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PUNJABI CULTURE

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Mention the Punjab and you conjure up the vision of the antiquity of India, the cradle of human civilization and the bedrock of wisdom that emerged out of the confluence of the man and the nature, symbolizing the unity of man, the unity of thought and the unity of spiritual experience. The cultural heritage of the region is not only one of the most ancient but it is also one of the most extensive and varied. To it have contributed, throughout the ages, many races and people, who have either temporarily come into contact with the land of' five rivers, or have permanently settled within her borders, joining the ranks of her children and helping to evolve a distinctive Indian culture, the keynote of  which is synthesis on the-basis of eternal values.
In one of the inspired speeches delivered at Lahore in November 1897, Swami Vivekananda called the Punjab as the "holiest even in the holy Aryavarta." He said, "this is the Brahmavarta of which our great Manu speaks ... This is the land where, like its mighty rivers, spiritual aspirations have arisen and joined their strength, till they traveled over the length and breadth of the world, and declared themselves with a voice of thunder, this heroic land had first to bare its bosom to every onslaught of the outer barbarians  into Aryavarta ... (and) after all its suffering, has not yet entirely lost its glow and its strength. Here it was that in later times the gentle Nanak preached his *Fellow. Punjabi University, Patiala marvelous love for the world. Here it was that his broad heart was opened and his arms outstretched to embrace the whole world .... Here it was that one of the lastand one of the most glorious heroes of our race, Guru Gobind Singh, after shedding his blood and that of his dearest and nearest for the cause of religion., retired into the south to die like a wounded lion struck to the heart, without a word against his country, without a single word of murmur."
    I have intentionally given a rather lengthy extract from the speech of the great monk. Whenever we make any effort to study the basic structure of the Indian Culture and tradition, we have to understand the genesis in the Punjab tradition--prehistoric, Vedic, Puranic and Epic. In a way the uninterrupted continuity of  ndian culture is the story of  the ancient Punjab. In spite of the numerous languages spoken in the various regions, the variegated subcultures depicting the diverse forms of rituals and worship, the apparent variety of dress and food habits, India is essentially one cultural unit, which the great Indologist Max Mueller termed as a 'divine wonder'. And I believe that  source of this unity is the Punjab. One of the earliest stone age cultures of India is attested to have been nourished in the Punjab. It has been largely accepted that about eight centuries before Christ, the Punjab was the most enlightened and the prosperous region.
    The geographical boundaries of the ancient Punjab have been identified by three words--Rig Vedic Sapta Sindhu, the land of seven rivers; epical Panchnod, the land of five rivers; and the Uttar Path of the Buddhistic literature. The stone articles of the Pleistocene age have been found in the valley of Suhan near Rawalpindi,    Kangra,    Pehalgam, Peshawar and Hoshiarpur, Sind and Balochistan, testifying to the chain of cultural unity extending to the whole of the region The Harappa-Ropar civilization was the outcome of the culture that developed over a vast area in Iran, Afghanistan, Balochistan and the north-western parts of the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. It acquired a distinct  individuality and developed a unique personality in the Punjab and the neighbounng regions during 3250-1500  A.D, It is strange that the traces of this civilization are available in Rajasthan  (Hanumangarh), Meerut and in the far south in Avika Medu in Tamil Nadu. This was largely an urban civilization capped with all pervasive civic and aesthetic trappings. 
   The Harappan civilization perhaps was overwhelmed by the village folk, who, though did not belong to a different culture but represented a different  pattern. In fact, here is no conclusive evidence to prove that the authors of the Rig Veda came to the land of seven  rivers from any  outside country. The  whole complex of Rigvedic hymns shows them settled in this region from the outset and considering it their sacred land and original home. When addressing the river Saraswati, the Rishi says "Guide Saraswafi, to glorious treasure; refuse not the milk, not spurn us from the gladly accept our friendship and obedience, let us not go from thee to distant lands" (VI. 61.14), He clearly state that his ancestors were the inhabitants the land through which the river flowed from ages immemorial. Sage Priyamedha Sindhukshit in the famous 'Hymn of Rivers (Nadi-stuti) after invoking the favour of the rivers soars for a high pitch exultation in his reference to the Sindhu.
