Hinduism in Punjab
Encyclopedia
Punjabi Hindus are a group of people that follows the Hindu religion and has its roots in the erstwhile joint ancient Panjab region. Today it is spread out across most parts of northern India and in some parts of western India like Mumbai
, Maharashtra
. In India, most Punjabi Hindus are concentrated in the states of Punjab and Haryana
and the national capital territory of Delhi
. There has also been a continuous migration of Punjabi Hindus to major world countries like the USA, Canada and the UK.
The oldest Hindu texts such as the Vedas
, Upanishads and the Mahabharata
were composed in Punjab or in a nearby region. The Hindus of Punjab have, naturally, been there for much more time than Muslims since Islam was founded only in the 7th century C.E., entering India around the 11th century C.E., while Hinduism has been extant since at least the 2nd millennium B.C.E.. Many Hindus later converted to Sikhism
. In fact, Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots from the time of the Vedas
. Many modern day cities in Indian Punjab and Pakistan Punjab are still named from that period like Lahore
etc. Former Prime ministers of India I.K. Gujral and Gulzari Lal Nanda are Punjabi Hindus. Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev
and great Indian scientist Hargobind Khorana are also Punjabi Hindus.
Punjabi Hindus have a unique culture which, in some ways, very closely resembles that of of the Sikhs and also differs from theirs in many other ways. They usually have a very liberal lifestyle and are famous for their lavish wedding parties. They are mostly employed in trade and commerce though some also work as farmers in the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana
. Like other Hindus, they are also divided into castes. The most common castes are Khatri
(Kshatriya
in Sanskrit), Arora, Brahman
, Baniya, Rajput
, Saini
etc. Naturally, Punjabi Hindus go to Hindu temples for worship.
The original Punjab region
is now divided into several units: West Punjab
(now in Pakistan) including the Gandhara region, the Indian states of Punjab
, Haryana
and Himachal Pradesh
and the Indian Union territory of Chandigarh
. The regions of POK and Jammu
have also been historically associated with the Punjab.
The Punjab is the 'Sapta Sindhu' region mentioned in the Rig Veda, the seven rivers are:
The modern name of the Vipasa,'Beas' is thought to be a corruption of Veda Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata
.
Among the classic books that wholly or partly composed in this region are the following.
The world's oldest university Takshashila flourished here, even before the Buddha
's birth.
The descendants of the Rishis, form the Brahmins of Hindu
society. The Brahmins of this region are called 'Saraswata' after the legendary Saraswati river region, once known for the ashramas of the rishis.
, Krishna
, Shiva
, Vishnu
and Hanuman
. One of the most popular ones is Vaishno Devi of Jammu, (all known commonly as Sheraan-wali('She of the lions') in Punjabi
). The worship of Hanuman is usually done on Tuesdays.
Sanatan Dharma Sabha was founded in the Punjab in late 19th century to promote traditional Hinduism. It sent scholars overseas and became a major force in some of the overseas Hindu communities. In January 1933 the session of the All-India Sanatan Dharma Sabha, presided over by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
.
caste. It is very powerful politically and socially.
. It was founded by Swami Dayananda (born in the town of Tankara near Morvi
(or Morbi) in the Kathiawar
region of modern-day Gujarat) in 1875 in Bombay and became popular amongst Hindus in the Punjab and U.P. The first branch of the Arya Samaj was opened in Shantakruj, Mumbai in 1875. Arya Samajists do not believe in idol worship and incarnations of God (Avtarvaad) but believes in the philosophy on re-incarnation and transmigration. They hold the Vedic religion to be the only true religion and as such, regard the Vedas as their only religious books, but also regard Upnishad, Darshan Shastras and some other books written by Rishis (Arsh Granths), on the condition that the text in these should not be contradictory to Vedas. On this basis Arya Samaj rejected some of the Hindu scriptures like Purana and some other scriptures which, according to Arya Samaj, are against the Vedas. The Arya Samaj also pleads for Shuddhi
or the re-conversion into Hinduism of those Hindus who were converted to other religions. The places of worship of the Arya Samajists are different from those of the Sanatan Dharmis. Worship includes performing yajna
s, reciting mantras and seeking spiritual solace by listening to religious discourses.
sect has its headquarters at the town of Beas
and is popular amongst Punjabi Hindus. Like the Nirankari
s and Namdhari
s, the Radhaswamis too are a transitional sect between Hinduism
and Sikhism
.
. Their activities are mostly confined to the moral fields. As such Dev Samajists have not attained much popularity. In all other respects the Dev Samajists are not different from the other Hindus.
order, founded by Guru Gobind Singh
is thought to represent Sikhism today.
. This not only includes veneration of the Sikh Gurus
in private practice, but also visit to Sikh Gurdwara
s as well as Hindu temples. Some Punjabi Hindus visit Jain temples and Jain munis.
This is evident from the continuing propensity to conduct important life cycle ceremonies such as on marriage or death by any of the Hindu or Sikh rites. This is especially true for the Khatri
and Arora
communities, and even more so among the Kukhran tribe emanating from West Punjab
, an area now in Pakistan.
This predilection for heterogeneous religious affiliation has continued, in spite of decades of aggressive identity purification efforts by the forces of identity politics in the Punjab.
was composed in Punjab by Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri
.
Punjabi Hindus are a group of people that follows the Hindu religion and has its roots in the erstwhile joint ancient Panjab region. Today it is spread out across most parts of northern India and in some parts of western India like Mumbai
, Maharashtra
. In India, most Punjabi Hindus are concentrated in the states of Punjab and Haryana
and the national capital territory of Delhi
. There has also been a continuous migration of Punjabi Hindus to major world countries like the USA, Canada and the UK.
The oldest Hindu texts such as the Vedas
, Upanishads and the Mahabharata
were composed in Punjab or in a nearby region. The Hindus of Punjab have, naturally, been there for much more time than Muslims since Islam was founded only in the 7th century C.E., entering India around the 11th century C.E., while Hinduism has been extant since at least the 2nd millennium B.C.E.. Many Hindus later converted to Sikhism
. In fact, Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots from the time of the Vedas
. Many modern day cities in Indian Punjab and Pakistan Punjab are still named from that period like Lahore
etc. Former Prime ministers of India I.K. Gujral and Gulzari Lal Nanda are Punjabi Hindus. Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev
and great Indian scientist Hargobind Khorana are also Punjabi Hindus.
Punjabi Hindus have a unique culture which, in some ways, very closely resembles that of of the Sikhs and also differs from theirs in many other ways. They usually have a very liberal lifestyle and are famous for their lavish wedding parties. They are mostly employed in trade and commerce though some also work as farmers in the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana
. Like other Hindus, they are also divided into castes. The most common castes are Khatri
(Kshatriya
in Sanskrit), Arora, Brahman
, Baniya, Rajput
, Saini
etc. Naturally, Punjabi Hindus go to Hindu temples for worship.
The original Punjab region
is now divided into several units: West Punjab
(now in Pakistan) including the Gandhara region, the Indian states of Punjab
, Haryana
and Himachal Pradesh
and the Indian Union territory of Chandigarh
. The regions of POK and Jammu
have also been historically associated with the Punjab.
The Punjab is the 'Sapta Sindhu' region mentioned in the Rig Veda, the seven rivers are:
The modern name of the Vipasa,'Beas' is thought to be a corruption of Veda Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata
.
Among the classic books that wholly or partly composed in this region are the following.
The world's oldest university Takshashila flourished here, even before the Buddha
's birth.
The descendants of the Rishis, form the Brahmins of Hindu
society. The Brahmins of this region are called 'Saraswata' after the legendary Saraswati river region, once known for the ashramas of the rishis.
, Krishna
, Shiva
, Vishnu
and Hanuman
. One of the most popular ones is Vaishno Devi of Jammu, (all known commonly as Sheraan-wali('She of the lions') in Punjabi
). The worship of Hanuman is usually done on Tuesdays.
Sanatan Dharma Sabha was founded in the Punjab in late 19th century to promote traditional Hinduism. It sent scholars overseas and became a major force in some of the overseas Hindu communities. In January 1933 the session of the All-India Sanatan Dharma Sabha, presided over by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
.
caste. It is very powerful politically and socially.
. It was founded by Swami Dayananda (born in the town of Tankara near Morvi
(or Morbi) in the Kathiawar
region of modern-day Gujarat) in 1875 in Bombay and became popular amongst Hindus in the Punjab and U.P. The first branch of the Arya Samaj was opened in Shantakruj, Mumbai in 1875. Arya Samajists do not believe in idol worship and incarnations of God (Avtarvaad) but believes in the philosophy on re-incarnation and transmigration. They hold the Vedic religion to be the only true religion and as such, regard the Vedas as their only religious books, but also regard Upnishad, Darshan Shastras and some other books written by Rishis (Arsh Granths), on the condition that the text in these should not be contradictory to Vedas. On this basis Arya Samaj rejected some of the Hindu scriptures like Purana and some other scriptures which, according to Arya Samaj, are against the Vedas. The Arya Samaj also pleads for Shuddhi
or the re-conversion into Hinduism of those Hindus who were converted to other religions. The places of worship of the Arya Samajists are different from those of the Sanatan Dharmis. Worship includes performing yajna
s, reciting mantras and seeking spiritual solace by listening to religious discourses.
sect has its headquarters at the town of Beas
and is popular amongst Punjabi Hindus. Like the Nirankari
s and Namdhari
s, the Radhaswamis too are a transitional sect between Hinduism
and Sikhism
.
. Their activities are mostly confined to the moral fields. As such Dev Samajists have not attained much popularity. In all other respects the Dev Samajists are not different from the other Hindus.
order, founded by Guru Gobind Singh
is thought to represent Sikhism today.
. This not only includes veneration of the Sikh Gurus
in private practice, but also visit to Sikh Gurdwara
s as well as Hindu temples. Some Punjabi Hindus visit Jain temples and Jain munis.
This is evident from the continuing propensity to conduct important life cycle ceremonies such as on marriage or death by any of the Hindu or Sikh rites. This is especially true for the Khatri
and Arora
communities, and even more so among the Kukhran tribe emanating from West Punjab
, an area now in Pakistan.
This predilection for heterogeneous religious affiliation has continued, in spite of decades of aggressive identity purification efforts by the forces of identity politics in the Punjab.
was composed in Punjab by Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri
.
Punjabi Hindus are a group of people that follows the Hindu religion and has its roots in the erstwhile joint ancient Panjab region. Today it is spread out across most parts of northern India and in some parts of western India like Mumbai
, Maharashtra
. In India, most Punjabi Hindus are concentrated in the states of Punjab and Haryana
and the national capital territory of Delhi
. There has also been a continuous migration of Punjabi Hindus to major world countries like the USA, Canada and the UK.
