View of Flesh Regularly and Most Mercilessly
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INTACH JALANDHAR CHAPTER Jang-e-Azadi Q2 2019 Memorial Volume 1 Issue 2 Quarterly newsletter of INTACH, Jalandhar Chapter Jang-e-Azadi Memorial -Kartarpur, Jalandhar The concept of the Jang-e-Azadi memorial and museum is based on a circular enclosure which houses the focal centre of the memorial and integrates it with a harmonious ensemble of galleries amplifying the struggle and sacrifice for freedom around a ceremonial path. Jang-e- Azadi Memorial is a memorial and museum built in Kartarpur (town near the city of Jalandhar) of Punjab, India, in memory of contribution and sacrifices made by the Punjabi community in Indian independence movement. The memorial is built over an area of 25 acres at the cost of Rs 200 crore. A place worth visiting. Bloodbath on Baisakhi, Jallianwalabagh INTACH Jalandhar Chapter Page | 2 The Cultural History of Punjab can be EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CULTURE : divided into the following ‘Eras’ or stages of development:- PUNJAB’s CONTRIBUTION (a) The Age of Indus valley civilization. -byDr. S. K. Mehra,Historian (b) The Vedic Age. The (c) The Period of Early Invasions. e scattered on Punjab, Sindh and Gujarat, (d) The Emergence of Islam in Punjab. peaked around 2500-2000 BCE. As it must have take terms ‘Civilization’ and ‘Culture’, - upto Babar’s Invasion. though often used synonymously, are the two faces of the same coin, namely the human (e) The Foundation and Growth of society. In Civilization, which covers a wide Sikhism range of human development, men employ their mental faculties to live and adjust with -upto Maharaja Ranjit Singh. the environment, in which they live in. The (f) The advent of the British rule and manner in which the basic needs of the society, namely food, clothing and housing, its impact on Punjab. are fulfilled and the level of organisation of society and government are achieved, at a (g) The ‘Tragedy of Partition’ and the specific place or time, is called civilization. Post- Partition Era. On the other hand ‘Culture’ deals largely It must be recognized at the with the manner in which a group of people outset that the political boundaries of employ their intellect – ‘mind and spirit’ to Punjab have always been changing. uplift the life of their society. Education and However, the core area, i.e. the lands advancement of scientific knowledge, religious and religious practices, literature, music, through which flow the ‘PANCH – NDA’, or dances, festivals and various rites and rituals, ‘PANJ- AAB’ has remained unaltered, till legal system etc, all constitute ‘Culture’. the Partition of India in 1947, that changed The evolution and growth of ‘Civilization’ the entire scenario. Yet, the appellation and ‘Culture’ is a continuous process. It is ‘Punjab’ which came into prevalence in the always in a state of flux, like the flow of a 16th century, continuous to be in vogue, on perennial river, where the new and the old is either side of the border. not identifiable. However, slowly and imperceptibly changes occur, which Punjab can claim, without fear of over a period of time become contradiction, that it has been the cradle of harbingers of a new age or era. Indian Civilization and culture. Bonded by INTACH Jalandhar Chapter Page | 3 the mighty Himalayas, in the north and Valley people did not know much about north East and the Hindukush Mountain to iron and they had neither domesticated the the west, the ‘Satposhindhu’ or the land of horse about its use as a mode of transport. seven rivers, namely Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Further, the Aryan civilization was Ravi, Beas, Sutlej and the mythical basically rural and migratory in nature Saraswati, gave birth to one of the oldest whereas the Indus Valley people were used civilizations of the world. i.e. The Indus to a much more sophisticated and well Valley Civilization. This civilization, whose developed urban lifestyle. Lastly, the Aryans remains b n considerable time to reach its used Sanskrit for conversation the Indus pinnacle, requiring a high level of socio- Valley people employed hieroglyphic for economic development and a form of communication. governance to sustain it, the beginnings of the Indus Valley Civilization can safely be The Aryan Civilization and culture has estimated to 5000 BCE. been divided into two distinct periods. The first, when the Aryans were largely confined Unfortunately, the true extent of the to Punjab, is called the Rig-Vedic era and Indus Valley Civilization, the people who the second, when the Aryans gradually built it and the causes of its destruction are spread out into the Gangetic plains is all a matter of conjecture. Till date, the termed as the Later Vedic Age. script found on the ‘seals’ has not been deciphered. However, no civilization or When the Aryans arrived in Punjab – culture can be totally erased and its vestiges the ‘PANCH NAD’ area, the Indus Valley do get embedded in the civilization that civilization