Punjabi Hindus

Ancient period  is the oldest Vedic Sanskrit Hindu text that originated in the northwestern Punjab region. Hinduism is the oldest recorded religion practiced by the Punjabi people. The historical Vedic religion of the Vedic period (1500–500 BCE) constituted the religious ideas and practices in Punjab, and centred primarily in the worship of Indra, the Hindu god of heaven and lightning. The Vedic tribes moved further eastwards in the northern Indus Valley and towards the Ganges-Yamuna doab during the late Vedic Period, and Brahminism developed out of the Vedic origins in the Kurukshetra area. The religion of the Vedic Period is one of the precursors of Hinduism, and the Vedic period ended when the Hindu synthesis developed out of the interaction between Brahminism, Sramanism, and local religions. The bulk of the Rigveda was composed in the Punjab region between circa 1500 and 1200 BCE, while later Vedic scriptures were composed more eastwards, between the Yamuna and Ganges rivers. An ancient Indian law book called the Manusmriti, developed by Brahmin Hindu priests, shaped Punjabi religious life from 200 BCE onward. Medieval period Punjabi Hinduism in the mediaeval period was characterized by Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism. Temples for each tradition had their own sub-set of Brahmins dedicated to them. At Shaivist temples, the Agamas and Puranas were held in esteem. Shaivist ascetics were known as sanyasis or dasnamis, who traditionally had ten internal orders. Wandering Shaivist ascetics founded centres which were known as maths. The rise of Muslim-rule led to the disempowerment of Brahmins and Rajputs from their traditional leading roles within the society. Muslim rulers rarely gave patronage to Hindu institutions in Punjab. Brahmins became tied to the jajmani system and Hindu Rajputs were excluded from rule. Due to the lack of a strong Brahminical and Kshatriya class amongst the Hindus, the Hindu Vaishya became very influential within the community.), especially east of the Ravi River. The role that Brahmins played in society diminished. However, the dilineation between Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs was difficult, due to religious syncretism being widespread. Despite some Punjabis starting to revere the Sikh gurus, the Guru Granth Sahib, and nominally being Sikh, in-actuality many maintained their traditional beliefs and practices that were more Hindu-inflected. Persons who were baptized into the Khalsa (amritdharis) tended to be more Sikh-orientated but the laypersons amongst the Sikhs maintained many Hindu influences. Some of these traditional beliefs and practices that lingered amongst the Sikhs included giving donations to Brahmins on sraadh days, observing karwa fasts, feeding dhianis (maidens), displaying and keeping iconography of Indic deities within households, burning incense, observing Hindu festivals and holidays, respecting sadhus, and venerating ancestors at their tomb (mutti). Modern period British colonial era and companion sitting under a large tree in Lahore, India in 1914, taken by Stéphane PassetWith the oncoming of colonial-rule, British influences first appeared in urban areas but for most Punjabis, remained confined only to land-revenue and legal matters. The sections of Punjabi Hindu society that were most influential during this era were the Khatris (who had assumed Kshatriya status in the absence of Rajputs, a sign of the ambiguousness of the varna system in Punjab) and their associates, the Saraswat Brahmins. founded by a Gujarati Hindu named Dayananda Saraswati in Punjab in 1875. Dayananda had been influenced by the earlier Brahmo Samaj but focused his reform on the promotion of a uniquely Hindu identity distinct from other religions, was motivated by the ancient-ness of the faith, and venerated the Sanskrit language. According to Dayananda, the Aryans of ancient India were bestowed with a divine message in Sanskrit but that Indian society and religion became corrupted over time. One example Dayananda argues for this corruption is his belief that castes (specifically varnas'') were originally based upon "talents, skills, or personality" of an individual, not lineage or other hereditary aspects. Thus, Dayananda envisioned an ancient Hindu past where all Hindus had been united, with this idea later being developed by Hindutva thinkers, such as Savarkar. As per Dayananda, enemies of the Hindus were the Christians and Muslims, and to a lesser extent, Sikhs. Dayananda was fundamentalist in-regards to his belief in Hindu supremacy in India over other religious believers but he was a progressive when it came to women, caste, and child-marriage, preferring a more egaliterian society in those regards. Dayananda enacted a religious conversion ceremony known as Shuddhi that was claimed to purify a non-Hindu individual by returning them to the "religion" of their ancestors (i.e. Hinduism). The Shuddhi ceremony was based upon a Brahmin cleansing ritual after coming into contact with a lower-caste and in-theory it resembled the Christian sacrament of adult baptism. The Arya Samaj practice of Shuddhi conversion brought them into conflict with Sikhs and Muslims in the Punjab who opposed this notion of returning to a hypothetical ancestral religion of one's ancestors. The Arya Samaj was influenced by the British and regional culture. The Arya Samaj eventually became more successful than the Brahmo Samaj in Punjab. Lala Lajpat Rai was pivotal for organizing the Punjabi Hindus as a consolidated community and identity for social-change and protest. Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh launched an anti-colonial movement in Punjab. This split the former British province of Punjab between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The mostly Muslim western part of the province became Pakistan's Punjab province; the mostly Sikh and Hindu eastern part became India's East Punjab state (later divided into the new states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh). Many Hindus and Sikhs lived in the west, and many Muslims lived in the east, and the fears of all such minorities were so great that the Partition saw many people displaced and much intercommunal violence. Some have described the violence in Punjab as a retributive genocide. The newly formed governments had not anticipated, and were completely unequipped for, a two-way migration of such staggering magnitude, and massive violence and slaughter occurred on both sides of the new India-Pakistan border. Estimates of the number of deaths vary, with low estimates at 200,000 and high estimates at 2,000,000. The worst case of violence among all regions is concluded to have taken place in Punjab. These Punjabi Hindu refugees from West Punjab settled in East Punjab, Delhi, or Mumbai. A direct result of the trifurcation of East Punjab into three states made Punjab a Sikh-majority state in India. 21st century Today, Punjabi Hindus make up approximately 38.5% population of present Punjab State of India. A recent push has been for a Hindu Temple Act to address temple mismanagement. == Demographics ==

