Origins of Bhangra culture from "East of Indus" by Gurnam Singh Sidhu Brard (the author was born in 1930, Patiala state). This is how Bhangra made its way into Panjabi culture. 

8 hours ago, proudkaur21 said:

Sikhs had such beautiful names  Baghel singh, Zorawer singh, Fateh Singh when did this manpreet harpreet came into being? It just shows cultural decadence.

I have noticed these names are coming back into trend.

And names like Fateh and Ekam are very common too. 

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/no-education-rarely-stepped-out-of-house-afghan-sikh-woman-recounts-life-under-taliban-rule/article65737936.ece

No education, rarely stepped out of house: Afghan Sikh woman recounts life under Taliban rule

“We used to think 10 times before stepping out of our houses.”

Manpreet Kaur, a mother of two, rarely stepped out of her house following the swift Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last year and her children barely had any idea of the world outside.

Their grim existence of nearly a year changed on August 3, when they arrived in India as part of a group of 28 Afghan Sikhs who were flown in from Kabul with the help of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Indian World Forum and the Central government.

Recounting the hardships of living under Taliban rule, Ms. Kaur said, "Being a minority, there was a constant fear of being targeted. The Sikh and Hindu families in Kabul have been spending sleepless nights. The places of worship are not safe. The Gurdwara Karta-E-Parwan was attacked by terrorists on June 18." "We used to think 10 times before stepping out of our houses. For our children, going out was out of the question. If we had to step out, we covered our faces," she said.

She claimed most of the minorities in Afghanistan have no access to education as sending children to schools means "risking their lives".

"If a child goes to an educational institute, there they will be harassed. Mostly those who want to study, come to India," Ms. Kaur said.

Taranjit Singh, another Afghan Sikh who arrived in India on August 3, has a three-year-old child suffering from a heart ailment. He said that due to minimum access to hospitals his child could not get proper treatment in Kabul.

"We are hoping to get him treated here in India," Mr. Singh told PTI.

Activist Kavita Krishnan, who has been involved in the evacuation of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus to India, said the Centre should have a policy of offering citizenship to such refugees in India and providing them work.

“Our country is more than capable of just offering citizenship to these refugees. Not just the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus but all refugees should be offered this help by the government.”

"The Centre doesn't arrange facilities for refugees. Even when they were compelled to do so, for the Tamil refugees, their camps were extremely ill-equipped. If the Centre treated the refugees with respect and compassion, they could easily provide work for them," Ms. Krishnan told PTI.

She alleged that refugees are only "talking points" and "propaganda" for the Centre.

"The Centre should understand that the refugees, with whatever work they do here, are contributing to the GDP of this country," Ms. Krishnan said.

22 hours ago, dharamyudh said:

I knew Babaji was a Majhail from his dastar and bolie . Looked like an OG you wouldn’t want to mess with. 

He also seemed strong from his voice in the interview despite being close to 100. People like him are rare to find these days. 

On 7/29/2022 at 5:16 AM, dallysingh101 said:

Things seem to change quickly too. Chunjurs (ankle bells) used to be common only a few decades ago. Do we see them much anymore?  

Yes, things change quicker in contemporary times although in the past jewellery and clothing was more consistent for a few centuries before any drastic changes. 

Jhanjar is still popular but not for every day wear as it was before. Some still consider it customary to have silver Jhanjar made for young girls. However, the style of anklets has changed in Panjab. Contemporary styles are usually light with fewer attached ornaments. 

Prior to the 1970s, there were far more elaborate types (e.g. Kada, Jhanjar, Panjeb, Patri'an) and they were worn regularly. 

On 2/26/2017 at 4:46 AM, jkvlondon said:

c'mon the top picture the guy has ankle bracelets on ! This is a misappropriated picture...

Some men wore 1 or 2 anklets in the greater Panjab region and subcontinent, but this entirely depended on their tribe/area. This type of anklet is called 'kada' and worn on the hands too and ones around the neck are called 'hasli/has'. These were all worn by women too. Although, wearing earrings was much more common than anklets by men in Panjab. 

The earrings depicted in Sikh art are called "Bala" sometimes they had a few pearls strung on.  

This news is a bit old but I'm quite happy to see this since there are no Sikh schools in Australia (unlike 20 Jewish, 39 Islamic and 1700 Christian schools). I really hope the school has compulsory Sikh religious classes and Panjabi language studies for everyone (like Arabic language studies/Qur'an classes are compulsory in Muslim schools and religion in Catholic schools). 

Sydney to house Southern Hemisphere's first Sikh Grammar School

The Sikh Grammar School in Rouse Hill will open its doors to students of all faiths in 2023. In line with schools of other faiths, this school will enrol students up to Year 12 and teach them the tenets of Sikhism along with the state's school curriculum.

Sprawled over nine acres in Rouse Hill in Sydney's Hills District, Sikh Grammar School will house an early learning centre, hostel accommodation for staff and students, extensive indoor and outdoor sporting facilities, as well as a library and a gurdwara (Sikh temple).

The nine-phase project will now commence work after it received construction approval from the New South Wales Government.

Highlights:

• Australia's first Sikh school to commence construction after government approval
• It'll be built in Rouse Hill and cater for Western Sydney’s growing Sikh community
• The school will provide state-of-the-art learning environments for over 1,200 students from kindergarten to Year 12

Mr Chadha said this project began 12 years ago and has seen numerous challenges to reach its current stage.