The oldest Hindu texts such as the Vedas
, Upanishads and the Mahabharata
were composed in Punjab or in a nearby region. The Hindus of Punjab have, naturally, been there for much more time than Muslims since Islam was founded only in the 7th century C.E., entering India around the 11th century C.E., while Hinduism has been extant since at least the 2nd millennium B.C.E.. Many Hindus later converted to Sikhism
. In fact, Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots from the time of the Vedas
. Many modern day cities in Indian Punjab and Pakistan Punjab are still named from that period like Lahore
etc. Former Prime ministers of India I.K. Gujral and Gulzari Lal Nanda are Punjabi Hindus. Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev
and great Indian scientist Hargobind Khorana are also Punjabi Hindus.
Punjabi Hindus have a unique culture which, in some ways, very closely resembles that of of the Sikhs and also differs from theirs in many other ways. They usually have a very liberal lifestyle and are famous for their lavish wedding parties. They are mostly employed in trade and commerce though some also work as farmers in the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana
. Like other Hindus, they are also divided into castes. The most common castes are Khatri
(Kshatriya
in Sanskrit), Arora, Brahman
, Baniya, Rajput
, Saini
etc. Naturally, Punjabi Hindus go to Hindu temples for worship.
The original Punjab region
is now divided into several units: West Punjab
(now in Pakistan) including the Gandhara region, the Indian states of Punjab
, Haryana
and Himachal Pradesh
and the Indian Union territory of Chandigarh
. The regions of POK and Jammu
have also been historically associated with the Punjab.
The Punjab is the 'Sapta Sindhu' region mentioned in the Rig Veda, the seven rivers are:
The modern name of the Vipasa,'Beas' is thought to be a corruption of Veda Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata
.
Among the classic books that wholly or partly composed in this region are the following.
The world's oldest university Takshashila flourished here, even before the Buddha
's birth.
The descendants of the Rishis, form the Brahmins of Hindu
society. The Brahmins of this region are called 'Saraswata' after the legendary Saraswati river region, once known for the ashramas of the rishis.
, Krishna
, Shiva
, Vishnu
and Hanuman
. One of the most popular ones is Vaishno Devi of Jammu, (all known commonly as Sheraan-wali('She of the lions') in Punjabi
). The worship of Hanuman is usually done on Tuesdays.
Sanatan Dharma Sabha was founded in the Punjab in late 19th century to promote traditional Hinduism. It sent scholars overseas and became a major force in some of the overseas Hindu communities. In January 1933 the session of the All-India Sanatan Dharma Sabha, presided over by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
.
caste. It is very powerful politically and socially.
. It was founded by Swami Dayananda (born in the town of Tankara near Morvi
(or Morbi) in the Kathiawar
region of modern-day Gujarat) in 1875 in Bombay and became popular amongst Hindus in the Punjab and U.P. The first branch of the Arya Samaj was opened in Shantakruj, Mumbai in 1875. Arya Samajists do not believe in idol worship and incarnations of God (Avtarvaad) but believes in the philosophy on re-incarnation and transmigration. They hold the Vedic religion to be the only true religion and as such, regard the Vedas as their only religious books, but also regard Upnishad, Darshan Shastras and some other books written by Rishis (Arsh Granths), on the condition that the text in these should not be contradictory to Vedas. On this basis Arya Samaj rejected some of the Hindu scriptures like Purana and some other scriptures which, according to Arya Samaj, are against the Vedas. The Arya Samaj also pleads for Shuddhi
or the re-conversion into Hinduism of those Hindus who were converted to other religions. The places of worship of the Arya Samajists are different from those of the Sanatan Dharmis. Worship includes performing yajna
s, reciting mantras and seeking spiritual solace by listening to religious discourses.
sect has its headquarters at the town of Beas
and is popular amongst Punjabi Hindus. Like the Nirankari
s and Namdhari
s, the Radhaswamis too are a transitional sect between Hinduism
and Sikhism
.
. Their activities are mostly confined to the moral fields. As such Dev Samajists have not attained much popularity. In all other respects the Dev Samajists are not different from the other Hindus.
order, founded by Guru Gobind Singh
is thought to represent Sikhism today.
. This not only includes veneration of the Sikh Gurus
in private practice, but also visit to Sikh Gurdwara
s as well as Hindu temples. Some Punjabi Hindus visit Jain temples and Jain munis.
This is evident from the continuing propensity to conduct important life cycle ceremonies such as on marriage or death by any of the Hindu or Sikh rites. This is especially true for the Khatri
and Arora
communities, and even more so among the Kukhran tribe emanating from West Punjab
, an area now in Pakistan.
This predilection for heterogeneous religious affiliation has continued, in spite of decades of aggressive identity purification efforts by the forces of identity politics in the Punjab.
was composed in Punjab by Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri
.
States: Andhra Pradesh • Arunachal Pradesh • Assam • Bihar • Chhattisgarh • Goa
• Gujarat
• Haryana • Himachal Pradesh • Jammu and Kashmir • Jharkhand • Karnataka • Kerala
• Madhya Pradesh • Maharashtra • Manipur • Meghalaya • Mizoram • Nagaland • Orissa • Punjab • Rajasthan • Sikkim • Tamil Nadu • Tripura • Uttaranchal • Uttar Pradesh • West Bengal>
Union Territories
: Andaman and Nicobar Islands • Chandigarh • Dadra and Nagar Haveli • Delhi
• Daman and Diu • Lakshadweep • Pondicherry
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. In India, most Punjabi Hindus are concentrated in the states of Punjab and Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
and the national capital territory of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
. There has also been a continuous migration of Punjabi Hindus to major world countries like the USA, Canada and the UK.
The oldest Hindu texts such as the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
, Upanishads and the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
were composed in Punjab or in a nearby region. The Hindus of Punjab have, naturally, been there for much more time than Muslims since Islam was founded only in the 7th century C.E., entering India around the 11th century C.E., while Hinduism has been extant since at least the 2nd millennium B.C.E.. Many Hindus later converted to Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
. In fact, Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots from the time of the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
. Many modern day cities in Indian Punjab and Pakistan Punjab are still named from that period like Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
etc. Former Prime ministers of India I.K. Gujral and Gulzari Lal Nanda are Punjabi Hindus. Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj , better known as Kapil Dev, is a former Indian cricketer. He captained the Indian cricket team which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup...
and great Indian scientist Hargobind Khorana are also Punjabi Hindus.
Punjabi Hindus have a unique culture which, in some ways, very closely resembles that of of the Sikhs and also differs from theirs in many other ways. They usually have a very liberal lifestyle and are famous for their lavish wedding parties. They are mostly employed in trade and commerce though some also work as farmers in the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
. Like other Hindus, they are also divided into castes. The most common castes are Khatri
Khatri
Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...
(Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
in Sanskrit), Arora, Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
, Baniya, Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
, Saini
Saini
Saini is a Rajput descent caste of India. Sainis, also known as Shoorsaini in Puranic literature, are now found by their original name only in Punjab and in the neighboring states of Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh...
etc. Naturally, Punjabi Hindus go to Hindu temples for worship.
Vedic Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
is now divided into several units: West Punjab
West Punjab
West Punjab was a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 160,622 km², including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but excluding the former princely state of Bahawalpur. The capital was the city of Lahore and the province...
(now in Pakistan) including the Gandhara region, the Indian states of Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
and Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
and the Indian Union territory of Chandigarh
Chandigarh
Chandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...
. The regions of POK and Jammu
Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
have also been historically associated with the Punjab.
The Punjab is the 'Sapta Sindhu' region mentioned in the Rig Veda, the seven rivers are:
- SaraswatiSaraswatiIn Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....
(thought to be the present day Ghaggar), - Satadru/Shutadri (SutlejSutlejThe Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...
), - Vipasa (BeasBeas RiverThe Beas River is a river in the northern part of India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 km to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab....
), - Asikani, Chandrabhaga (Chenab),
- Iravati (RaviRavi RiverThe Ravi is a trans-boundary river flowing through Northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of the six rivers of the Indus System in Punjab region ....
), - Vitasta/Vet (JhelumJhelum RiverJehlum River or Jhelum River , ) is a river that flows in India and Pakistan. It is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjab, and passes through Jhelum District...
) and - Sindhu (IndusIndus RiverThe Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...
).
The modern name of the Vipasa,'Beas' is thought to be a corruption of Veda Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
.
Among the classic books that wholly or partly composed in this region are the following.
- RigvedaRigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
- Grammar of SakatayanaSakatayana' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age India . His work is referred by scholars such as Yaska and Pāṇini ' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age India (fl. roughly 8th c. BCE). His work is referred by scholars such as Yaska (around 7th c. BCE) and Pāṇini ' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age...
- Ashtadhyayi of Pāṇini
- NiruktaNiruktaNirukta is one of the six disciplines of Hinduism, treating etymology, particularly of obscure words, especially those occurring in the Vedas. The discipline is traditionally attributed to , an ancient Sanskrit grammarian...
of Yaska - Charaka SamhitaCharaka SamhitaThe ' is an early Ayurvedic text on internal medicine. It is believed to be the oldest of the three ancient treatises of Ayurveda...
- MahabharataMahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
along with the Bhagavad GitaBhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition... - Brihatkatha of Gunadya
- The Bakhshali ManuscriptBakhshali ManuscriptThe Bakhshali Manuscript is an Ancient Indian mathematical manuscript written on birch bark which was found near the village of Bakhshali in 1881 in what was then the North-West Frontier Province of British India...
The world's oldest university Takshashila flourished here, even before the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
's birth.
The descendants of the Rishis, form the Brahmins of Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
society. The Brahmins of this region are called 'Saraswata' after the legendary Saraswati river region, once known for the ashramas of the rishis.
Classic cities of the Punjab region
- PeshawarPeshawarPeshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
(PurushapurPeshawarPeshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
), North West Frontier Province: Capital of KanishkaKanishkaKanishka ) was an emperor of the Kushan Empire, ruling an empire extending from Bactria to large parts of northern India in the 2nd century of the common era, and famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements...
, the Kushan ruler and the site of the tallest stupa in Jambudvipa. - PushkalavatiPushkalavatiPushkalavati is an ancient site situated in Peshawar valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located on the banks of Swat River, near its junction with Kabul River, now it is known as Charsadda...
(Charsadda), North West Frontier Province: Founded by a son of BharataBharata (Ramayana)In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Bharata was the second brother of the main protagonist Rama, and the son of Dasaratha and Kaikeyi. Dasaratha was the Emperor of Ayodhya and belonged to the Suryavansha or Solar Dynasty...
, brother of Sri Rama, according to the RamayanaRamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata... - Takshashila (Taxila), Punjab(Pakistan): Also founded by a son of Bharata.
- MultanMultanMultan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
(Mulasthan),Punjab(Pakistan): Pilgrimage site of the legendary Sun temple. - RawalpindiRawalpindiRawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by Bappa RawalBappa RawalBappa Rawal , eighth ruler of the Guhilot Rajput Dynasty and founder of the Mewar Dynasty in present-day Rajasthan, India...