    The Vedic and the later Epic period of the Punjab was socially and culturally the most prolific. The Rig Veda composed here, though the whole Vedic literature may not have been written in the Punjab because of the shifting of tribes towards the south, but the earlier Brahmans and the Upanishads were composed on the banks of the rivers the Punjab. The history unfolds a glorious period during which the people touched the very zenith in the fields of philosoph aha culture. The people were highly cultured as they were great warriors, whom Panini called Ayudh Jeevi. The process of migration of Punjabi tribe, towards the south continued almost to 300 B.C. During the period quite a number of centres of learning an culture were established. Takshila was or important university situated towards east of the Indus in the modern district of Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan). Tradition has if that the Mahabharta was first recited in the city. The Satpaf Brahm and the Mahabharta make mention of the tribal hero Takshak. The Buddhistic literature refers to the fact that the Upanishadic Rishi Udalka and his son Svetketu, the Pandavas, and the princes of Mithila, Koshal, Magadh, Kashi, Panchal and Kuru were the students of  this university. Panini and Vishnu Gupta too were associated with it. Religion, philosophy, ethics, grammar, prosody, law, astrology, medicine and warfare were taught in the university. Yasak's 'Nirukta' and Panini's 'Ashtadhyee' are those classic creations which help us understand the language and culture of the ancient Punjab.
    The field of action of the Ramayana is  believed to be outside the Punjab but the tradition maintains that Valmiki composed the Ramayana near the present Amritsar city and Kaikyee belonged to this region. Similarly there are references to the land in the great Epic Mahabharta. The divine message of the Gita was given by-Lord Krishna at Kurukshetra. It was here that eighteen pnncipal Puranas were written. The authors of Vishnu Purana and the Shiv Purana belonged to the central Punjab.' The Puranas have become the essential ngredient of Indian folk culture and a source of new consciousness for the analysis of our culture. 
    Right from the invasion of Alexander in 326 B.C., the Punjab bore the brunt of incursions and the aggressive assaults of the hordes from the north. During the gruesome period great Kings like Porus, Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka and host of other heroes emerged to defend the territories from the onslaughts of the barbaric cultures. The Mauryas, the Guptas, Pushpabhuti and Harsha contributed progressively towards the development of culture which enveloped the whole of the country.
    The sketchy outline, with a large number of gaps and lacunae brings to light some significant features of the history and culture of the Punjab. It reveals that this region not 0nly played an important part in the history of India but also acted as the crossroads of many movements of culture, commerce and people in Asia. Thus it became a cockpit, a crucible and a confluence, in which there was an unending amalgamation of communities and cultures resulting in a broad, pragmatic, experimental and utilitarian outlook and a robust, and comprehensive commonsense view, which cut at the root of all sorts of dogmas, conventions and conservatism. The Vedas adumbrated a philosophy of cosmic cohesion and harmony, the Upanishads expounded a doctrine of the fundamental unity of the self and the supreme self, the Gita taught the synthesis of knowledge (Jnana), faith (Bhakti) and action (Karma), as the basis of a sound norm of conduct; some schools of Mahayana stood for the eligibility of all men to spiritual fulfilment through active service of the living beings rather than cowardly escape from the world. At the fag end of the ancient period powerful teachers like Jalandharnatha lashed out at the inequities of the socio-religious system and Gorakhnatha stood for strong and clean life of self-control and inner discipline and purged the Natha-Siddha cult of the licentious practices that had crept into it. All these great movements of thought and belief brought about a renovation and reinvigoration in the whole complex of Indian culture from time to time. It is this catholicity of this land that inspired Rabindranath Tagore to sing a hymn to India, Bharatatirtha (1910). 
    Aryans and non Aryans, Dravadians and Chinese, Sythians, Huns, Pathans and Mughals--AII are mixed, merged and lost in one body. When the Arab Muslims under the leadership of Mohd. Bin Qasim marauded Sind and Multan in 713 A.D.,
the Punjab experienced a thorough conflicting culture. The event opened the flooagates of invasions from Ghoris, Mongols and Ghaznvis, who established their rule with the intention of permanent stay. After initial resistance the Punjabis could not escape the consequences of what Aldous Huxley called 'the cultural shock'. There were perceptible influences of the semitic civilization. During this all too suppressive and convulsive period the Natha mendicants kept alive the cardinal spirit of India. The foreigners were integrated with the clash of cultures was born the Sufitradition with the arrival of Khawaja Muiddin Chisti at Lahore in 1190. The political considerations apart, the attempt at a compromise of the two traditions resulted in the growth of Sufism. Farid-ud-Din Ganj-i-Shakar (1173-1265)is the first Sufi poet, who inaugurated the use of standard literary Punjabi, which was perhaps the earliest form of north India lingua franca, Hindwi and Multani. The other Sufis like Shah Hussain, Ali Haider and Ghulam Farid identified themselves with what is commonly termed as Punjabiat, and sang in the language of the land the songs of love, humanity and God.
