Punjabi

Amrita Sher-Gil – She was an Indian painter of high repute and called as Frida Kahlo of India. She is regarded as the most prolific women painter of 20th century India. Her legacy stands at par with the Masters of Bengal Renaissance. She is among the ‘most expensive’ woman painter of India. She is included in the Nine Masters, whose work had been declared as art treasures by The ASI. In fact, more than 100 of her paintings are displayed at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

Sir Sobha Singh (1901–1986) – He was the widely recognised contemporary painter of Punjab. Some of his paintings include Sohni Mahiwal and Heer Ranjha. Apart from his paintings, he has also painted the remarkable portraits of national heroes like Mahatma Gandhi, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Kartar Singh Sarabha, etc. In fact, his wall paintings are displayed in the Art gallery of Indian Parliament House at New Delhi.

Satish Gujral (born 25 December 1925) – He is a famous Indian painter who has successfully donned the various roles of sculptor, architect, muralist, and graphic designer. He has created many breath taking paintings. In 1999, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan. He is the brother of former Indian PM IK Gujral.

Manjit Bawa (1941 – 29 December 2008) – He is a famous Indian Painter whose canvases are evident in their colors like the green of the paddy fields, the ochre of sunflowers, the blue of the mountain sky and the red of the sun. He is one of the first painters to that make the extensive use of traditionally Indian colours such as pinks, reds and violet as compared to dominant brown and gray colours. In addition to his mesmerising paintings, Bawa is also known for his love of spirituality and Sufi philosophy in particular.

Punjabi lifestyle and culture are very popular among the masses as it involves diversity and richness of various communities that characterizes the identity of the Punjab region. Punjabi villages are basically compact settlements and have houses which are usually clustered around a Gurudwara, Temple or Mosque. The houses which are located on the outside edge of the village are constructed for looking like a walled settlement with fewer openings. The main entrance to a village is via a curved gateway known as door which also forms a meeting place for the villagers. The various houses are built near to each other and often two houses shares walls. The rooms are constructed in such a way so there is ample space for the animals and storage of farming implements. Most of the village population include farmers and rest are cultivators, artisans, and service castes.

The Punjabi households comprises of comfortable furniture with ceiling fans to take care of hot summers. One can also find other conveniences like telephones, refrigerators radios, and televisions. Majority of farmers have tractors and in present times, motorcycles are common in most of the houses. Some of the Punjabis businessmen are very wealthy and they may own cars and other four wheelers. Especially, the Punjabis highlight highest standards of living in Pakistan. Most of the villages have access to the basic facilities and boasts of fertile land that yield high output of grains. There might be some areas that many lack transportation infrastructure and still major development is required to strengthen the economy of region.

Punjabis by nature are very lovable and warm people. They like to have fun and enjoy celebrating festivals. Most of the Festivals are basically the events that are shared by the entire community irrespective of their religion. These festivals are usually seasonal or based on agriculture harvest. Punjabis celebrates Basant festival when the mustard fields are seen as yellow blanket. They wear g yellow clothes, fly kites and enjoy their feast. Another very popular festival is Holi that is celebrated with great vigour and energy. Vaisakh marks the start of the Hindu New Year and Sikhs commemorate it as the founding of Sikh Khalsa. Some other important festivals include Dasahara, Diwali , gurpurbs among Hindus and Sikhs while Muslims celebrate the Muharram, Eid al-Fitr , and Bakr-Id.

The Pre-Wedding Rituals of Punjabi wedding consists of various ceremonies like Rokka, Mangni, Dholki, Mehndi, Shagun, Ubtan and Rut Jugga.

Rokka – The Rokka ceremony is done as a commitment from the boy and girl to marry each other. None of the parties consider any more matrimonial proposals after the Rokka. The Gift is exchanged between the families.

Mangni – It refers to the process of Engagement and it is celebrated in high profile manner. During the Mangni, the boys’ family goes to the girls’ home and presents gifts, jewellery, and other items as a sign of confirming the engagement. The major highlight of the engagement is the exchange of rings between boys and Gals.

Dholki – This is a high profile ceremony which is organised in a Banquet Hall where ladies sings traditional songs. However, in modern times people use to hire DJs and organise a dance party followed by dinner.

Mehndi: This ceremony is organised in the party’s environment where the bride and other ladies get apply mehndi on their hands and feet.

Shagun: Shagun refers to the ceremony where two families usually exchange gifts for confirming the engagement.

Ubtan: In this ritual, a paste of powdered turmeric and mustard oil is applied on the gal’s body by female relatives and friends.