, from the Sisodiya clan of MewarMewarMewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later...
Rajputs and ancestor of Rana Pratap Singh. - SialkotSialkotSialkot is a city in Pakistan situated in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foothills of snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. It is the capital of Sialkot District. The city is about north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometers from Indian-controlled Jammu.The...
, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by Sul (ShalyaShalyaIn the epic Mahabharata, King Shalya was the brother of Madri , as well as the ruler of Madra-desa or the kingdom of Madra. Thus, he was the maternal uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva and was loved and revered by the Pandavas. When he was young, he entered a competition among princes and nobilities to...
), emperor of Madradesa and brother of MadriMadriIn the Mahābhārata epic, Madri was a princess of the Madra kingdom and the second wife of Pandu.On his way to Hastinapur, King Pandu encountered the army of Shalya, King of Madra. Very soon, Pandu and Shalya became friends and Shalya gave his only sister, Madri to Pandu, as a gift of their...
, second wife of emperor PanduPanduIn the Mahābhārata epic, King Pandu is the son of Ambalika and Rishi Ved Vyasa. He is more popularly known as the father of the Pandavas and ruled Hastinapur.-Birth:...
and mother to Nakul and SahadevaSahadevaSahadeva was one of the five Pandava brothers according to the epic Mahābhārata. He was one of the twin sons of Madri, who invoked Ashvins using a mantra shared by Kunti for a son. His twin brother was named Nakula... - KasurKasurKasur , the capital of Kasur District in Pakistan. Kasur is located adjacent to the border of Ganda Singh Wala between Pakistan and India, and is a tourist attraction because of the daily occurring Flags lowering ceremony...
, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by KushaKushaKusha may refer to:* Kusha , one of six schools of Japanese Buddhism in the Nara period* Kusha , in Hindu mythology, was one of the twin sons of Lord Rama and Sita* Kusha, tall tufted perennial grass. See also: Poa cynosuroides...
, son of Sri Rama according to the Bichitra NatakBichitra NatakBachittar Natak is from Dasam Granth generally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru spans from ang 94 to ang 175 of the 2326 ang....
written by Guru Gobind SinghGuru Gobind SinghGuru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...
. - LahoreLahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
,Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by LavaLavaLava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
(LohLohLoh may refer to:People* John M. Loh , Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force* Betty Loh Ti , Chinese actress...
), son of Sri Rama according to the Bichitra NatakBichitra NatakBachittar Natak is from Dasam Granth generally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru spans from ang 94 to ang 175 of the 2326 ang....
. - AmritsarAmritsarAmritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
, Punjab(India): It is believed that the hermitage of Sage ValmikiValmikiValmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e...
, author of the RamayanaRamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
was located in the vicinity of the area that forms the modern city of Amritsar today. Valmiki is said to have composed the great epic at this very spot. Also, SitaSITASITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...
gave birth to the twins, Lava and Kusha in this hermitage. - JalandharJalandharJalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...
, Punjab(India): A historic city mentioned in the Puranas and the most famous city in punjab. - KurukshetraKurukshetraKurukshetra is a land of historical and religious importance. Historically the land belonged to Punjab now a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as Dharmakshetra . According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and...
,Haryana: The site of the MahabharataMahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
war. - KarnalKarnalKarnal is an important city and the headquarters of Karnal District in the Indian state of Haryana.Karnal is said to have been founded by the Kauravas in the Mahabharata era for the king Karna, a mythological hero and a key figure in the epic tale...
, Haryana: city founded by KarnaKarnaKarna or Radheya is one of the central characters in the epic Mahābhārata, from ancient India. He was the King of Anga...
. - Katasraj templeKatasraj templeKatasraj Mandir , कटासराज मन्दिर ) is a Hindu mandir situated in Katas village in the Chakwal district of Punjab in Pakistan. Dedicated to Shiva, the temple has existed since the days of Mahābhārata and the Pandava brothers spent a substantial part of their exile at the site...
, Punjab(Pakistan): Classic temple complex in the ChakwalChakwalChakwal is the capital of Chakwal District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located 90 km south-east of the federal capital, Islamabad and is named after Chaudhry Chaku Khan, chief of the Mair Minhas tribe from Jammu, who founded it in 1525 CE during the era of the Mughal Emperor, Zaheerudun Babur...
district, site of the 'enchanted pool' episode in the Mahabharata, where Yudhishtira is tested by his father Lord YamaYama (Hinduism)Yama is the lord of death in Hinduism, first recorded in the Vedas. Yama belongs to an early stratum of Indo-Iranian theology. In Vedic tradition Yama was considered to have been the first mortal who died and espied the way to the celestial abodes, thus in virtue of precedence he became the ruler...
/DharmaDharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
.
The Sanatan Dharmis
Most Hindus in the Punjab are the Sanatan Dharmis. Major deities worshipped include RamaRama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
, Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
and Hanuman
Hanuman
Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
. One of the most popular ones is Vaishno Devi of Jammu, (all known commonly as Sheraan-wali('She of the lions') in Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
). The worship of Hanuman is usually done on Tuesdays.
Sanatan Dharma Sabha was founded in the Punjab in late 19th century to promote traditional Hinduism. It sent scholars overseas and became a major force in some of the overseas Hindu communities. In January 1933 the session of the All-India Sanatan Dharma Sabha, presided over by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
Madan Mohan Malaviya
Madan Mohan Malaviya was an Indian educationist, and freedom fighter notable for his role in the Indian independence movement and his espousal of Hindu nationalism...
.
Ravidassia
An important group among the Punjabi ChamarChamar
Chamar |tanner]]"; from the Sanskrit Charmakara) is a prominent occupational caste in India, Pakistan and Nepal. Chamar is a Dalit sub-caste mainly found in the northern states, such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and in Nepal at least north to the Himalayas...
caste. It is very powerful politically and socially.
The Arya Samajis
An important sect amongst Punjabi Hindus is the Arya SamajArya Samaj
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement founded by Swami Dayananda on 10 April 1875. He was a sannyasi who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya...
. It was founded by Swami Dayananda (born in the town of Tankara near Morvi
Morvi
Morvi or Morbi is a city and a municipality in Rajkot district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was a Princely State ruled by Jadeja clan of Rajputs until Indian independence in 1947. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. , the city's population was determined to be 73,327. Its chief...
(or Morbi) in the Kathiawar
Kathiawar
Kathiawar or Kathiawad is a peninsula in western India, which is part of the Saurashtra region on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat state. It is bounded on the north by the great wetland of the Rann of Kutch, on the northwest by the Gulf of Kutch, on the west and south by the Arabian Sea, and on...
region of modern-day Gujarat) in 1875 in Bombay and became popular amongst Hindus in the Punjab and U.P. The first branch of the Arya Samaj was opened in Shantakruj, Mumbai in 1875. Arya Samajists do not believe in idol worship and incarnations of God (Avtarvaad) but believes in the philosophy on re-incarnation and transmigration. They hold the Vedic religion to be the only true religion and as such, regard the Vedas as their only religious books, but also regard Upnishad, Darshan Shastras and some other books written by Rishis (Arsh Granths), on the condition that the text in these should not be contradictory to Vedas. On this basis Arya Samaj rejected some of the Hindu scriptures like Purana and some other scriptures which, according to Arya Samaj, are against the Vedas. The Arya Samaj also pleads for Shuddhi
Shuddhi
Shuddhi is Sanskrit for purification. In Hinduism it is a part of worship. It also sometimes refers to reverting to Hinduism after converting from Hinduism to another religion.-Shuddhi movement:...
or the re-conversion into Hinduism of those Hindus who were converted to other religions. The places of worship of the Arya Samajists are different from those of the Sanatan Dharmis. Worship includes performing yajna
Yajna
In Hinduism, yajna is a ritual of sacrifice derived from the practice of Vedic times. It is performed to please the gods or to attain certain wishes...
s, reciting mantras and seeking spiritual solace by listening to religious discourses.
The Radhaswamis
The RadhaswamiRadhaswami
Radhaswami can refer to:* Krishna* Radhaswami , a Brahmin Buddhist sage, under whose guidance the Mauryan emperor Ashoka adopted Buddhism* Radha Soami, a spiritual movement founded by Shri Shiv Dayal Singh Sahab...
sect has its headquarters at the town of Beas
Beas, Punjab
Beas is a small town in the Amritsar District of Punjab state of India, located between the cities of Amritsar and Jalandhar along the banks of the Beas River on National Highway 1....
and is popular amongst Punjabi Hindus. Like the Nirankari
Nirankari
The Sant Nirankari Mission , abbreviated as, SNM, and also known as Universal Brotherhood Mission, is a spiritual organization.The Sant Nirankari Mission is neither a new religion nor a sect of an existing religion, but an all-embracing spiritual movement dedicated to human welfare...
s and Namdhari
Namdhari
Namdhari are a sect of Sikhism. The main difference between Namdhari Sikhs and mainstream Sikhs is their belief in Jagjit Singh as their living Guru...
s, the Radhaswamis too are a transitional sect between Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
.
The Dev Samajis
Dev Samajis, an offshoot of Brahmo Samaj, are rationalists. Their headquarters is at MogaMoga, Punjab
Moga is a city and a municipality in Moga district in the Indian state of Punjab.It became part and headquarter of 17th District in the state, Moga district of Punjab State on 24th day of November 1995, by then Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar. Before this, Moga was a part of Faridkot District...
. Their activities are mostly confined to the moral fields. As such Dev Samajists have not attained much popularity. In all other respects the Dev Samajists are not different from the other Hindus.
The Nanak Panthis
The term Nanak Panthi is applied to those who are followers of the tradition of Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak laid the foundation of Sikhism and preached equality among all men, contrary to the caste system, and some of the traditional practices. The Nanak Panth was the sect founded by Guru Nanak's elder son, Sri Chand. The KhalsaKhalsa
+YouWebImagesVideosMapsNewsMailMoreTranslateFrom: ArabicTo: EnglishEnglishHindiEnglishAllow phonetic typingHindiEnglishArabicAssumptionGoogle Translate for Business:Translator ToolkitWebsite TranslatorGlobal Market Finder...
order, founded by Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...
is thought to represent Sikhism today.
Ecumenical Hinduism
A large segment of Punjabis who are now categorized as Hindus or who identify themselves as Punjabi Hindus, continue to live out heterogeneous religious practice that includes spiritual kinship with SikhismSikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
. This not only includes veneration of the Sikh Gurus
Sikh Gurus
The Sikh Gurus established Sikhism from over the centuries beginning in the year 1469. Sikhism was founded by the first guru, Guru Nanak, and subsequently, all in order were referred to as "Nanak", and as "Lights", making their teachings in the holy scriptures, equivalent...
in private practice, but also visit to Sikh Gurdwara
Gurdwara
A Gurdwara , meaning the Gateway to the Guru, is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib ....
s as well as Hindu temples. Some Punjabi Hindus visit Jain temples and Jain munis.
