Punjabi culture

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Punjabi culture grew out of the settlements along the five rivers (the name Punjab, is derived from two

Punjabi music started to develop and alter in the 20th century as it was impacted by Western musical genres including pop, rock, and hip-hop. As a result, a brand-new genre of Punjabi music emerged, fusing contemporary beats and production methods with traditional instruments and melodies. Gurdas Maan was a trailblazer of the new Punjabi music scene, becoming well-known in the 1980s with singles like "Challa" and "Mamla Gadbad Hai." Traditional Punjabi folk tunes were blended with contemporary production methods in Maan's music, while societal themes including drug misuse, poverty, and governmental corruption were frequently touched upon in his lyrics.[5]

Dance

Punjabi dances are performed either by men or by women. The dances range from solo to group dances and also sometimes dances are done along with traditional musical instruments. Bhangra is one of the most famous dances originating in the Punjab by farmers during the harvesting season. It was mainly performed while farmers did agricultural chores. As they did each farming activity they would perform bhangra moves on the spot.^[6] This allowed them to finish their job in a pleasurable way. For many years, farmers performed bhangra to showcase a sense of accomplishment and to welcome the new harvesting season.^[7] Traditional bhangra is performed in a circle^[8] and is performed using traditional dance steps. Traditional bhangra is now also performed on occasions other than during the harvest season.^[9][10] Ghidda is also a famous dance from Punjab. This dance is for women and originates thousands of years ago, it resembles femininity and beauty.^{[citation needed]}

Art

Painting in the Punjab developed during the reign of Iltutmish of the Khilji dynasty, who had patronized it.^[11] A historical reference to this was made in the Tarikh-I-Ferozeshi.^[11] Sikh art, including Sikh painting, is mostly derived from Punjab's art traditions.^[11] B.N. Goswamy argues that painting in the Punjab goes back to the 16th century and became influenced by the Mughal school in the early half of the 18th century.^[12] Punjabi Sikh forays into painting were mostly limited to wall paintings decorating the walls of religious sites up until the early 19th century.^[13] Miniature painting depicting Hindu religious scenes and themes was popular in the Punjab Hills amongst the various Pahari Rajput states.^[13]

Between 1810–1830, the Sikhs began to commission these Pahari artists to paint Sikh subjects and settings, mostly Sikh royalty and nobility.^[13] After Sikhs began to progressively come into more and more contact with Europeans after 1830, the main influence on Punjabi Sikh art shifted from Pahari styles and methods to European ones.^[13] The Punjabi form and localization of Company paintings would be born out of this increased interaction between European and Punjabi artists.^[13] Thus, Pahari-influenced traditional miniature paintings began to be surmounted by European-influenced Company school paintings.^[13] Lahori and Amritsari artists increasingly abandoned using the traditional Indic medium of gouache for watercolour techniques.^[13]

In 1838–39, a British visitor hired local Punjabi artists to produce pictures covering the various kinds of inhabitants of northern India using British-supplied paper and bound into an album.^[13] Images of the Sikh royals and military were documented in these British-patronized local paintings.^[13] Many Europeans were employed by the Lahore Durbar, such as the Frenchman Jean-François Allard, and were sponsors of the local arts.^[13] A few European artists who visited the Sikh court of Lahore and left a deep impact on the local art were: G. T. Vigne (visited in 1837), William G. Osborne (visited in 1838), Emily Eden (visited in 1838 alongside her brother), and August Schoefft (arrived in 1841).^[13] Eden had a large impact, as her published work Portraits of the Princes and People of India (which included lithographic depictions of Sikhs and Punjabis) was a big success and many copies of the work made their way to Punjab where they ended up giving further shape to the emerging Punjabi Company School.^[13] Schoefft spent over a year in Punjab painting various local scenes and subjects.^[13] During the Anglo-Sikh Wars, many of the British officials and soldiers who made their way to Punjab were artists.^[13] An example is Henry Lawrence, who painted local residents of various walks of life.^[13] Many Indian artists who followed the Company school were hired to paint Punjabi subjects and settings.^[13] When the Sikh Empire was annexed in 1849, local Punjabi artists working in the Company style created works based upon stock sets for the purpose of selling them to European tourists in the local bazaars.^[13] These Punjabi paintings geared towards a European audience depicted "Sikh rulers, heroes, occupations, and costumes".^[13]