Rut Jugga: The Rut Jugga ceremony marked by the dancing and singing in the decorated wedding home. It is performed till late night hours. A copper or brass vessel called “gagger” is decorated with clay lamps and filled with mustard oil to light them. The ladies will move into the homes of friends and families where they are usually welcomed by sweets and drinks. They perform dance there and move ahead. It is a loud ceremony that is celebrated with joy, fireworks, dancing, followed by tasty food.

Post-Bhangra remix culture started a process of musical cultural fusion and hybridization that extended beyond dance music genres. Post-Bhangra musical forms largely refer to a similar musical form like Bhangra with more emphasis on inter-dance-genre dialogues. Thus, post-Bhangra has the element of remixing as well as fusing the Black and Asian styles of dance that was absent in traditional Bhangra. Post-Bhangra has the similar components of racial and cultural affirmation that are observed in Bhangra. By focussing on the dance fusion style, post-Bhangra culture attacked the other famous genres like Ragga, Rap or Jungle music which are favourites of British Empire.

Post Bhagra Artists created the fusion of starkly contrasting dance genres and in a way subjected racial signifiers like Asian or Black to high scrutiny. Post-Bhangra provides the displaced Asians in the UK a way out to express their disapproval of the authority that questions their involvement in a black-dominated music scene. They stressed that their music is truly authentic and raised awareness to problems of racism within Asian contexts.

The major proponent of the post-bhangra was the formation of new sense of Asian identity among the Asian youth and helps them to identify with a new culture which is not confined to their cultural roots and which is not fused with any other existed culture. The interpretation of Bhangra lies wherever there is meeting of Asian, UK and hip hop cultures. Bhangra followers consider the Bhangra music as an expression of their identity. As the Bhangra movement gains momentum, the Bhangra music gained international recognition. Post Bhangra Music is regarded as a important music form as it offers the Asian youth in the UK a mean for self-expression by their music and allows them to associate with these music forms unabashedly.

Punjabi or Panjabi is an Indo-Aryan language that is spoken by Punjabi population in the Punjab region including the Punjab state of north western India and Punjabi province of Pakistan. It is also commonly regarded as the official language of the Sikhs community which uses the Punjabi in their culture, ceremonies and daily communication. As per the Ethnologue 2005 estimate, the native speakers of the Punjabi language are more than 88 million and that makes it the 13th most widely spoken language across the world. Punjabi language has numerous different dialects and they are spoken in the various sub-regions of greater Punjab.

The most refined and prestige dialect of the Punjabi language is Majhi dialect that is considered as textbook Punjabi language. It was earlier spoken in the historical region of Majha that has its centres in Lahore and Amritsar. Punjabi is regarded as the unusual language among modern Indo-European languages in being a tonal language in addition to Lahnda and Western Pahari languages. Punjabi is one of the 22 languages which enjoy the official language status in India. Moreover, it is also the first official language of Punjab state and Union Territory State Chandigarh. In addition to this, it is also considered to be the 2nd official language of Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. Punjabi is also spoken by a major population of Pakistan, where it is the provincial language of Punjab of Pakistan. Punjab Province of Pakistan is the most populous and second largest province of Pakistan.

Apart from India and Pakistan, Punjabi is also spoken in many other countries as a minority language where Punjabis have emigrated in large numbers including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. In UK, the Punjabi is the second most commonly used language and in Canada, it has become the fourth most spoken language.

Punjabi Hindus refers to a group of people that observe the Hindu religion closely and are rooted in the heartland of erstwhile Greater Punjab of undivided India that includes the West Punjab and East Punjab. Presently, these Punjabi Hindus are distributed in major regions of the northern India and some regions of western India such as Mumbai. Most of the Punjabi Hindus in India are populated in the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. Punjabi Hindus have migrated to the various foreign countries such as USA, Canada and UK in search of better life and job opportunities.

Punjab has a rich culture heritage and it is believed that majority of the oldest Hindu texts including the Vedas, Upanishads and Mahabharata were written in the Punjab or its nearby regions. These texts have influenced the entire South Asian region throughout the history. Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots since the time of Vedas and Hindus have lived in the Punjabi region since many years before the Muslims have arrived. Most of these Hindus turned to Sikhism later to fight against the atrocities of the Mughals. It is believed that in the family of Hindu Punjabi, the elder son is send to become a Sikh and it is commonly observed in the Khatri and Arora community of Punjabis. Most of the classic cities of Indian Punjab and Pakistan Punjab have historical significance as they were founded by the earlier Hindu kings.

Punjabi Hindus have a distinct identity and their culture resembles to the culture of Sikhs. They also differ from other communities and with the passage of time they have created their own identity. The Punjabi Hindus showcase a very liberal lifestyle and are widely popular for their copious wedding parties. They can be classified into various sub groups like Khatri, Rajput, Brahman, Baniya, and others. Punjabi Hindus worship Hindu Gods and go to Hindu temples for worship and they also visit Gurudwaras.