This is evident from the continuing propensity to conduct important life cycle ceremonies such as on marriage or death by any of the Hindu or Sikh rites. This is especially true for the Khatri
Khatri
Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...
and Arora
Arora
Arora is an Indo-Aryan community of the Punjab region. Commentators differ in their opinions regarding the relationship between the Arora and the Khatri community....
communities, and even more so among the Kukhran tribe emanating from West Punjab
West Punjab
West Punjab was a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 160,622 km², including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but excluding the former princely state of Bahawalpur. The capital was the city of Lahore and the province...
, an area now in Pakistan.
This predilection for heterogeneous religious affiliation has continued, in spite of decades of aggressive identity purification efforts by the forces of identity politics in the Punjab.
Punjabi Hindus and 1947 Partition
Punjabi Hindus suffered a great deal due to partition of Punjab in 1947. They were a minority in areas of Pakistan. Many of the Hindus/Sikhs had to move to East Punjab and Muslims to West Punjab. Estimates range from 100,000 to upwards of a million people were killed in the riots following the partition and subsequent independence of Pakistan and later India from British colonial rule. Most of the Punjabi Hindus who moved from West Punjab settled in the areas which are now Indian state of Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Western UP, and even as far as Bombay.Demand for Punjabi Suba and subsequent trifurcation of Punjab
Since the beginning of 1960's, Sikh leaders and Sikh parties started to demand a so called "Punjabi Suba" (Meaning - Punjabi Province) in North India. The argument was to carve out a state in Northern India where Punjabi was the most predominant language. The idea did not go well with the Punjabi speaking Hindus because the underline motive for the demand of Punjabi Suba was to create a province where Sikhs were in absolute majority. Therefore, it became more of a religious issue rather than a linguistic issue. Some historians argue that "Punjabi Suba" issue was the fore most reason that fomented the Sikh anger and subsequent violent terrorism against Punjabi Hindus. Paul R. Brass, the Professor Emeritus of Political Science and South Asian Studies at the University of Washington, opines that the Sikh leader Fateh Singh tactically stressed the linguistic basis of the demand, while downplaying the religious basis for the demand—a state where the distinct Sikh identity could be preserved.[2] The movement for a Punjabi Suba led to trifurcation of Indian Punjab into three states: Punjab (India), Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.Unrest in Punjab in 1980s and 1990s
The Terrorism in Punjab before/after the Operation Bluestar and 1984 Delhi riots, had a very severe effect on Punjabi Hindus. Punjabi Hindus specially the members of Arya Samaj went open hostile to the Sikh population. Also There were numerous instances like bombing public buses, engineering colleges (Thapar College), and killings on Hindu holidays, such as the 1987 Diwali Day Bombing, in which Hindus were specifically targeted. Amnesty International and other International Human Rights groups recognized and called for the Government forces to stop militant groups from committing the killings, but the guerrilla warfare conducted by militant outfits proved difficult to stop . There have been conspiracy theories put forth that certain bombings were done by RAW operatives but there has never been any substantial evidence beyond few eyewitness testimonies in regards to this claim. The open kidnappings and killings of innocent Sikhs in Punjab by Government Forces and continual bombings and extortions of Punjabi Hindus by militants caused a rift between Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs. But since the decline of Khalistan movement, both communities are again living with cordial relations.Distribution of population
Today Punjabi are also found in huge numbers in western countries like USA, Canada, UK and the EU. The Hindus of Punjab have a large population in the districts of Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur in which they make upto 30-40% of population, and make up around 40% of punjab's population, and a settled in haryana, himachal pradesh and in delhi. punjabi hindus are also present in major cities like mumbai, bangalore etc.Trivia
The popular prayer Jai Jagdish HareJai Jagdish Hare
Om Jai Jagdish Hare is a Hindu bhajan , composed in or near the 1870s by Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri in Punjab, India. Even though it is in Hindi, it is universally used by Hindus around the world speaking any of the numerous Indian languages, or belonging to any one of many sects.It may have been...
was composed in Punjab by Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri
Shardha Ram Phillauri
Shardha Ram Phillauri was a Punjabi missionary, social reformer, astrologer, and writer, best remembered for his contributions to Hindi and Punjabi literature. He has been called the “father of modern Punjabi prose."...
.
See also
- Hinduism and Sikh Panth
- Jainism in PunjabBhabraBhabra is an ancient merchant community from Punjab whose population mainly follows Jainism,.The Bhabra community has had a close historical association with Jainism. It is believed to be connected with the Bhavadar or Bhavada Gachchha to which the legendary Jain Acharya Kalakacharya belonged to....
- Khawaja Shaikh
- Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947 is a book by Sikh author Gurbachan Singh Talib. It was first published in 1950 by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and has been reprinted several times....
- Places in Pakistan with Hindu and Sikh Populations before 1947Places in Pakistan with Hindu and Sikh populations before 1947This is a list of locations in Pakistan which used to have prominent Sikh and Hindu populations before the independence in 1947.-List of localities:-Demographics in 1941 census:...
- Punjabi ShaikhPunjabi ShaikhSheikh , is an Arabic word meaning elder of a tribe, lord, Honorable revered old man, or Islamic scholar. In South Asia it is used as an ethnic title generally attributed to Muslim trading families....
- Qanungoh ShaikhQanungoh ShaikhQanungoh Shaikhs are a clan of Muslim Shaikhs in Punjab and other parts of Pakistan.The Qanungoh have tribal and marital affinities with varied regional groups such as the Kukhran, Muslim Rajputs, Mohyal Brahmins, Awan, and Khattar as well as Rohillas, Rind , Gardezi and also Kakkezai in the...
Further reading
Online 1 Online 2 Online 3 (A free copy of this book can be read from any 3 of the included "Online Sources" of this free "Online Book")- ^ a b c Brass, Paul R. (2005). Language, Religion and Politics in North India. iUniverseIUniverseiUniverse, founded in October 1999, is a self-publishing company, co-located with AuthorHouse in Bloomington, Indiana. Publishers Weekly notes iUniverse has partnerships with The Writers' Club and the Writer's Digest .-History:iUniverse initially focused on business-to-consumer print-on-demand...
. p. 326. ISBN 9780595343942.
External links
- Very Nice Info About Jalandhar, The Punjab (India)
- The Punjab—An Overview
- Punjab History
- Punjab Historical Background
- Shri Durgiana Tirath
Punjabi Hindus are a group of people that follows the Hindu religion and has its roots in the erstwhile joint ancient Panjab region. Today it is spread out across most parts of northern India and in some parts of western India like Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. In India, most Punjabi Hindus are concentrated in the states of Punjab and Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
and the national capital territory of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
. There has also been a continuous migration of Punjabi Hindus to major world countries like the USA, Canada and the UK.
The oldest Hindu texts such as the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
, Upanishads and the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
were composed in Punjab or in a nearby region. The Hindus of Punjab have, naturally, been there for much more time than Muslims since Islam was founded only in the 7th century C.E., entering India around the 11th century C.E., while Hinduism has been extant since at least the 2nd millennium B.C.E.. Many Hindus later converted to Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
. In fact, Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots from the time of the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
. Many modern day cities in Indian Punjab and Pakistan Punjab are still named from that period like Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
etc. Former Prime ministers of India I.K. Gujral and Gulzari Lal Nanda are Punjabi Hindus. Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj , better known as Kapil Dev, is a former Indian cricketer. He captained the Indian cricket team which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup...
and great Indian scientist Hargobind Khorana are also Punjabi Hindus.
Punjabi Hindus have a unique culture which, in some ways, very closely resembles that of of the Sikhs and also differs from theirs in many other ways. They usually have a very liberal lifestyle and are famous for their lavish wedding parties. They are mostly employed in trade and commerce though some also work as farmers in the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
. Like other Hindus, they are also divided into castes. The most common castes are Khatri
Khatri
Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...
(Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
in Sanskrit), Arora, Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
, Baniya, Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
, Saini
Saini
Saini is a Rajput descent caste of India. Sainis, also known as Shoorsaini in Puranic literature, are now found by their original name only in Punjab and in the neighboring states of Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh...
etc. Naturally, Punjabi Hindus go to Hindu temples for worship.
Vedic Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
is now divided into several units: West Punjab
West Punjab
West Punjab was a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 160,622 km², including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but excluding the former princely state of Bahawalpur. The capital was the city of Lahore and the province...
(now in Pakistan) including the Gandhara region, the Indian states of Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
and Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
and the Indian Union territory of Chandigarh
Chandigarh
Chandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...
. The regions of POK and Jammu
Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
have also been historically associated with the Punjab.
The Punjab is the 'Sapta Sindhu' region mentioned in the Rig Veda, the seven rivers are:
- SaraswatiSaraswatiIn Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....
(thought to be the present day Ghaggar), - Satadru/Shutadri (SutlejSutlejThe Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...
), - Vipasa (BeasBeas RiverThe Beas River is a river in the northern part of India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 km to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab....
), - Asikani, Chandrabhaga (Chenab),
- Iravati (RaviRavi RiverThe Ravi is a trans-boundary river flowing through Northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of the six rivers of the Indus System in Punjab region ....
), - Vitasta/Vet (JhelumJhelum RiverJehlum River or Jhelum River , ) is a river that flows in India and Pakistan. It is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjab, and passes through Jhelum District...
) and - Sindhu (IndusIndus RiverThe Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...
).
The modern name of the Vipasa,'Beas' is thought to be a corruption of Veda Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
.
Among the classic books that wholly or partly composed in this region are the following.
- RigvedaRigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
- Grammar of SakatayanaSakatayana' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age India . His work is referred by scholars such as Yaska and Pāṇini ' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age India (fl. roughly 8th c. BCE). His work is referred by scholars such as Yaska (around 7th c. BCE) and Pāṇini ' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age...
- Ashtadhyayi of Pāṇini
- NiruktaNiruktaNirukta is one of the six disciplines of Hinduism, treating etymology, particularly of obscure words, especially those occurring in the Vedas. The discipline is traditionally attributed to , an ancient Sanskrit grammarian...
of Yaska - Charaka SamhitaCharaka SamhitaThe ' is an early Ayurvedic text on internal medicine. It is believed to be the oldest of the three ancient treatises of Ayurveda...
- MahabharataMahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
along with the Bhagavad GitaBhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition... - Brihatkatha of Gunadya
- The Bakhshali ManuscriptBakhshali ManuscriptThe Bakhshali Manuscript is an Ancient Indian mathematical manuscript written on birch bark which was found near the village of Bakhshali in 1881 in what was then the North-West Frontier Province of British India...
The world's oldest university Takshashila flourished here, even before the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
's birth.
