INTRODUCTION to

Cities of Punjab

1 GEOGRAPHY

Punjab is an Indo-Iranian word meaning “The land of five rivers”. It is one of 's 36 states, situated in the northwest, occupying 1.54% of the country’s total geographical area. It is bordered by Pakistan to the west, Jammu and Kashmir to the north, to the northeast and to the south. Prior to the Partition of India, Punjab extended across both sides of what is now the India-Pakistan border, and its former capital Lahore is now the capital of the Punjab state in Pakistan.

CAPITAL

Chandigarh, designed by the famous Swiss architect Le Corbusier is the capital of both the states of Punjab and Haryana. It is administered as a Union Territory from . Special features in include the Secretariat, High Court, State Library, Assembly Chambers, University, Botanical Garden and a beautiful man-made lake, Sukhna. Asia's largest rose garden, Zakir Gulab Bagh, spreads out over 30 acres of land, and includes 50,000 rose-trees of different species.

CLIMATE

Temperature varies between 10 to 35 degrees Celsius. There are three well defined seasons in the Punjab. These are:

1. Hot Season (mid-April to the end of June) 2. Monsoon Season (early July to the end of September) 3. Cold Season (early December to the end of February)

The Rock Garden in Chandigarh POPULATION consists of unique collection of figurines made from used ceramic material. Total population of Punjab State is 24.29 million. Photograph courtesy of Julian Benjamin

HISTORY

Punjab represents Indian culture dating back to 7000 B.C, when one of the earliest human civilizations, known as the Indus Valley Civilization was known to have existed in the Punjab region. Over the centuries Punjab has seen invasions by numerous foreigners including the Persians, Alexander the Great, a few prominent Chinese tribes, the Mughals and finally the British. With each invasion and subsequent change of rulers Punjab absorbed a lot of the culture and traditions of the invaders, eventually creating the wonderful amalgamation of present day Punjab. Besides being one of the leading grain producers in the country, Punjab also has significant hosiery, textile, and thermal power related industries.

2 RELIGION

Sikhism, the prevalent religion was founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak Sahib. It was propagated further by the other nine gurus who were regarded as reincarnations of Guru Nanak ji. Eventually, the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind ji modified the Sikhs to a community and formed the Khalsa. All Sikhs who take Amrit (the holy nectar) have to abstain from alcohol, tobacco and other intoxicants and also adhere to the 5 Ks’ (norms) of donning a Kach (underwear), Kara (metal band), Kirpan (small sword), Kanghi (comb) and Kes (uncut hair).

3 LANGUAGES

Punjabi and Hindi. Many people are fluent in English and Urdu.

The Golden Temple at is the most sacred temple of the Sikhs.

CUSTOMS

Punjabis observe many holidays related to all the prevalent religions present in the country and many dancing and music festivals are held throughout the year. is celebrated to commemorate the creation of the Khasla. Guru Purav for Guru Nanak’s birthday. Lohri is to welcome the spring. In addition, both young and old enjoy sports, namely soccer “football”, cricket, and tennis nationwide.

One of the prevailing attractions in Punjab is the colorful and diversified attire of its people: the silk saris, brightly mirrored cholis, colorful lehangas and the traditional -kameez.

Despite cultural progress, arranged marriages are still common in Punjab; and even though it is illegal, giving dowry to the groom is still very common.

4 THE

Punjabi is the language of the natives of Punjab and Pakistan province of Punjab. It evolved during the period of religious revival in the 15th and 16th century, by Guru Nanak. It is written in the Script, which literally means ‘from the mouth of the Guru’, referring to its use in the ‘Guru Granth Sahib’, the holy scripture of the Sikhs.

Gurmukhi character is followed by its Roman transliteration with each consonant to end in ‘a’, in the absence of any other vowel sign, consonant is followed by an inherent ‘a’ sound (like ‘a’ in majority), unless it occurs at the end of each word, when it is not pronounced or is otherwise silenced. Aspirated consonants are produced with an audible expulsion of breath, non-aspirated consonants with minimal breath. Punjabi for example distinguishes unaspirated ka and ta from kha and tha. Then there are the dental and retroflex consonants. In dental the tongue touches the upper front teeth, whereas with the retroflex the tip of the tongue is curled upwards against the palate. Nasal sound in this text is shown as ‘n*’.

