Sikhs believe Sikhi is the simplest path.

1990 - 2001 Religions in America

Deism - 71.7% per year
Sikhism - 33.8%
New Age - 24.0%
Hinduism - 23.7%
Baha'i - 20.0%
Buddhism - 17.0%
Native American Religion - 11.9%
Nonreligious / Secular - 11.0%
Islam - 10.9%
Taoism - 7.4%

Source: Adherents. 2001 by a study of the American Survey of Religious Identification.

Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism are 'growing' religions in in the Western world today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFqXAxWsECw - Old School Bhangra performed by Punjab Uni Champions.



A typical Bhangra style 'Paghree'...turban. Traditional Punjabi style.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh (Lion of Punjab): The ruler who made Punjab powerful.

He was also known as Sher-e-Punjab, the Lion of Punjab and is considered one of the 3 Lions of India, the most famous and revered heroes in North Indian history. While Emperor Rajaraja Chola and Asoka were the 2 most powerful Indian kings of history, they are not named among the 3 Lions. The other 2 Lions are Rana Pratap Singh of Mewar and Chhatrapati Shivaji, the legendary Maratha ruler. The title of Sher-e-Punjab is still widely used as a term of respect for a powerful man.

Ranjit Singh took the title of Maharaja on April 12, 1801 (to coincide with Baisakhi day). Lahore served as his capital from 1799. In 1802 he took the holy city of Amritsar.

He then spent the following years fighting the Afghans, driving them out of western Punjab. He also captured Pashtun territory including Peshawar.

This was the first time that Pashtuns were ruled by non-Muslims. In a historical perspective, this event was very important. For more than a thousand years invaders had come down from the Khyber pass and ruled eastern lands. Maharaja Ranjit Singh reversed this trend.

The Maharaja never forced Sikhism on his subjects. This was in sharp contrast with the ethnic & religious cleansing of past Moghul rulers. Ranjit Singh had created a state based upon Sikh noble traditions, where everyone worked together, regardless of background, and where citizens were made to look at the things that they shared in common, e.g. being Punjabi, rather than any religious differences.

nothing wrong with ur username mate, it could have been worse, u could have gone for something like say JuicyFruit lol j/k

This is a tough concept for a lot of Indians abroad to understand, even for some second-generation Sikhs.

I have found it ridiculous and unfair when people expect Hindu Punjabis and Christian Punjabis to be well-informed about Sikhism.

I was going for Fruity, but someone already took it.

How about Fruity Tootie?

No, that's just trying too hard.

lol okay, never thought there was in the first place mate, some people were on about it lol.




Yeah true, dont expect to know everything, like well-informed...but a few basics can be learned...for anyone on different faiths.

I say Punjabi and Sikhism do not mix...Ill give you one example, e.g. Punjabi culture of drinking alcohol its not allowed in Sikhism. Plus Sikhism is the only religion that states tobacco smoking is not good for the health, scientist people found out in the 19th century.


There have been more than 50,000 + converts to Sikhi in America and Canada over the last 15 years. Other places with converts more than 20,000 in Mexico, Europe and Russia. As the links provided above showing people from different ethnicities/religions now practising Sikhism, many living in Punjab, India.

3h0 Sikh Group based in America say there are now millions of students learning about Sikhism.

It's good to have some knowledge, but an example would be how someone asked my Hindu Punjabi friend a detailed question about Sikhism and she said "I don't know, because I'm Hindu." The person said, "But you're still Punjabi! You should know." I mean come on now...a lot of Muslim Punjabis in Pakistan will not know much about Sikhism. I've met plenty of Muslim Punjabis that think that Hinduism and Sikhism is the same thing.

LOL...true. People have linked the Punjabi identity strongly with Sikhs...similar to other countries/provinces e.g. Gujarat, everyone thinks youre a Hindu, but I know one 'Shah' girl from Gujarat who is Muslim. I know lots off Pakistani-Punjabis who are Muslims, they automatically get called Sikhs when they say 'Punjabi'. But thats just down to misconception...e.g. same with how Hinduism is same to Sikhism, which is not true as they are completely different faiths with different teachings...but with ''simalarities'', which is the same with most religions, as Sikhism and other faiths share similarities but differences too.

Most people from where I live know the differences between Sikhism and Hinduism...e.g. One God in Sikhism...comparison to various forms of Gods in Hinduism.

And the guy who asked my friend that was a Gujarati Hindu. I asked him, "do see yourself as being the same as Gujarati Muslims then?" That got the point across.




