PUNJAB HISTORY AND CULTURE

Geographically, the North West region of India is known as Punjab. This is called the land of five rivers as the word Punjab is made up of two words ‘Panj’+ ‘Aab’ where ‘Panj’ means five in Punjabi and ‘Aab’ mean rivers in Punjabi.

Punjabi Culture is the culture of the Punjab region. It is one of the oldest and richest cultures in world history, dating from ancient antiquity to the modern era. Though it is mother tongue of the natives of Punjab in India and Pakistan, it is now spoken internationally by an estimated 100 to 125 million people. 

The language finds a place of pride in many countries including Canada where it is the fourth most spoken language. The Punjabi Culture is the culture of the Punjabi people who are now distributed throughout the world. Some of the main areas include, Punjabi Philosophy, poetry, spirituality, education, artistry, music, cuisine, science, technology, military warfare, architecture, traditions, values and history.

Punjabi, as noted above, is spoken as a minority language in several other countries, including Afghanistan, as well as many nations where Punjabis have emigrated in large numbers, such as Britain, Canada, Australia and the United States.

However, Punjabi culture much like its Bengali counterpart, suffered a split between India and Pakistan during the Partition of 1947. As such, Punjabi language and culture tend to be uniting factors for the people of India and Pakistan in spite of national and religious affiliations.

While most loaned words come from English, Hindiand Urdu and indirectly from Persian, Punjabis around the world have integrated terms from such languages as Spanish and Dutch. 

“Jaggo” Ceremony:

This ceremony is performed by the maternal relatives of the bride. They join in the late hours before the wedding day. The maternal aunt of the bride carries a decorated copper vessel with lights or “dhiyas”made of wheat flour. 

The aunt carries this vessel after lighting and another woman carries a long stick with bells or “ghungroos.”The ladies in group then visit the nearby relatives in the village and perform their traditional dance “giddha.”

“Gharoli” Ceremony:

This ceremony is observed in the morning of the wedding day by the sister-in –law of the groom and other female relatives. 
They go to Gurdwara or a nearby well to fill water in an earthen pot,“Gharoli.”This water is used to bath the groom on the wedding day. The bride also performs a similar bathing in her house.

“Chura”or the Bangle Ceremony:

This pre wedding ritual is conducted at the bride’s residence. The maternal uncle and aunt give the bridewhite and red bangles which are tied with gold and silver ornaments.

“Milni” or Wedding Ceremony:

On the wedding day the groom’s sisters tie a floral veil or “sehera”to his forehead. The relatives adorn his neck with currency notes. The groom wears a long coat and the male members wear pink turbans. Before leaving to the bride’s house the groom’s sisters-in law apply surmaor “kohl.”

Similarly bridal make up is done in the bride’s house by their sisters and friends. They tie golden metal plates or “kalerian” to her bangles. She wears a lehenga-chunni or salwar-kameez, a hair ornament or “tikka”and a nose ring or “nath.”She also wears other ornaments and gets ready to expect her groom.

The groom accompanied with friends and relatives leaves for the bride’s house on horseback or in car as in many places, the party then arrive at the bride’s house with music and dance. The family members of both bride and groom exchange garlands and gifts.

The procession then go to a Gurudwara or other wedding hall for the wedding ceremony “Anand Karaj.”After serving breakfast for all, the bride and groom sit together to attend the Guru Granth Sahib Kirtan.The men and women sit separately with legs crossed.

The groom’s sister or other female relative drapes a shall or turban cloth around his shoulders and he holds the end with his right hand. The bride’s father or other acting on his behalf holds the other end and gives it to her to hold it by her left hand. The bride and groom circle the Guru Granth Sahib four times. The groom leads the bride with a sword in his hand. The priest of the Gurudwara sings hymns from the Granth and after the fourth round, they are declared as husband and wife. All those assembled there bless the couple and give gifts. The ceremony is ended after a grand feast.

“Jaggo” Ceremony:

This ceremony is performed by the maternal relatives of the bride. They join in the late hours before the wedding day. The maternal aunt of the bride carries a decorated copper vessel with lights or “dhiyas”made of wheat flour. 

The aunt carries this vessel after lighting and another woman carries a long stick with bells or “ghungroos.”The ladies in group then visit the nearby relatives in the village and perform their traditional dance “giddha.”

“Gharoli” Ceremony:

This ceremony is observed in the morning of the wedding day by the sister-in –law of the groom and other female relatives. 
They go to Gurdwara or a nearby well to fill water in an earthen pot,“Gharoli.”This water is used to bath the groom on the wedding day. The bride also performs a similar bathing in her house.

“Chura”or the Bangle Ceremony:

This pre wedding ritual is conducted at the bride’s residence. The maternal uncle and aunt give the bridewhite and red bangles which are tied with gold and silver ornaments.

“Milni” or Wedding Ceremony:

On the wedding day the groom’s sisters tie a floral veil or “sehera”to his forehead. The relatives adorn his neck with currency notes. The groom wears a long coat and the male members wear pink turbans. Before leaving to the bride’s house the groom’s sisters-in law apply surmaor “kohl.”

Similarly bridal make up is done in the bride’s house by their sisters and friends. They tie golden metal plates or “kalerian” to her bangles. She wears a lehenga-chunni or salwar-kameez, a hair ornament or “tikka”and a nose ring or “nath.”She also wears other ornaments and gets ready to expect her groom.

The groom accompanied with friends and relatives leaves for the bride’s house on horseback or in car as in many places, the party then arrive at the bride’s house with music and dance. The family members of both bride and groom exchange garlands and gifts.

The procession then go to a Gurudwara or other wedding hall for the wedding ceremony “Anand Karaj.”After serving breakfast for all, the bride and groom sit together to attend the Guru Granth Sahib Kirtan.The men and women sit separately with legs crossed.