Wall paintings

Murals (including frescoes) feature prominently in Punjab and showcase various themes.^[14] Punjabi murals differ from Punjabi miniature paintings in that the wall paintings were far more readily accessible and viewable by the general masses rather than being mostly an affair restricted to the privileged classes of the society, as in the case of miniatures.^[14] Since murals could be seen by all walks of society, the things depicted in them were commonly understood subjects that required no specialized knowledge.^[14] Punjabi murals can depict religious or secular settings.^[14]

Religious themes

Religious-themed murals are often found at religious shrines, such as Hindu and Sikh temples.^[14] Scenes from Indic mythology, such as the Mahabharata, are commonly found, an example being the unveiling of Draupadi.^[14]

Religious murals depicting female figuratives were often Shaktist in-nature.^[14] A prevailing theme of the divine (the Shakti) incarnating in feminine form (these unique forms are given various names, such as Kali) to battle with negative forces (that are hostile to the deities and mankind), including demons (such as Mahishasura) and giants (such as Shumbha and Nishumbha), is a commonly witnessed scene of Punjabi murals.^[14] The scenes depicted by this category of wall paintings are seemingly drawn from the Markandeya Purana, which promotes the reverence of Shakti as the divine-mother figure.^[14]

Other scenes found in Punjabi wall paintings seem to stem from the stories of the Bhagavata Purana.^[14] An example of a type of mural scene derived from it is Radha being surrounded by youthful gopis.^[14] Krishna is also commonly depicted alongside gopis in this sort of mural.^[14] Krishna is sometimes shown playing his flute whilst the gopis perform the ras-lila around him or he is shown stealing clothes from the gopis, an episode known as chira-harana.^[14]

Aside from Hindu themes, there are also depictions based upon

Amid the murals based on profane subjects, depictions of scenes from traditional Punjabi folklore are commonplace, such as Heer Ranjha, Mirza Sahiban, Sohni Mahiwal, Sassi Pannu, Laila Majnun, Raja Rasalu, and more.^[14] A lot of the depicted stories are ultimately based upon bardic literature, such as the legends of Shah Behram and Husan Banu.^[14] There are also paintings based upon traditional folk ballads, such as Puran Bhagat.^[14] Additionally, there are paintings of various Nayika themes, including the Ashta-nayika (eight heroines).^[14] There also exists wall paintings based upon the Sat Sai of Bihari.^[14] There are further depictions of various royal figures, such as Rani Jindan.^[14] Many Punjabi wall paintings depict women and girls in the process of a variety of actions, such as feeding parrots, peacocks, or bucks.^[14] Women are also depicted fondling pets or writing love letters in these wall paintings.^[14]

Usually displayed less conspicuously, there were also wall painting depicting sexual or erotic themes.^[14] It was a common practice to decorate the walls of Islamic and Hindu palaces with erotic scenes.^[14] The Sikh royalty and nobality during the reign of the Sikh Empire had their residences embellished with these erotic wall paintings. General Paolo Avitabile had his private residence quarters decorated with figures of scantily clad dancing girls and Indic deities in the act of making love.^[14] At the Rani Mahal of erstwhile Nabha State, there are wall paintings of couples having sex in various positions, settings, and emotions based upon the Koka Shastra treatise.^[14] However, it is important to note that these erotic-based murals were limited mostly to the areas frequented by the upper-classes of the Punjabi society at the time.^[14]

Weddings

Punjabi wedding traditions and ceremonies are traditionally conducted in Punjabi and are a strong reflection of Punjabi culture. While the actual religious marriage ceremony among

The local cuisine of Punjab is heavily influenced by the

Basmati rice is the indigenous variety of Punjab, and various meat- and vegetable-based rice dishes have been developed using it.^[21][22][23]

Language and literature

The earliest writings in Punjabi belong to Nath Yogi era from 9th to 14th century.^[26] They referred to God with various names such as "Alakh Nirajan" which are still prevalent in Punjabi vernacular.^[26]

The Punjabi literary tradition is popularly seen to commence with

Dastar

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