You have to forgive the older generation though for also perpetuating that the Sikhs are basically Hindus....Some aunties and uncles can't understand no matter how much you explain to them, so I just let them be. I think the new generation is understands the differences easily.

Since it's acceptable for Hindus and Sikhs to inter-marry, I think that's why people get the wrong idea that they're the same.

I think Shahs are Parsis.

There are Gujarati Hindu Shahs, and I've met Pakistani Punjabi Shahs.

Parsis probably use it too..It's a generic last name.

You gave me an idea to create a topic.

Indian Cricketers

Yuvraj Singh, today known as one of the best finisher in Indian and world cricket, always there till the end when chasing.



Harbhajan Singh - ok spinner, has his on and off days.



Just a few Punjabi stars, in Indian movies and Bhangra music

i think neha dhupia is the hottest punjabi woman ever.

I concur, but sadly the ony one.

Amisha Patel's mom is supposedly a "Sindhi Punjabi".....

Asha Patel says she grew up in an elite pampered atmosphere abroad and met her husband as a teenager while visiting India. For him it was love at first sight, but Asha laughs and says as a Sindhi Punjabi she was not sure that she would fit into a Gujarati family.

http://www.kavitachhibber.com/main/main.jsp?id=amisha_patel

there are quite a few shahs that are muslims but there are hindus, too. same with patel. ive met a patel family that was muslim.

Agreed, the word shah itself is from farsi i.e. persian, and means king or ruler.

It's a pretty common Jain surname too.

Punjab Tourism Heritage - A few Archaeological Destinations

Ropar - Due to its rigorous past the best part of ancient Punjab is either in its ruins or underground. At Ropar, called Roop Nagar (the town of beauty ) evidence of Harappan culture of Indus Valley Civilisation and relics of Alexander's Army have been discovered.



Sanghol - District Fatehgarh Sahib:

Archaeological digs here have yielded relics which date back from Harrapan Culture of 6th century AD. A stupa and a Buddhist monastery complex of the Kushan era (Ist-2nd Century AD) has also been unearthed here.

Dholbaha, Hoshiarpur - The excavations at Dholbaha, the ancient temple town at Hoshiarpur takes back its antiquity to the Pleistocene period of stone age man and shows evidence of continued development of civilisation right down of the 7th and 8th century A.D.The museum containing these relics is situated in Hoshiarpur city.

The area of present Hoshiarpur District was also part of Indus Valley Civilization. Recent excavations at various sites in the district have revealed that the entire area near the Shiwalik foothills was selected for habitation not only by the early palaeolithic man but also by those in the protohistoric and historic periods.

Patiala - British India's Princely states Capital and Bhatinda

Patiala - It is the administrative headquarters of Patiala District, and was the capital of the premier princely state in the former Punjab Province of British India, headed by the Sidhu dynasty. Patiala is famous for its peg (a reference to Patiala Peg), pagri (traditional headgear), paranda (tasselled tag for braiding hair) and Jutti (traditional Punjabi footwear).

Qila Mubarak, a Historical National Monument of India, forms the heart of the city of Bathinda, in Indian Punjab. It has been in existence for approximately 1900 years in its current form. Some sources have the structure in its original, primitive form dating back to the Harrapa period.



Amritsar - known as the "Punjabi Heaven" - Golden Temple



"Pool of the Nectar of Immortality", is the administrative headquarter of the Amritsar District in Punjab, India. It is home to the Harimandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, and is the spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh Religion.

What I meant was Sikh.. I have this tendency to confuse Hindu Punjabis with Sikh..

Thought Amisha Patel was Gujarati?...woa never knew she had some Punjabi background lol.

Why can't people just say Sikh then? Sikh is shorter and easier to type out. No offense, but sometimes I feel like people think that Punjab just dropped out of the sky when Sikhism was founded. Hindu Punjabis were here before Sikhs.

LOL... I believe Hinduism was one the first religion, with unknown founder?... before any other religion appeared. Sikhi came in the 15th century, the youngest of the world beliefs.

Hinduism is not a religion.. more of a "way of life."

Maybe people are just showing some respect to Sikhism birthplace...Sikhisms' founder, Guru Nanak Ji's birthplace was in the Land of the five Rivers, Punjab. Like Saudi Arabia, Medina...one of the holiest places in Islam for Muslims, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammed(p.b.u.h)

It's considered both a religion and a way of life...and from what I know, there is no founder.

Some Hindus don't like it being referred to as a way of life only because they think abrahamic religions are trying to make Hinduism seem like it's not a real religion.