India in Jalandhar, Punjab, India. In the Indian state of Punjab, Punjabi Hindus make up approximately 38.5% of the state's population; numbering 10.7 million and are a majority in the Doaba region. Punjabi Hindus form a majority in five districts of Punjab, namely, Pathankot, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Fazilka and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts. During the 1947 partition, many Hindus from West Punjab and North-West Frontier Province settled in Delhi. Determined from 1991 and 2015 estimates, Punjabi Hindus form approximately 24 to 35 percent of Delhi's population; based on 2011 official census counts out of a total population of 16.8 million, this amounts to between 4 and 5.9 million people. Much of the community resides in the primarily rural South Punjab districts of Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur where they form 3.12% and 1.12% of the population respectively, while the rest are concentrated in urban centres such as Lahore. In 2006, the last functioning Hindu temple in Lahore, once the cultural capital of Punjabi Hindus, was rumoured to have been destroyed to make way for a multi-story commercial building, but the rumour was false. The Krishna Mandir still functions today in Lahore, along with the Valmiki Mandir. Diaspora Large diaspora communities exist in many countries including in Canada, the Gulf Countries, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. 35% of the Punjabi diaspora in the United Kingdom are Hindus. Many of the Punjabi Hindus in the UK are "twice migrants", who arrived from East Africa. While caste remains amongst the first generation diaspora, it becomes much less relevant by the second generation but was still important in-regards to marriage. The role of caste may decrease further in later generations as the acquired culture becomes more influential than the inherited culture of the diaspora. == Culture and religion ==