The descendants of the Rishis, form the Brahmins of Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
society. The Brahmins of this region are called 'Saraswata' after the legendary Saraswati river region, once known for the ashramas of the rishis.
Classic cities of the Punjab region
- PeshawarPeshawarPeshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
(PurushapurPeshawarPeshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
), North West Frontier Province: Capital of KanishkaKanishkaKanishka ) was an emperor of the Kushan Empire, ruling an empire extending from Bactria to large parts of northern India in the 2nd century of the common era, and famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements...
, the Kushan ruler and the site of the tallest stupa in Jambudvipa. - PushkalavatiPushkalavatiPushkalavati is an ancient site situated in Peshawar valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located on the banks of Swat River, near its junction with Kabul River, now it is known as Charsadda...
(Charsadda), North West Frontier Province: Founded by a son of BharataBharata (Ramayana)In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Bharata was the second brother of the main protagonist Rama, and the son of Dasaratha and Kaikeyi. Dasaratha was the Emperor of Ayodhya and belonged to the Suryavansha or Solar Dynasty...
, brother of Sri Rama, according to the RamayanaRamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata... - Takshashila (Taxila), Punjab(Pakistan): Also founded by a son of Bharata.
- MultanMultanMultan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
(Mulasthan),Punjab(Pakistan): Pilgrimage site of the legendary Sun temple. - RawalpindiRawalpindiRawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by Bappa RawalBappa RawalBappa Rawal , eighth ruler of the Guhilot Rajput Dynasty and founder of the Mewar Dynasty in present-day Rajasthan, India...
, from the Sisodiya clan of MewarMewarMewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later...
Rajputs and ancestor of Rana Pratap Singh. - SialkotSialkotSialkot is a city in Pakistan situated in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foothills of snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. It is the capital of Sialkot District. The city is about north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometers from Indian-controlled Jammu.The...
, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by Sul (ShalyaShalyaIn the epic Mahabharata, King Shalya was the brother of Madri , as well as the ruler of Madra-desa or the kingdom of Madra. Thus, he was the maternal uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva and was loved and revered by the Pandavas. When he was young, he entered a competition among princes and nobilities to...
), emperor of Madradesa and brother of MadriMadriIn the Mahābhārata epic, Madri was a princess of the Madra kingdom and the second wife of Pandu.On his way to Hastinapur, King Pandu encountered the army of Shalya, King of Madra. Very soon, Pandu and Shalya became friends and Shalya gave his only sister, Madri to Pandu, as a gift of their...
, second wife of emperor PanduPanduIn the Mahābhārata epic, King Pandu is the son of Ambalika and Rishi Ved Vyasa. He is more popularly known as the father of the Pandavas and ruled Hastinapur.-Birth:...
and mother to Nakul and SahadevaSahadevaSahadeva was one of the five Pandava brothers according to the epic Mahābhārata. He was one of the twin sons of Madri, who invoked Ashvins using a mantra shared by Kunti for a son. His twin brother was named Nakula... - KasurKasurKasur , the capital of Kasur District in Pakistan. Kasur is located adjacent to the border of Ganda Singh Wala between Pakistan and India, and is a tourist attraction because of the daily occurring Flags lowering ceremony...
, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by KushaKushaKusha may refer to:* Kusha , one of six schools of Japanese Buddhism in the Nara period* Kusha , in Hindu mythology, was one of the twin sons of Lord Rama and Sita* Kusha, tall tufted perennial grass. See also: Poa cynosuroides...
, son of Sri Rama according to the Bichitra NatakBichitra NatakBachittar Natak is from Dasam Granth generally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru spans from ang 94 to ang 175 of the 2326 ang....
written by Guru Gobind SinghGuru Gobind SinghGuru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...
. - LahoreLahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
,Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by LavaLavaLava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
(LohLohLoh may refer to:People* John M. Loh , Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force* Betty Loh Ti , Chinese actress...
), son of Sri Rama according to the Bichitra NatakBichitra NatakBachittar Natak is from Dasam Granth generally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru spans from ang 94 to ang 175 of the 2326 ang....
. - AmritsarAmritsarAmritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
, Punjab(India): It is believed that the hermitage of Sage ValmikiValmikiValmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e...
, author of the RamayanaRamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
was located in the vicinity of the area that forms the modern city of Amritsar today. Valmiki is said to have composed the great epic at this very spot. Also, SitaSITASITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...
gave birth to the twins, Lava and Kusha in this hermitage. - JalandharJalandharJalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...
, Punjab(India): A historic city mentioned in the Puranas and the most famous city in punjab. - KurukshetraKurukshetraKurukshetra is a land of historical and religious importance. Historically the land belonged to Punjab now a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as Dharmakshetra . According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and...
,Haryana: The site of the MahabharataMahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
war. - KarnalKarnalKarnal is an important city and the headquarters of Karnal District in the Indian state of Haryana.Karnal is said to have been founded by the Kauravas in the Mahabharata era for the king Karna, a mythological hero and a key figure in the epic tale...
, Haryana: city founded by KarnaKarnaKarna or Radheya is one of the central characters in the epic Mahābhārata, from ancient India. He was the King of Anga...
. - Katasraj templeKatasraj templeKatasraj Mandir , कटासराज मन्दिर ) is a Hindu mandir situated in Katas village in the Chakwal district of Punjab in Pakistan. Dedicated to Shiva, the temple has existed since the days of Mahābhārata and the Pandava brothers spent a substantial part of their exile at the site...
, Punjab(Pakistan): Classic temple complex in the ChakwalChakwalChakwal is the capital of Chakwal District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located 90 km south-east of the federal capital, Islamabad and is named after Chaudhry Chaku Khan, chief of the Mair Minhas tribe from Jammu, who founded it in 1525 CE during the era of the Mughal Emperor, Zaheerudun Babur...
district, site of the 'enchanted pool' episode in the Mahabharata, where Yudhishtira is tested by his father Lord YamaYama (Hinduism)Yama is the lord of death in Hinduism, first recorded in the Vedas. Yama belongs to an early stratum of Indo-Iranian theology. In Vedic tradition Yama was considered to have been the first mortal who died and espied the way to the celestial abodes, thus in virtue of precedence he became the ruler...
/DharmaDharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
.
The Sanatan Dharmis
Most Hindus in the Punjab are the Sanatan Dharmis. Major deities worshipped include RamaRama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
, Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
and Hanuman
Hanuman
Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
. One of the most popular ones is Vaishno Devi of Jammu, (all known commonly as Sheraan-wali('She of the lions') in Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
). The worship of Hanuman is usually done on Tuesdays.
Sanatan Dharma Sabha was founded in the Punjab in late 19th century to promote traditional Hinduism. It sent scholars overseas and became a major force in some of the overseas Hindu communities. In January 1933 the session of the All-India Sanatan Dharma Sabha, presided over by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
Madan Mohan Malaviya
Madan Mohan Malaviya was an Indian educationist, and freedom fighter notable for his role in the Indian independence movement and his espousal of Hindu nationalism...
.
Ravidassia
An important group among the Punjabi ChamarChamar
Chamar |tanner]]"; from the Sanskrit Charmakara) is a prominent occupational caste in India, Pakistan and Nepal. Chamar is a Dalit sub-caste mainly found in the northern states, such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and in Nepal at least north to the Himalayas...
caste. It is very powerful politically and socially.
The Arya Samajis
An important sect amongst Punjabi Hindus is the Arya SamajArya Samaj
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement founded by Swami Dayananda on 10 April 1875. He was a sannyasi who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya...
. It was founded by Swami Dayananda (born in the town of Tankara near Morvi
Morvi
Morvi or Morbi is a city and a municipality in Rajkot district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was a Princely State ruled by Jadeja clan of Rajputs until Indian independence in 1947. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. , the city's population was determined to be 73,327. Its chief...
(or Morbi) in the Kathiawar
Kathiawar
Kathiawar or Kathiawad is a peninsula in western India, which is part of the Saurashtra region on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat state. It is bounded on the north by the great wetland of the Rann of Kutch, on the northwest by the Gulf of Kutch, on the west and south by the Arabian Sea, and on...
region of modern-day Gujarat) in 1875 in Bombay and became popular amongst Hindus in the Punjab and U.P. The first branch of the Arya Samaj was opened in Shantakruj, Mumbai in 1875. Arya Samajists do not believe in idol worship and incarnations of God (Avtarvaad) but believes in the philosophy on re-incarnation and transmigration. They hold the Vedic religion to be the only true religion and as such, regard the Vedas as their only religious books, but also regard Upnishad, Darshan Shastras and some other books written by Rishis (Arsh Granths), on the condition that the text in these should not be contradictory to Vedas. On this basis Arya Samaj rejected some of the Hindu scriptures like Purana and some other scriptures which, according to Arya Samaj, are against the Vedas. The Arya Samaj also pleads for Shuddhi
Shuddhi
Shuddhi is Sanskrit for purification. In Hinduism it is a part of worship. It also sometimes refers to reverting to Hinduism after converting from Hinduism to another religion.-Shuddhi movement:...
or the re-conversion into Hinduism of those Hindus who were converted to other religions. The places of worship of the Arya Samajists are different from those of the Sanatan Dharmis. Worship includes performing yajna
Yajna
In Hinduism, yajna is a ritual of sacrifice derived from the practice of Vedic times. It is performed to please the gods or to attain certain wishes...
s, reciting mantras and seeking spiritual solace by listening to religious discourses.
The Radhaswamis
The RadhaswamiRadhaswami
Radhaswami can refer to:* Krishna* Radhaswami , a Brahmin Buddhist sage, under whose guidance the Mauryan emperor Ashoka adopted Buddhism* Radha Soami, a spiritual movement founded by Shri Shiv Dayal Singh Sahab...
sect has its headquarters at the town of Beas
Beas, Punjab
Beas is a small town in the Amritsar District of Punjab state of India, located between the cities of Amritsar and Jalandhar along the banks of the Beas River on National Highway 1....
and is popular amongst Punjabi Hindus. Like the Nirankari
Nirankari
The Sant Nirankari Mission , abbreviated as, SNM, and also known as Universal Brotherhood Mission, is a spiritual organization.The Sant Nirankari Mission is neither a new religion nor a sect of an existing religion, but an all-embracing spiritual movement dedicated to human welfare...
s and Namdhari
Namdhari
Namdhari are a sect of Sikhism. The main difference between Namdhari Sikhs and mainstream Sikhs is their belief in Jagjit Singh as their living Guru...
s, the Radhaswamis too are a transitional sect between Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
.
The Dev Samajis
Dev Samajis, an offshoot of Brahmo Samaj, are rationalists. Their headquarters is at MogaMoga, Punjab
Moga is a city and a municipality in Moga district in the Indian state of Punjab.It became part and headquarter of 17th District in the state, Moga district of Punjab State on 24th day of November 1995, by then Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar. Before this, Moga was a part of Faridkot District...