    During the Sultanate period and the Mughal rule, the Punjab was engaged in intermittent warfare. It was riddled with conflict and chaos and experienced political upheavals of the worst Appearance of Guru Nanak (during this tempestuous period was event, significant not only for the but for the whole country.' He was founder of that powerful popular movement which has left a impression on the history and culture our country. Born in the district Sheikhupura (now in Pakistan), rejected the division of mankind into rigid compartments of orthodox religions preached the oneness of humanity, oneness of God, thus aiming at creating a new order which embraced the pervasive spirit in man. He condemned and ridiculed the false and unnatural notions of high and Iow in society. He' denounced idolatory and laid stress on meditation for the realization of the Universal self.
The religio-social movement of Guru Nanak was nurtured and strengthened by a line of illustrious successors coming down the year 1708. In the process 0f' development it was compelled by the circumstances to acquire militancy. The martyrdoms of the Guru Arjan (1563-1606 A.D.) and that of the Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-1675 A.D.), the fifth and the ninth master, the heroic sacrifices of the tenth master Guru Gobind Singh, for the cause of humanity as a whole and for the preservation of our own spiritual and secular traditions find no comparison in the history of the world.
   The compilation of the Adi Granth in 1604 by Guru Arjan Dev is a remarkable literacy accomplishment. No where in the world literary history such a venture has ever been attempted, It includes the works of thirty six writers--six Sikh Gurus, Hindu and Muslim saints and Bhaktas. We find in the lengthy volume of 1430 large-size pages, the coherent, composite and compact philosophica compositions like Japji, Sidha Goshta by Guru Nanak and Sukhmani by Guru Arjan. The Adi Granth,  in fact, besides being the treasure-house of Indian philosophy depicts through the poetry spreading over the centuries, the
social and cultural history of the period. Rightly did Duncan say, "Guru Granth Sahib is the cream of Indian thought and essence of Hindu philosophy, yet it has its own distinctive character," The saint-warrior, tenth master, Guru Gobind Singh (1661-1708 A.D.) created the Khalso, the saviour of humanity and the down-trodden. He infused a new spirit among the masses and they rose up against the ferocity erpetrated by the rulers. He burdened his Sikhs with the responsibility of fighting for the exploited and the oppressed people. He was a scholar and poet, who recreated in the forceful language the myths and the traditions of the past to transformed lions out of lambs and insp!re the sparrows to fight with the hawks. He is indeed the beau-ideal of Bharata and there is no exaggeration in the statement of our poet Puran Singh (1881-1931 A.D.) when he said that the Punjab is neither Hindu nor a Muslim. It lives by the name of the Gurus. The Sikhs carried on their struggle and after the fall of Banda Bahadur, they established themselves as sovereign rulers of the greater part of the Punjab. A system of polity was now established, the like of which had been unknown in Indian history. It was an experiment in a Republican type of confederation in which an attempt was made to reconcile local autonomy with central responsibility which, however, was replaced by Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), who established himself as a monarch--the first independent native Indian ruler after the centuries of slavery.
    His reign though not for a very long period is significant because of its purely ancient concept of dharma which is ingrained with the true concept of secularism. The advent of the British had its political, cultural, philosophical and literary consequences in the Punjab. With the opening of new system of education, a new leaven was introduced in the life and thinking of the Punjabis. A renaissant spirit was in the air and there was all round realization of what was glorious in our culture. The socio-cultural and reform movements like the Singh Sabha and the Arya Samaj were initiated, for the spread of new education and general awareness. A new literature was born entirely different from the religio-romantic traditional type. In the political sphere, a strong urge was created for representative    and    democratic institutions, as also an urge for freedom, to its fight for freedom from the foreign yoke, the Punjab played a role worthy of its name. The muster roll of honour includes among others the names of Namdhari Movement, the Ghadar Party, Babbar Akal Movement and the heroes like Lajpat Rai, Ajit Singh, Bhagat Singh, Uddham Singh, Bhai Parmanand and host of others, which might fill hundreds of pages of the history of the freedom movement. The history of the Punjab since independence is a saga f suffering and sacrifice.It was a tragic and traumatic experience for the Punjabis. The Partition, resulting in riots and holocaust which tore up millions of homes and destroyed lakhs of lives. The massive exodus from the newly formed state of Pakistan created problems of uncontrollable dimensions. The Punjabis trekked in blood and tatters. 
    However, the Punjabi spirit symbolising the traditional tenacity and toughness sustained the uprooted people. The disillusioned people set to work with no self pity to plough fresh fields. They built new industries and shouldered new burdens. They marshalled  their resources with lightening rapidity and mobilized to a man without a whisper and achieved a comparative prosperity within a decade. They faced two armed conflicts from across the border with dogged determination brooking no compromise. It was that will Durant might have said a union of soil and the soul. 
