Culture and Languages of the Punjab Region

The word ‘Punjab’ is conflation of two words (punj) and (ab) devoting the meaning of ‘Land of five rivers. It is the second largest province due to its enormous magnitude and massive figure of souls residing in it there breach among its different zones and their culture and literature. Dating from classical to today’s advanced domain Punjabi culture is appraised as one of the historic heritages existing. Punjabi culture typically subsume cuisine, dress, philosophy, melody, art, poetry, traditions, architecture in it. Some of its tradition and culture are as follow.

Peoples’ Beliefs

Culture or heritage is something that is flourish by people and they play notable role in sustaining it. People of Punjab no matter to which part they belong are indulgent and lively. People of Punjab however have strong belief on pir-faqeer and manat-ka-dhaga and other superstitious sort of things which is now to an extent is minimized because people have become somewhat rational and literate. Punjabi people as whole give heartly acclaim to their heritage and norms and live their lives in accordance to these traditions and are famous for their hospitality.

Cuisine

It makes no odd to the zone, cuisine of Punjab is always desi with ghee and tarka on top of curry and served with roti, paratha or rice. Makai ki roti, sarson ka saag, lassi, biryani, jalaibi and a whole lot of spicy and sweet mouthwatering dishes awaits to please tastebuds in Punjab.

Dress

Dress code of north and south Punjab is a bit wavering. In south men wear pagri, dhoti, kameez along khusa and women are dressed in kameez, paranda, dupatta or chaddar conserving tradition. While in north people are more toward casual like men use to wear jeans, shirts, shalwar suits and women are mostly seen to be in churidar pajama along with kameez shalwar or in western dresses.

Melody and Dance

Melody and dance in Punjabi culture is symbol of felicity, spirit and enthusiasm. Luddi, dhamal, bhangra, gidda are dance forms and tabla, dhol, chimta are instruments used in this delightful culture. However, in north Punjab western music and dance are also popular.

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Customs and Rituals

1. Birth rituals include gutti in which some elder person give anything sweet to a new born baby. Another Islamic custom is aqiqa that is performed after 7 days of birth of a child.
2. Wedding rituals: mangni , mayun, shagun, dholki, mehndi, barat, walima are Punjabi wedding traditions which are celebrated with full enjoyment and a lot of happenings.
3. Funeral rituals. At funerals, there is an arrangement of lunch for people who came for consolation. Then namaz-e-janaza is performed. There is no specific dress code but it is observed to wear shalwar kamees and rigorous crying is also seen.

Festivals

Festivals show unity and harmony among people some of them are: basant (kite flying), mela chiraghan, horse and cattle show, lok mela etc.

Languages

Due to its vastness and diversity, large number of languages exists with a minor of change in accent. Every language has its specific uniqueness and importance. Main languages: Punjabi, Urdu, Saraiki. Other than these three languages almost 20 other languages are been spoken in Punjab few of them are as follow: Pothohari, Jhangvi, Hindko, Shahpuri, Majhi etc.

Punjabi is the most spoken language in region of Punjab. It is considered as Indo-Aryan language. Its origin is from Sikh fellows. Guru granth sahib (principle scripture of Sikh) is in Punjabi.it is sort of Perso-Arabic writing system. There were only 30 million speakers of Punjabi in India in early 21st century but it is considered third or fourth largest linguistic group. It has Gurmukhi, Devanagri and Urdu script (commonly known as Shahmukhi). Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs cultivated this language from Persian and Urdu. Baba Farid, Sultan Bahu, Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah, Anwar Masood, Faiz Ahmed Faiz are some famous writers of Punjabi.

Urdu is the second most spoken language in Punjab region and is also official language of Pakistan. It is considered to be originated in Sindh and it is considered to arose in Delhi in 11th and 12th century. It is also believed to be runner of Shourceni Prakrit (spoken in Mathura) or Khariboli. Urdu is thought to be ‘camp language’ due to its emergence from assimilation of three different languages Arabic, Persian and Turkish but is a myth because before Mughal era it was being used and changes occur as though. But no language could be considered as camp due to reason of mixture of languages found in it. Mirza Ghalib, Bano Qudsia, Wasif Ali Wasif, Firak Ghorakpuri are some famous writers of Urdu language.

Saraiki is mostly spoken in southern Punjab. It has Multani Riyasti dialects. It has originated from Indus valley civilization. Aryans and Greeks also used it in there speaking. 8.38% of ethnic group in Pakistan are Saraiki people. Dialects spoken in Sindh has Saraiki in it but now it is also been spoken in region of Multan and most parts of Punjab. Akbar Makhmoor, Anees Jilani, Mureed Hussain Jitoi, Qais Fareedi are some famous writers of Saraiki language.

Conclusion

Punjab is a province of sundry culture and literature which has energetic and booming traditions making it an enthralling heritage. People here are welcoming the new traditions and are also preserving there ancestors culture, customs and traditions.