. Their activities are mostly confined to the moral fields. As such Dev Samajists have not attained much popularity. In all other respects the Dev Samajists are not different from the other Hindus.
The Nanak Panthis
The term Nanak Panthi is applied to those who are followers of the tradition of Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak laid the foundation of Sikhism and preached equality among all men, contrary to the caste system, and some of the traditional practices. The Nanak Panth was the sect founded by Guru Nanak's elder son, Sri Chand. The KhalsaKhalsa
+YouWebImagesVideosMapsNewsMailMoreTranslateFrom: ArabicTo: EnglishEnglishHindiEnglishAllow phonetic typingHindiEnglishArabicAssumptionGoogle Translate for Business:Translator ToolkitWebsite TranslatorGlobal Market Finder...
order, founded by Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...
is thought to represent Sikhism today.
Ecumenical Hinduism
A large segment of Punjabis who are now categorized as Hindus or who identify themselves as Punjabi Hindus, continue to live out heterogeneous religious practice that includes spiritual kinship with SikhismSikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
. This not only includes veneration of the Sikh Gurus
Sikh Gurus
The Sikh Gurus established Sikhism from over the centuries beginning in the year 1469. Sikhism was founded by the first guru, Guru Nanak, and subsequently, all in order were referred to as "Nanak", and as "Lights", making their teachings in the holy scriptures, equivalent...
in private practice, but also visit to Sikh Gurdwara
Gurdwara
A Gurdwara , meaning the Gateway to the Guru, is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib ....
s as well as Hindu temples. Some Punjabi Hindus visit Jain temples and Jain munis.
This is evident from the continuing propensity to conduct important life cycle ceremonies such as on marriage or death by any of the Hindu or Sikh rites. This is especially true for the Khatri
Khatri
Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...
and Arora
Arora
Arora is an Indo-Aryan community of the Punjab region. Commentators differ in their opinions regarding the relationship between the Arora and the Khatri community....
communities, and even more so among the Kukhran tribe emanating from West Punjab
West Punjab
West Punjab was a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 160,622 km², including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but excluding the former princely state of Bahawalpur. The capital was the city of Lahore and the province...
, an area now in Pakistan.
This predilection for heterogeneous religious affiliation has continued, in spite of decades of aggressive identity purification efforts by the forces of identity politics in the Punjab.
Punjabi Hindus and 1947 Partition
Punjabi Hindus suffered a great deal due to partition of Punjab in 1947. They were a minority in areas of Pakistan. Many of the Hindus/Sikhs had to move to East Punjab and Muslims to West Punjab. Estimates range from 100,000 to upwards of a million people were killed in the riots following the partition and subsequent independence of Pakistan and later India from British colonial rule. Most of the Punjabi Hindus who moved from West Punjab settled in the areas which are now Indian state of Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Western UP, and even as far as Bombay.Demand for Punjabi Suba and subsequent trifurcation of Punjab
Since the beginning of 1960's, Sikh leaders and Sikh parties started to demand a so called "Punjabi Suba" (Meaning - Punjabi Province) in North India. The argument was to carve out a state in Northern India where Punjabi was the most predominant language. The idea did not go well with the Punjabi speaking Hindus because the underline motive for the demand of Punjabi Suba was to create a province where Sikhs were in absolute majority. Therefore, it became more of a religious issue rather than a linguistic issue. Some historians argue that "Punjabi Suba" issue was the fore most reason that fomented the Sikh anger and subsequent violent terrorism against Punjabi Hindus. Paul R. Brass, the Professor Emeritus of Political Science and South Asian Studies at the University of Washington, opines that the Sikh leader Fateh Singh tactically stressed the linguistic basis of the demand, while downplaying the religious basis for the demand—a state where the distinct Sikh identity could be preserved.[2] The movement for a Punjabi Suba led to trifurcation of Indian Punjab into three states: Punjab (India), Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.Unrest in Punjab in 1980s and 1990s
The Terrorism in Punjab before/after the Operation Bluestar and 1984 Delhi riots, had a very severe effect on Punjabi Hindus. Punjabi Hindus specially the members of Arya Samaj went open hostile to the Sikh population. Also There were numerous instances like bombing public buses, engineering colleges (Thapar College), and killings on Hindu holidays, such as the 1987 Diwali Day Bombing, in which Hindus were specifically targeted. Amnesty International and other International Human Rights groups recognized and called for the Government forces to stop militant groups from committing the killings, but the guerrilla warfare conducted by militant outfits proved difficult to stop . There have been conspiracy theories put forth that certain bombings were done by RAW operatives but there has never been any substantial evidence beyond few eyewitness testimonies in regards to this claim. The open kidnappings and killings of innocent Sikhs in Punjab by Government Forces and continual bombings and extortions of Punjabi Hindus by militants caused a rift between Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs. But since the decline of Khalistan movement, both communities are again living with cordial relations.Distribution of population
Today Punjabi are also found in huge numbers in western countries like USA, Canada, UK and the EU. The Hindus of Punjab have a large population in the districts of Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur in which they make upto 30-40% of population, and make up around 40% of punjab's population, and a settled in haryana, himachal pradesh and in delhi. punjabi hindus are also present in major cities like mumbai, bangalore etc.Trivia
The popular prayer Jai Jagdish HareJai Jagdish Hare
Om Jai Jagdish Hare is a Hindu bhajan , composed in or near the 1870s by Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri in Punjab, India. Even though it is in Hindi, it is universally used by Hindus around the world speaking any of the numerous Indian languages, or belonging to any one of many sects.It may have been...
was composed in Punjab by Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri
Shardha Ram Phillauri
Shardha Ram Phillauri was a Punjabi missionary, social reformer, astrologer, and writer, best remembered for his contributions to Hindi and Punjabi literature. He has been called the “father of modern Punjabi prose."...
.
See also
- Hinduism and Sikh Panth
- Jainism in PunjabBhabraBhabra is an ancient merchant community from Punjab whose population mainly follows Jainism,.The Bhabra community has had a close historical association with Jainism. It is believed to be connected with the Bhavadar or Bhavada Gachchha to which the legendary Jain Acharya Kalakacharya belonged to....
- Khawaja Shaikh
- Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947 is a book by Sikh author Gurbachan Singh Talib. It was first published in 1950 by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and has been reprinted several times....
- Places in Pakistan with Hindu and Sikh Populations before 1947Places in Pakistan with Hindu and Sikh populations before 1947This is a list of locations in Pakistan which used to have prominent Sikh and Hindu populations before the independence in 1947.-List of localities:-Demographics in 1941 census:...
- Punjabi ShaikhPunjabi ShaikhSheikh , is an Arabic word meaning elder of a tribe, lord, Honorable revered old man, or Islamic scholar. In South Asia it is used as an ethnic title generally attributed to Muslim trading families....
- Qanungoh ShaikhQanungoh ShaikhQanungoh Shaikhs are a clan of Muslim Shaikhs in Punjab and other parts of Pakistan.The Qanungoh have tribal and marital affinities with varied regional groups such as the Kukhran, Muslim Rajputs, Mohyal Brahmins, Awan, and Khattar as well as Rohillas, Rind , Gardezi and also Kakkezai in the...
Further reading
Online 1 Online 2 Online 3 (A free copy of this book can be read from any 3 of the included "Online Sources" of this free "Online Book")- ^ a b c Brass, Paul R. (2005). Language, Religion and Politics in North India. iUniverseIUniverseiUniverse, founded in October 1999, is a self-publishing company, co-located with AuthorHouse in Bloomington, Indiana. Publishers Weekly notes iUniverse has partnerships with The Writers' Club and the Writer's Digest .-History:iUniverse initially focused on business-to-consumer print-on-demand...
. p. 326. ISBN 9780595343942.
External links
- Very Nice Info About Jalandhar, The Punjab (India)
- The Punjab—An Overview
- Punjab History
- Punjab Historical Background
- Shri Durgiana Tirath
Punjabi Hindus are a group of people that follows the Hindu religion and has its roots in the erstwhile joint ancient Panjab region. Today it is spread out across most parts of northern India and in some parts of western India like Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. In India, most Punjabi Hindus are concentrated in the states of Punjab and Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
and the national capital territory of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
. There has also been a continuous migration of Punjabi Hindus to major world countries like the USA, Canada and the UK.
The oldest Hindu texts such as the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
, Upanishads and the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
were composed in Punjab or in a nearby region. The Hindus of Punjab have, naturally, been there for much more time than Muslims since Islam was founded only in the 7th century C.E., entering India around the 11th century C.E., while Hinduism has been extant since at least the 2nd millennium B.C.E.. Many Hindus later converted to Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
. In fact, Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots from the time of the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
. Many modern day cities in Indian Punjab and Pakistan Punjab are still named from that period like Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
etc. Former Prime ministers of India I.K. Gujral and Gulzari Lal Nanda are Punjabi Hindus. Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj , better known as Kapil Dev, is a former Indian cricketer. He captained the Indian cricket team which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup...
and great Indian scientist Hargobind Khorana are also Punjabi Hindus.
Punjabi Hindus have a unique culture which, in some ways, very closely resembles that of of the Sikhs and also differs from theirs in many other ways. They usually have a very liberal lifestyle and are famous for their lavish wedding parties. They are mostly employed in trade and commerce though some also work as farmers in the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
. Like other Hindus, they are also divided into castes. The most common castes are Khatri
Khatri
Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...
(Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
in Sanskrit), Arora, Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
, Baniya, Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
, Saini
Saini
Saini is a Rajput descent caste of India. Sainis, also known as Shoorsaini in Puranic literature, are now found by their original name only in Punjab and in the neighboring states of Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh...
etc. Naturally, Punjabi Hindus go to Hindu temples for worship.
Vedic Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
is now divided into several units: West Punjab
West Punjab
West Punjab was a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 160,622 km², including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but excluding the former princely state of Bahawalpur. The capital was the city of Lahore and the province...
(now in Pakistan) including the Gandhara region, the Indian states of Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
and Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
and the Indian Union territory of Chandigarh
Chandigarh
Chandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...
. The regions of POK and Jammu
Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
have also been historically associated with the Punjab.
The Punjab is the 'Sapta Sindhu' region mentioned in the Rig Veda, the seven rivers are:
- SaraswatiSaraswatiIn Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....
(thought to be the present day Ghaggar), - Satadru/Shutadri (SutlejSutlejThe Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...
), - Vipasa (BeasBeas RiverThe Beas River is a river in the northern part of India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 km to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab....
), - Asikani, Chandrabhaga (Chenab),
- Iravati (RaviRavi RiverThe Ravi is a trans-boundary river flowing through Northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of the six rivers of the Indus System in Punjab region ....
), - Vitasta/Vet (JhelumJhelum RiverJehlum River or Jhelum River , ) is a river that flows in India and Pakistan. It is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjab, and passes through Jhelum District...