The whole world is familiar with the miracle of Green Revolution in the Punjab. Only the grit and stamina and faith of the hardworking people made this miracle possible. The rapid achievements in agriculture cycle, hosiery and sport industry and the electronics, services, social welfare and rural uplift have made the border state one of most prosperous units of our country. Prominent in sports, the Punjab has attained an equally eminent place in cultural, aesthetic an literary renaissance. The revival of the folk art, song, dance and drama, the rehabilitation of the ancient classes in the field of poetry, the rediscovery of the Kangra and the Sikh schools of painting have created a sense of pride and climate of involvement in the heritage of the Punjab.
         Nor is the modern Punjab indifferent to the pressures of the contemporary thought, literary movements and avant garde experiments. Her achievements in poetry and the short story in particular testify to the quality of the literary sensibility and imagination at work. The Punjabi poets have been conferred with the highest literary honours like Jnana Peeth and Saraswati and Kabir awards, Three universities of the Punjab, besides the Panjab University, Chandigarh (Union Territory) are engaged in teaching and research, with specialization in development of Punjabian literature and culture.
      The Punjab preserves the places glorious heritage emblematic of the mystique of the Punjabi spirit. which literally means the 'pool of nectar, lying about twenty kilometres east of the Indo-Pakistan border was founded Guru Ramdas, the fourth Guru of Sikhs. The fifth master, Guru Arjan Der got built the temple in the sacred pool. Within the temple was placed the Guru Granth Sahib, the only scripture. Eversince it has been the most sacred shrine for the Punjabis in general and for the Sikhs all over the world in particular. During the days of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the lower half of the temple was decorated with marble while the upper half was inlaid with copper covered over by gold plate--hence its name, the Golden temple. The three storeyed Temple has nice frescos and fine filigree and enamel work in gold. About forty metres from the main sanctum is the Akal Takhat or the Immortal throne built by Guru Hargobind for the use of temporal affairs. Then there is tower of Baba Atal near the temple Campus. The other monuments of Amritsar are the Durgiana Temple, Jallianwala Bagh, the Khalsa College, the Guru Nanak Dev University and summer palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Then there are Gurudwara at Taran Taran and a temple dedicated to Maharishi Valmiki at Ram Tirath, which is 16 kilometres of west of Amritsar. The Gurudwara at Baba Bakala, 45 kilometres from Amritsar, Dera Baba Jaimal Singh (Radhaswami Colony) at Beds and Harike wetland (the canfluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers) are worth visiting. Similarly 1800 years old fort at Bathinda, Gurudwara at Talwandi Sabbo, Gurudwara at Fatehgarh Sahib, Rauza Sharif at Bassi, Gurudwara at Muktsar, Jain Temple at Zira the ancient temple village of Dholbaha in Hoshiarpur district where the stone age man roamed about, Devi Talao Temple at Jalandhar,
Gurudwara Bir Sahib at Sultanpur Lodhi, Moorish Mosque at Kapurthala, Qila Mubarak and Qila Bahadurgarh at Patiala, the museums at Patiala and above all the Bhakra-Nangal Dam, the Pilgrimage of modern India are the places which attract the visitors to this border state of India. The Guru Gobind Singh Bhavan of the Punjabi University at Patiala is a unique structure which is the symbol of unity of all the religions. 
        The geographical location of the Punjab and the political upheavals answring therefrom have lent to the Punjabis a distinctive character of their own--a character comprising valour and industry, of courage and abounding fortitude. The people of the Punjab have grown amid cross-currents of various civilizations which have served them to broaden their outlook, enlarge their mental horizon and evolve new pattern of thought. Several races and cultures have clashed and fused with one another on this soil to exercise a profound influence not only on the Punjab but all over the country. There has been a constant adjustment in thought and action and the Punjabis consequently acquired a flexible and cosmopolitan character. They did away with the formal ritualism and adopted the pragmatic way of life, the life of love and tolerance with the spirit of common brotherhood of man. They proclaimed their belief in the Absolute, in one God and in the unity of pilgrimage of modern India are the  man. Despite many a tragic happenings in the recent times, the Punjabi society nas remained unshaken, intact and emotionally integrative.
       The Punjab has been called the sword arm of India. In a way, it has also been the source of all the ingredients of Indian Culture that we value the most. Secular in spirit, the courage is the most important part of the that culture. The source of that courage is faith--faith in oneself, faith in others, faith in goodness of all creation. The poetry of this faith is man's highest culture. For it is in that faith that the Punjabis realize in the present situation the truth of St. Paul's words to the Romans · "The night is far spent and the day is at hand · let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armour of light."


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