painted in the early 19th century on the walls of the Maiyanatha Thakurdwara in Katra Dulo, Amritsar, Punjab with paintings inside As in many other parts of India, Hinduism in Punjab has adapted over time and has become a synthesis of culture and history. As Hindus believe that dharma is universal and evolves with time, many Hindus also value other spiritual paths and religious traditions. They believe that any traditions that are equally able to nurture one's Atman should be accepted and taught. Hinduism itself encourages any being to reach their own self-realization in their own unique way either through Bhagavan or through other means of devotion and meditation. The Punjabi Hindus continue heterogeneous religious practices in spiritual kinship with Sikhism. This not only includes veneration of the Sikh gurus in private practice but also visits to Sikh gurdwaras in addition to Hindu temples. According to Anjali Gera Roy, The Hindu Punjabis of Western Punjab settled away from their ancestral homeland during 1947 partition, speak a hybrid language based on Punjabi and Hindi (or Hindi with Punjabi accent). Udasis Udasi is a religious sect of ascetic sadhus centered in Punjab Region. The Udasis were key interpreters of the Sikh philosophy and the custodians of important Sikh shrines until the Akali movement. They brought many converts into the Sikh fold during the 18th and the early 19th centuries. However, their religious practices border on a syncretism of Sikhism and Hinduism. When the Singh Sabha, dominated by Tat Khalsa Sikhs, redefined the Sikh identity in the early 20th century, the Udasi mahants were expelled from the Sikh shrines. Since then, the Udasis have increasingly regarded themselves as Hindus rather than Sikhs. Nanakpanthis Numerous Punjabi Hindus are Nanakpanthi, who revere Guru Nanak alongside their Hindu deities but without following the other gurus, and nor identify as Sikhs in terms of religious affiliation; at the time of the 1891 census of British Punjab, it has been estimated that, out of the 1,8 million Sikhs around 579,000 were Hindu Nanakpanthis, but in later classifications the definitions of "Hindu" and "Sikh" would be more precise and the Hindu Nanakpanthis would stop being counted as "Sikhs". Arya Samaj The Arya Samaj was a Hindu reformist organization founded in the 1870s by Dayananda Saraswati, and while he was from Gujarat, the movement had a lot of influence among Punjabi Hindus, especially the Khatris and Aroras, the Arya Samajis being social reformers who aimed to promote monotheism and were against what they called "supersititions" such as idolatry, wanted to raise the literacy rates (especially for women) and were fighting caste discrimination. == Temples ==

Punjabi Hindu temples historically had various names depending on the associated denomination, such as Shivala (Shaivist temple, also known as a Shivdwara), Devidwara (Shaktist temple), or Thakurdwara (Vaishnavist temple). Thakurdwara complexes often had a samadh (samadhi) mausoleum dedicated to the founder of the temple and a dharamsala (building for accommodating pilgrims and ascetics, such as bairagis). The main room or area of a temple will house the deity in the form of a murti, with this space being known as garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum), which is the "heart" or inner-most point of the temple. Also, there is a passageway that allows for circuambulation of the garbha griha space, which is a requirement after prayers are given. Architecturally, there is usually a dome or spire structure built over the garbha griha. Another feature is a small passageway called the antrala (vestibule), which connects the garbha griha and mandapa (pillard hall) spaces together. The mandapa is a pavilion that allows the devotees to congregate. Temples are built on a raised, staired platform with one entryway, with the entrance-porch being called a ardh-mandapa. == Literature ==

, cover-artwork for the Daily Pratap's special edition on Krishna (29 August 1929) During the colonial-era, the Punjab's administrative language was Urdu. Urdu was not challenged by Hindi and Devanagari proponents in Punjab like it was in the United Provinces and Bihar, thus Hindu Punjabis readily utilized the Urdu language in their literature. Some Punjabi periodicals in Lahore popular with Hindus were the Milap, Pratap, and Bande Matram. The Hindu newspapers published Urdu poetry that drew upon both Perso-Islamic and Indic literary influences, consisting of local and Persianized metaphors. The subject of poems were often religious martyrs, festivals, or natural landscapes. Meanwhile, periodicals in the city that were more popular with Muslim inhabitants were the Zamindar and Inqilab. After the partition of Punjab in 1947, the Milap periodical continues to be published in Indian Punjab. == See also ==