) and - Sindhu (IndusIndus RiverThe Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...
).
The modern name of the Vipasa,'Beas' is thought to be a corruption of Veda Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
.
Among the classic books that wholly or partly composed in this region are the following.
- RigvedaRigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
- Grammar of SakatayanaSakatayana' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age India . His work is referred by scholars such as Yaska and Pāṇini ' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age India (fl. roughly 8th c. BCE). His work is referred by scholars such as Yaska (around 7th c. BCE) and Pāṇini ' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age...
- Ashtadhyayi of Pāṇini
- NiruktaNiruktaNirukta is one of the six disciplines of Hinduism, treating etymology, particularly of obscure words, especially those occurring in the Vedas. The discipline is traditionally attributed to , an ancient Sanskrit grammarian...
of Yaska - Charaka SamhitaCharaka SamhitaThe ' is an early Ayurvedic text on internal medicine. It is believed to be the oldest of the three ancient treatises of Ayurveda...
- MahabharataMahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
along with the Bhagavad GitaBhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition... - Brihatkatha of Gunadya
- The Bakhshali ManuscriptBakhshali ManuscriptThe Bakhshali Manuscript is an Ancient Indian mathematical manuscript written on birch bark which was found near the village of Bakhshali in 1881 in what was then the North-West Frontier Province of British India...
The world's oldest university Takshashila flourished here, even before the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
's birth.
The descendants of the Rishis, form the Brahmins of Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
society. The Brahmins of this region are called 'Saraswata' after the legendary Saraswati river region, once known for the ashramas of the rishis.
Classic cities of the Punjab region
- PeshawarPeshawarPeshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
(PurushapurPeshawarPeshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
), North West Frontier Province: Capital of KanishkaKanishkaKanishka ) was an emperor of the Kushan Empire, ruling an empire extending from Bactria to large parts of northern India in the 2nd century of the common era, and famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements...
, the Kushan ruler and the site of the tallest stupa in Jambudvipa. - PushkalavatiPushkalavatiPushkalavati is an ancient site situated in Peshawar valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located on the banks of Swat River, near its junction with Kabul River, now it is known as Charsadda...
(Charsadda), North West Frontier Province: Founded by a son of BharataBharata (Ramayana)In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Bharata was the second brother of the main protagonist Rama, and the son of Dasaratha and Kaikeyi. Dasaratha was the Emperor of Ayodhya and belonged to the Suryavansha or Solar Dynasty...
, brother of Sri Rama, according to the RamayanaRamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata... - Takshashila (Taxila), Punjab(Pakistan): Also founded by a son of Bharata.
- MultanMultanMultan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
(Mulasthan),Punjab(Pakistan): Pilgrimage site of the legendary Sun temple. - RawalpindiRawalpindiRawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by Bappa RawalBappa RawalBappa Rawal , eighth ruler of the Guhilot Rajput Dynasty and founder of the Mewar Dynasty in present-day Rajasthan, India...
, from the Sisodiya clan of MewarMewarMewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later...
Rajputs and ancestor of Rana Pratap Singh. - SialkotSialkotSialkot is a city in Pakistan situated in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foothills of snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. It is the capital of Sialkot District. The city is about north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometers from Indian-controlled Jammu.The...
, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by Sul (ShalyaShalyaIn the epic Mahabharata, King Shalya was the brother of Madri , as well as the ruler of Madra-desa or the kingdom of Madra. Thus, he was the maternal uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva and was loved and revered by the Pandavas. When he was young, he entered a competition among princes and nobilities to...
), emperor of Madradesa and brother of MadriMadriIn the Mahābhārata epic, Madri was a princess of the Madra kingdom and the second wife of Pandu.On his way to Hastinapur, King Pandu encountered the army of Shalya, King of Madra. Very soon, Pandu and Shalya became friends and Shalya gave his only sister, Madri to Pandu, as a gift of their...
, second wife of emperor PanduPanduIn the Mahābhārata epic, King Pandu is the son of Ambalika and Rishi Ved Vyasa. He is more popularly known as the father of the Pandavas and ruled Hastinapur.-Birth:...
and mother to Nakul and SahadevaSahadevaSahadeva was one of the five Pandava brothers according to the epic Mahābhārata. He was one of the twin sons of Madri, who invoked Ashvins using a mantra shared by Kunti for a son. His twin brother was named Nakula... - KasurKasurKasur , the capital of Kasur District in Pakistan. Kasur is located adjacent to the border of Ganda Singh Wala between Pakistan and India, and is a tourist attraction because of the daily occurring Flags lowering ceremony...
, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by KushaKushaKusha may refer to:* Kusha , one of six schools of Japanese Buddhism in the Nara period* Kusha , in Hindu mythology, was one of the twin sons of Lord Rama and Sita* Kusha, tall tufted perennial grass. See also: Poa cynosuroides...
, son of Sri Rama according to the Bichitra NatakBichitra NatakBachittar Natak is from Dasam Granth generally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru spans from ang 94 to ang 175 of the 2326 ang....
written by Guru Gobind SinghGuru Gobind SinghGuru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...
. - LahoreLahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
,Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by LavaLavaLava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
(LohLohLoh may refer to:People* John M. Loh , Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force* Betty Loh Ti , Chinese actress...
), son of Sri Rama according to the Bichitra NatakBichitra NatakBachittar Natak is from Dasam Granth generally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru spans from ang 94 to ang 175 of the 2326 ang....
. - AmritsarAmritsarAmritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
, Punjab(India): It is believed that the hermitage of Sage ValmikiValmikiValmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e...
, author of the RamayanaRamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
was located in the vicinity of the area that forms the modern city of Amritsar today. Valmiki is said to have composed the great epic at this very spot. Also, SitaSITASITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...
gave birth to the twins, Lava and Kusha in this hermitage. - JalandharJalandharJalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...
, Punjab(India): A historic city mentioned in the Puranas and the most famous city in punjab. - KurukshetraKurukshetraKurukshetra is a land of historical and religious importance. Historically the land belonged to Punjab now a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as Dharmakshetra . According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and...
,Haryana: The site of the MahabharataMahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
war. - KarnalKarnalKarnal is an important city and the headquarters of Karnal District in the Indian state of Haryana.Karnal is said to have been founded by the Kauravas in the Mahabharata era for the king Karna, a mythological hero and a key figure in the epic tale...
, Haryana: city founded by KarnaKarnaKarna or Radheya is one of the central characters in the epic Mahābhārata, from ancient India. He was the King of Anga...
. - Katasraj templeKatasraj templeKatasraj Mandir , कटासराज मन्दिर ) is a Hindu mandir situated in Katas village in the Chakwal district of Punjab in Pakistan. Dedicated to Shiva, the temple has existed since the days of Mahābhārata and the Pandava brothers spent a substantial part of their exile at the site...
, Punjab(Pakistan): Classic temple complex in the ChakwalChakwalChakwal is the capital of Chakwal District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located 90 km south-east of the federal capital, Islamabad and is named after Chaudhry Chaku Khan, chief of the Mair Minhas tribe from Jammu, who founded it in 1525 CE during the era of the Mughal Emperor, Zaheerudun Babur...
district, site of the 'enchanted pool' episode in the Mahabharata, where Yudhishtira is tested by his father Lord YamaYama (Hinduism)Yama is the lord of death in Hinduism, first recorded in the Vedas. Yama belongs to an early stratum of Indo-Iranian theology. In Vedic tradition Yama was considered to have been the first mortal who died and espied the way to the celestial abodes, thus in virtue of precedence he became the ruler...
/DharmaDharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
.
The Sanatan Dharmis
Most Hindus in the Punjab are the Sanatan Dharmis. Major deities worshipped include RamaRama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
, Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
and Hanuman
Hanuman
Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
. One of the most popular ones is Vaishno Devi of Jammu, (all known commonly as Sheraan-wali('She of the lions') in Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
). The worship of Hanuman is usually done on Tuesdays.
Sanatan Dharma Sabha was founded in the Punjab in late 19th century to promote traditional Hinduism. It sent scholars overseas and became a major force in some of the overseas Hindu communities. In January 1933 the session of the All-India Sanatan Dharma Sabha, presided over by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
Madan Mohan Malaviya
Madan Mohan Malaviya was an Indian educationist, and freedom fighter notable for his role in the Indian independence movement and his espousal of Hindu nationalism...
.
Ravidassia
An important group among the Punjabi ChamarChamar
Chamar |tanner]]"; from the Sanskrit Charmakara) is a prominent occupational caste in India, Pakistan and Nepal. Chamar is a Dalit sub-caste mainly found in the northern states, such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and in Nepal at least north to the Himalayas...
caste. It is very powerful politically and socially.
The Arya Samajis
An important sect amongst Punjabi Hindus is the Arya SamajArya Samaj
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement founded by Swami Dayananda on 10 April 1875. He was a sannyasi who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya...
. It was founded by Swami Dayananda (born in the town of Tankara near Morvi
Morvi
Morvi or Morbi is a city and a municipality in Rajkot district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was a Princely State ruled by Jadeja clan of Rajputs until Indian independence in 1947. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. , the city's population was determined to be 73,327. Its chief...
(or Morbi) in the Kathiawar
Kathiawar
Kathiawar or Kathiawad is a peninsula in western India, which is part of the Saurashtra region on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat state. It is bounded on the north by the great wetland of the Rann of Kutch, on the northwest by the Gulf of Kutch, on the west and south by the Arabian Sea, and on...
region of modern-day Gujarat) in 1875 in Bombay and became popular amongst Hindus in the Punjab and U.P. The first branch of the Arya Samaj was opened in Shantakruj, Mumbai in 1875. Arya Samajists do not believe in idol worship and incarnations of God (Avtarvaad) but believes in the philosophy on re-incarnation and transmigration. They hold the Vedic religion to be the only true religion and as such, regard the Vedas as their only religious books, but also regard Upnishad, Darshan Shastras and some other books written by Rishis (Arsh Granths), on the condition that the text in these should not be contradictory to Vedas. On this basis Arya Samaj rejected some of the Hindu scriptures like Purana and some other scriptures which, according to Arya Samaj, are against the Vedas. The Arya Samaj also pleads for Shuddhi
Shuddhi
Shuddhi is Sanskrit for purification. In Hinduism it is a part of worship. It also sometimes refers to reverting to Hinduism after converting from Hinduism to another religion.-Shuddhi movement:...
or the re-conversion into Hinduism of those Hindus who were converted to other religions. The places of worship of the Arya Samajists are different from those of the Sanatan Dharmis. Worship includes performing yajna
Yajna
In Hinduism, yajna is a ritual of sacrifice derived from the practice of Vedic times. It is performed to please the gods or to attain certain wishes...
s, reciting mantras and seeking spiritual solace by listening to religious discourses.