VOWELS

XVowels may take on a long form (top row) or a short form (bottom row); this eliminates the need to write out the complete letter. Punjabi has three vowel symbols.

X oora a aira ^ iri

These are used only in the beginning of a word or as second member of compound vowel. Names are given for the short form.

a a; i^ ^I X C ^ e ^w ao a* a ã i Ï u ü e ai o au ; i I u U e w o *

Kanna sihari bihari aunkar dulainkre la dulawa hora kanaura

5 CONSONANTS

For easier identification, use the first two alphabets of the Romanized form.

O a ^ s h oora aira iri sasa haha

k % g / { kaka khakha gaga kagha nana*

c z j Z } chacha chhacha jaja cajha nana*

$ # @ ! , tainka thaththa dada tadha nana*

t q d / n tata thaththa dada tadha nana

p f b . m pappa phaphpha baba pabha mama

y r l v x yaya rara lalla vava rara

S sha

6 CONSONANTS PROUNUNCIATION WITH EXAMPLES

O oo as in ugh C#| Utha (camel) a ai as in un a|b Amb (mango) ^ i as in ill i^j|, Engine (engine) s sa as in suit skUl School (school) h ha as in hat hq| Hath (hand) k ka as in car kbUtr Kabootar (pigeon) % kha as in kit %rgoS khargosh (rabbit) g ga as in go gml; gamla (vase) / gha as in dog /xI ghadi (watch) @∑ na* as in ink nasal sound c che as in cheese cmc; chemacha (spoon) z cha as in church z|trI chataree (umbrella) j ja as in jean jg| jag (pitcher) Z jha as in jar Z@\; jhanda (flag) } na* nasal sound $ ta as in talk $okrI tokari(basket) # tha as in tum #el; thela(cart) @ da as in drum @mrU dumroo (drum) ! Doha as in dong !olkI dholaki(rounddrum) , na nasal sound t ta (no English equivalent ) t*t; tota(parrot) q tha as in thank qrmos tharmas (thermos) d da as ‘d ‘ in breadth dv;t dawat (ink ) ` dha (no English equivalent ) `obI dhobi (washer man) n na as in nose nlk; nalka (tap) p pa as in pin prd; parda(curtain) f pha as in found f|l phal (fruit) b ba as in bin bgIc; bagicha (garden) . bha as in bun .;lU bhaloo (bear) m ma as in mother m; ma(mother) y ya as in you yu`| yudh(war) r ra as in role rq| rath (chariot) l la as in love lxkI ladki (girl) v va as in when vel,; velena* (year) x rara (no English equivalent)

7 S sha same as shudder Slgm shalagam (turnip)

O C# Utha (camel) a a|b Amb (mango) ^ i^j|, Engine (engine) s skUl School (school) h h`| Hath (hand) k kbUtr Kabootar (pigeon) % %rgoS khargosh (rabbit) g gml; gamla (vase) / /xI ghadi (watch) @∑ nasal sound c cmc; chemacha (spoon) z ztrI chataree (umbrella) j jg jag (pitcher) Z Z@\; jhanda (flag) } nasal sound $ $okrI Tokari (basket) # #el; thela(cart) @ @mrU dumroo (drum) ! !olkI Dholaki (rounddrum) , nasal sound t t*t; Tota (parrot) q qrms tharmas (thermos) d dv;t dawat (ink ) ` `obI dhobi (washer man) n nlk; nalka (tap) p prd; Parda (curtain) f f|l phal (fruit) b bgIc; bagicha (garden) . .;lU bhaloo (bear) m m; ma (mother) y yu`| yudh (war) r rq| rath (chariot) l lxkI ladki (girl) v vel,; velena* (year)

8 x Not used S Slgm shalagam (turnip)

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