was perhaps on the decline. The supplants it. Through a process of Aryans with their superior knowledge of absorption, adjustment and assimilation the metallurgy and a better mode of transport, preceding civilization which are not difficult namely the horse ;were successful in to trace. Punjab, thus became the epicenter displacing the Indus Valley people and in of the next civilization, namely the Aryan establishing their own settlements. It was Civilization. also during this period that the first Veda, the ‘Rig Veda’ was compiled by collective Without getting involved in the memory (SHRUTI). The Rig Veda, apart from controversy whether the Aryans were religious significance also provides us with a indigenous people or had migrated from glimpse of the contemporary Aryan Society their ‘Original’ home, it is worthwhile to and its culture. mention that evolution is always progressive and never regressive. The Indus INTACH Jalandhar Chapter Page | 4 The Rig-Vedic Aryan Society was the heaven. Ancestor worship was also primarily rural. A number of families, mostly practiced. belonging to the same tribe established a The basic unit of administration was settlement, which was called a ‘GRAM’ or a the village. The villages were also self- village. Decedents from a common ancestor sustaining, economically with barter being lived together in a joint family with the the mode of exchange of goods and senior most male member beingthe head of services. this family. Women in the family had equal rights and were free to get education, The Rig-Vedic Aryans always had a singular knowledge to participate in war and problem to face with. It was that of the freedom to choose their husband. remnants of the previous civilization. On being deprived of their habitat and on being The Society was divided, on the basis addressed to most deprecatingly, as ASURS, of their vocations, into four ‘VARNAS’, DAITYA, RAKSHAS (Various names for the namely Brahmin, Khatriya, Vaishya and Demeans), on account of their dark colour Shudra. Similarly, the life span of a man, and differences in religious practices they being estimated as hundred years was continued to indulge in incessant warfare divided into four stages or ‘ASHRAMAS’ (often referred to as ‘DEVASUR namely Brahmcharya (Celibacy), Grahastha SANGRMA’)with the Aryans. (family life), Van-prastha (Preparatory of Sanyas) and Sanyas (Remunication). Each On the foundations laid by the Rig member of the Societies again had four Vedic Aryans the grand edifice of the Later- objectives in his life namely DHARMA (To Vedic civilization and culture was raised. live religiously), ARTHA (To earn a living), During this period the Aryans spread out KAAM (To procreate) and MOKSHA (To seek into the Ganga Basin. They also produced salvation). such a vast amount of literature that we have no difficulty in describing the extent to In the Rig-Vedic period the Aryans which the Aryan Society was transformed. worshipped primarily the five elements of The principal works were the three Vedas, nature, namely, AGNI (Fire), PRITHVI(Earth), namely, Sam Veda, Yajur Veda and the VAYU (Air), JAL (Water) and AAKASH (Sky). AtharvaVed; Vedangs, Upanishads; Smrities; Their mode of worship was to make Puranas and the two Epics Ramayana and offerings to the Gods Governing these Mahabharata. elements through the YAGNA. On the highest pedestal was ‘INDRA’ who ruled However, it was in matters concerning religion that the Aryan Society INTACH Jalandhar Chapter Page | 5 underwent a total metamorphosis. The first in Punjab before making efforts to Gods and Goddesses, whom they had expand into the hinterland. worshipped earlier, were gradually eclipsed Unfortunately, for this period of early and replaced by entirely new objects of invasions which lasted approximately a worship. To a great extent it was the thousand years (326 BCE to 712 AD), not outcome of the twin stages of relationship much reliable sources of study are namely ‘contact’ and ‘conflict’, with the available. Our knowledge, based on votaries of the religious;prevalent prior to secondary sources, is scanty. Moreover, the Aryans arrival and prevalent prior to the almost all invading tribes were absorbed in Aryans arrival and settlement in the Punjab. the Indian Society and thus their individual The Vedic religion continued to flourish till identities were lost for ever. However, it the 6th Century B.C., when its Supremacy can safely be assumed that every tribe and was challenged by two schools of thought community, keeping in with the Indian which eventually ushered in a new era in tradition, enriched the Indian Society and India’s Cultural History. culture with their individual contribution. The most enduring and the most conspicuous being as under : (C). THE PERIOD OF EARLY INVASIONS (a) The Indian act and architecture were the biggest gainers. The ‘GANDHAR SCHOOL’ lay the foundations of Indian Punjab, apart from being the cradle sculpture, in which the head of the Buddha of Indian civilization and culture, has also was most meticulously sculpted.