The Radhaswamis
The RadhaswamiRadhaswami
Radhaswami can refer to:* Krishna* Radhaswami , a Brahmin Buddhist sage, under whose guidance the Mauryan emperor Ashoka adopted Buddhism* Radha Soami, a spiritual movement founded by Shri Shiv Dayal Singh Sahab...
sect has its headquarters at the town of Beas
Beas, Punjab
Beas is a small town in the Amritsar District of Punjab state of India, located between the cities of Amritsar and Jalandhar along the banks of the Beas River on National Highway 1....
and is popular amongst Punjabi Hindus. Like the Nirankari
Nirankari
The Sant Nirankari Mission , abbreviated as, SNM, and also known as Universal Brotherhood Mission, is a spiritual organization.The Sant Nirankari Mission is neither a new religion nor a sect of an existing religion, but an all-embracing spiritual movement dedicated to human welfare...
s and Namdhari
Namdhari
Namdhari are a sect of Sikhism. The main difference between Namdhari Sikhs and mainstream Sikhs is their belief in Jagjit Singh as their living Guru...
s, the Radhaswamis too are a transitional sect between Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
.
The Dev Samajis
Dev Samajis, an offshoot of Brahmo Samaj, are rationalists. Their headquarters is at MogaMoga, Punjab
Moga is a city and a municipality in Moga district in the Indian state of Punjab.It became part and headquarter of 17th District in the state, Moga district of Punjab State on 24th day of November 1995, by then Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar. Before this, Moga was a part of Faridkot District...
. Their activities are mostly confined to the moral fields. As such Dev Samajists have not attained much popularity. In all other respects the Dev Samajists are not different from the other Hindus.
The Nanak Panthis
The term Nanak Panthi is applied to those who are followers of the tradition of Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak laid the foundation of Sikhism and preached equality among all men, contrary to the caste system, and some of the traditional practices. The Nanak Panth was the sect founded by Guru Nanak's elder son, Sri Chand. The KhalsaKhalsa
+YouWebImagesVideosMapsNewsMailMoreTranslateFrom: ArabicTo: EnglishEnglishHindiEnglishAllow phonetic typingHindiEnglishArabicAssumptionGoogle Translate for Business:Translator ToolkitWebsite TranslatorGlobal Market Finder...
order, founded by Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...
is thought to represent Sikhism today.
Ecumenical Hinduism
A large segment of Punjabis who are now categorized as Hindus or who identify themselves as Punjabi Hindus, continue to live out heterogeneous religious practice that includes spiritual kinship with SikhismSikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
. This not only includes veneration of the Sikh Gurus
Sikh Gurus
The Sikh Gurus established Sikhism from over the centuries beginning in the year 1469. Sikhism was founded by the first guru, Guru Nanak, and subsequently, all in order were referred to as "Nanak", and as "Lights", making their teachings in the holy scriptures, equivalent...
in private practice, but also visit to Sikh Gurdwara
Gurdwara
A Gurdwara , meaning the Gateway to the Guru, is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib ....
s as well as Hindu temples. Some Punjabi Hindus visit Jain temples and Jain munis.
This is evident from the continuing propensity to conduct important life cycle ceremonies such as on marriage or death by any of the Hindu or Sikh rites. This is especially true for the Khatri
Khatri
Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...
and Arora
Arora
Arora is an Indo-Aryan community of the Punjab region. Commentators differ in their opinions regarding the relationship between the Arora and the Khatri community....
communities, and even more so among the Kukhran tribe emanating from West Punjab
West Punjab
West Punjab was a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 160,622 km², including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but excluding the former princely state of Bahawalpur. The capital was the city of Lahore and the province...
, an area now in Pakistan.
This predilection for heterogeneous religious affiliation has continued, in spite of decades of aggressive identity purification efforts by the forces of identity politics in the Punjab.
Punjabi Hindus and 1947 Partition
Punjabi Hindus suffered a great deal due to partition of Punjab in 1947. They were a minority in areas of Pakistan. Many of the Hindus/Sikhs had to move to East Punjab and Muslims to West Punjab. Estimates range from 100,000 to upwards of a million people were killed in the riots following the partition and subsequent independence of Pakistan and later India from British colonial rule. Most of the Punjabi Hindus who moved from West Punjab settled in the areas which are now Indian state of Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Western UP, and even as far as Bombay.Demand for Punjabi Suba and subsequent trifurcation of Punjab
Since the beginning of 1960's, Sikh leaders and Sikh parties started to demand a so called "Punjabi Suba" (Meaning - Punjabi Province) in North India. The argument was to carve out a state in Northern India where Punjabi was the most predominant language. The idea did not go well with the Punjabi speaking Hindus because the underline motive for the demand of Punjabi Suba was to create a province where Sikhs were in absolute majority. Therefore, it became more of a religious issue rather than a linguistic issue. Some historians argue that "Punjabi Suba" issue was the fore most reason that fomented the Sikh anger and subsequent violent terrorism against Punjabi Hindus. Paul R. Brass, the Professor Emeritus of Political Science and South Asian Studies at the University of Washington, opines that the Sikh leader Fateh Singh tactically stressed the linguistic basis of the demand, while downplaying the religious basis for the demand—a state where the distinct Sikh identity could be preserved.[2] The movement for a Punjabi Suba led to trifurcation of Indian Punjab into three states: Punjab (India), Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.Unrest in Punjab in 1980s and 1990s
The Terrorism in Punjab before/after the Operation Bluestar and 1984 Delhi riots, had a very severe effect on Punjabi Hindus. Punjabi Hindus specially the members of Arya Samaj went open hostile to the Sikh population. Also There were numerous instances like bombing public buses, engineering colleges (Thapar College), and killings on Hindu holidays, such as the 1987 Diwali Day Bombing, in which Hindus were specifically targeted. Amnesty International and other International Human Rights groups recognized and called for the Government forces to stop militant groups from committing the killings, but the guerrilla warfare conducted by militant outfits proved difficult to stop . There have been conspiracy theories put forth that certain bombings were done by RAW operatives but there has never been any substantial evidence beyond few eyewitness testimonies in regards to this claim. The open kidnappings and killings of innocent Sikhs in Punjab by Government Forces and continual bombings and extortions of Punjabi Hindus by militants caused a rift between Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs. But since the decline of Khalistan movement, both communities are again living with cordial relations.Distribution of population
Today Punjabi are also found in huge numbers in western countries like USA, Canada, UK and the EU. The Hindus of Punjab have a large population in the districts of Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur in which they make upto 30-40% of population, and make up around 40% of punjab's population, and a settled in haryana, himachal pradesh and in delhi. punjabi hindus are also present in major cities like mumbai, bangalore etc.Trivia
The popular prayer Jai Jagdish HareJai Jagdish Hare
Om Jai Jagdish Hare is a Hindu bhajan , composed in or near the 1870s by Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri in Punjab, India. Even though it is in Hindi, it is universally used by Hindus around the world speaking any of the numerous Indian languages, or belonging to any one of many sects.It may have been...
was composed in Punjab by Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri
Shardha Ram Phillauri
Shardha Ram Phillauri was a Punjabi missionary, social reformer, astrologer, and writer, best remembered for his contributions to Hindi and Punjabi literature. He has been called the “father of modern Punjabi prose."...
.
See also
- Hinduism and Sikh Panth
- Jainism in PunjabBhabraBhabra is an ancient merchant community from Punjab whose population mainly follows Jainism,.The Bhabra community has had a close historical association with Jainism. It is believed to be connected with the Bhavadar or Bhavada Gachchha to which the legendary Jain Acharya Kalakacharya belonged to....
- Khawaja Shaikh
- Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947 is a book by Sikh author Gurbachan Singh Talib. It was first published in 1950 by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and has been reprinted several times....
- Places in Pakistan with Hindu and Sikh Populations before 1947Places in Pakistan with Hindu and Sikh populations before 1947This is a list of locations in Pakistan which used to have prominent Sikh and Hindu populations before the independence in 1947.-List of localities:-Demographics in 1941 census:...
- Punjabi ShaikhPunjabi ShaikhSheikh , is an Arabic word meaning elder of a tribe, lord, Honorable revered old man, or Islamic scholar. In South Asia it is used as an ethnic title generally attributed to Muslim trading families....
- Qanungoh ShaikhQanungoh ShaikhQanungoh Shaikhs are a clan of Muslim Shaikhs in Punjab and other parts of Pakistan.The Qanungoh have tribal and marital affinities with varied regional groups such as the Kukhran, Muslim Rajputs, Mohyal Brahmins, Awan, and Khattar as well as Rohillas, Rind , Gardezi and also Kakkezai in the...
Further reading
Online 1 Online 2 Online 3 (A free copy of this book can be read from any 3 of the included "Online Sources" of this free "Online Book")- ^ a b c Brass, Paul R. (2005). Language, Religion and Politics in North India. iUniverseIUniverseiUniverse, founded in October 1999, is a self-publishing company, co-located with AuthorHouse in Bloomington, Indiana. Publishers Weekly notes iUniverse has partnerships with The Writers' Club and the Writer's Digest .-History:iUniverse initially focused on business-to-consumer print-on-demand...
. p. 326. ISBN 9780595343942.
External links
- Very Nice Info About Jalandhar, The Punjab (India)
- The Punjab—An Overview
- Punjab History
- Punjab Historical Background
- Shri Durgiana Tirath
Hinduism in Goa
Hinduism is an ancient tradition in Goa. Goan Hindus proudly call themselves Konkane ,meaning ,the residents of Konkan Presently Hindus form about 70% of the population of Goa...
• Gujarat
Hinduism in Gujarat
Hinduism is an important religion in the Indian state of Gujarat and Hindus make up about 89% population of the state according to 2001 census. A majority of Gujaratis are Hindu. Some characteristic features of Hinduism in Gujarat are the Dandiya Ras celebrations and the all encompassing Garba....
• Haryana • Himachal Pradesh • Jammu and Kashmir • Jharkhand • Karnataka • Kerala
Hinduism in Kerala
Hinduism is the indigenous religion of Kerala and Hindus make up about 57% population of the state according to the 2001 census. Hindus in Kerala usually have a lower birth rate and a higher death rate compared to the general population....
• Madhya Pradesh • Maharashtra • Manipur • Meghalaya • Mizoram • Nagaland • Orissa • Punjab • Rajasthan • Sikkim • Tamil Nadu • Tripura • Uttaranchal • Uttar Pradesh • West Bengal>
Union Territory
A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India, in the federal framework of governance. Unlike the states of India, which have their own elected governments, union territories are ruled directly by the federal government; the President of India appoints an Administrator or...
: Andaman and Nicobar Islands • Chandigarh • Dadra and Nagar Haveli • Delhi
Hinduism in Delhi
Hinduism has a long history in Delhi starting from at least the Pandavas in the city of Indraprashth....
• Daman and Diu • Lakshadweep • Pondicherry