“It is a gigantic task… something that is very unique and comprehensive. We have plenty of volunteers to serve the cause but managing finances remains a challenge,” added Mr Chadha.

“We hope to raise funds through our borrowing capacity and community initiatives,” he said, adding that he is disappointed the government provided no financial support for such an “important project that focuses to generate future leaders through education and training”.

“There was no help from the government. Rather, we had to spend half-a-million dollars in government fees for the approval process. They did not waive it off considering it is a community-based initiative,” he rued...

https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/sydney-to-house-southern-hemisphere-s-first-sikh-grammar-school

On 7/26/2022 at 8:31 AM, proudkaur21 said:

what is surprising is that despite repeated warnings of Punjab becoming a desert, majority of the people dont care.  I guess this is what a dead conscience is.

People are slowly becoming aware but look at this documentary on water crisis, it barely has any views compared to songs which recieve millions within a day. Shows Panjab's priorities. 

The groundwater in Abohar region of Fazilka district has always been brackish, with high fluoride content. It is unfit for farming and drinking. People of the region are heavily dependent on water from Rajasthan feeder canal that originates from Harike confluence of Satluj- Beas rivers. Due to water pollution of Buddha Naala and hence Satluj and canal waters, the people of villages around Abohar are suffering damages to their crops, and there is a rise in the number of cancer patients. In Dharang wala itself, there are around 40 disabled children.

Water Crisis in Abohar: A Documentary on Social Cost of Toxic Waters

July 27, 2022 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau

Punjab is facing multidimensional water crisis. South West Malwa region of Punjab is facing acute crisis of clean potable water. Ground water in this region is saline and not fit for use.

The region was largely dependent on canal water for drinking, irrigation and household use. But now canal water is contaminated with harmful industrial chemical and cities’ sewerage.

This documentary by Trolley Times shows on plight of people of Abohar.

2024: BJP seeks foothold in Malwa through Bathinda

There's been attacks near the Afghanistan Gurdwara again. This was just after the Taliban urged minorities to return as Afghanistan's security situation is fine.  

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/toi-original/another-bomb-explodes-near-karte-parwan-gurudwara-in-kabul/videoshow/93170014.cms

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9 minutes ago, dallysingh101 said:

I don't like that whole look myself. We've had serious conflicts over it in my ends. Put simply, I can't think of anything that looks more gay than some brightly and garishly dressed 'men', wearing long skirts, prancing about in a coordinated fashion on a stage, waggling their heads and grinning like twats.

Looks like some hardcore, homosexual, mating ritual to me. And it makes Sikh males look strange. 

And this peasant horseshyte disguised as some sort of 'culture' played a major part in creating an environment that led to thousands of Sikh girls being groomed and abused, as well as openly promoting alcoholism and all manner of gundghee. Not to mention the general low brow nature of it all. 

I can't stand anything about it, past or present. Seeing it, makes me want to vomit. If I had my way, I'd execute anyone dressed in that way just as a precautionary measure.   It disgusts me in a way I couldn't really articulate in words. It sort of perfectly captures our current, underdeveloped, backwards state, and feels like a slap in our face. 

Rant over. 

I get what you're trying to convey. I don't like the bright, heavily decorated look of Chaddra that Bhangra people wear, it looks terrible. I don't support Bhangra, gigs or alcoholism at all and don't consider it "culture". 

I like the look if its worn as an actual every day garment, rather than a decorated silly over the top costume. And they weren't brightly coloured back in the days. They were usually all plain white or neutral/beige coloured as fabric was kept natural (like the tint of natural hand spun Khaddar) 

10 hours ago, dallysingh101 said:

How do you know this? 

I think that must have only started when covertly antiSikh juts started infiltrating the quom. All early images and early narratives of Khalsa Sikhs explicitly mention kasheras as the definitive Sikh dress. I think the chaddar is antiSIkh myself. You can sense a lingering aversion to these other dhoti/janghia things even in the later gazetteer accounts you've posted.  

The pictures of juts I posted earlier (which predate the gazetteer accounts you posted) show how jut men dressed going about their everyday business, at least when the weather wasn't cold.  The Bhai Bir Singh image is very significant, because attending the langar would have been an event, but as as we can see, the jut bloke who has turned up with his family is wearing what juts normally would everyday (in hot weather).  

I've seen a few more images exactly like this but can't find them now. It seems to be enough of a normalised look in teh past that independent painters presented it in independently created art. 

Waheguru knows how it came to this?

 

 

 

 

I've seen old men of all communities wear Chaddra, including many Tarkhans in the village (and it was not a Jat majority village). Whatever applies to Jats, generally applies to every rural community including Tarkhans from books I've read and personally seen. Some Sikh Tarkhans also owned land and wore the same dress in Ferozepur district. 

Chaddra may look "anti-Sikh" now, but it was worn by Amritdharis of the past since it was the only main dress of men at the time. Just because Bhangra-dancers wear it in an embarrassing way doesn't mean it was like that. Any stitched garment like "Pajama" was only worn by people of high social rank or in the army.That bloke might not be Jat, he could be a camel-herder, they wore the same. 

12 minutes ago, dallysingh101 said:

So basically, Amritdharis previously had an aversion to wearing long skirts not long ago, but today......

Thanks a lot jut culture....

 

 

 

Well most Amritdharis in the past did wear a Chaddra (what you call "long skirt") since it was the main dress of males. No one in Panjab wore a Pajama/stitched trousers until the 20th century, even then it didn't gain popularity until 1940s onwards. However, the difference was Amritdharis wore a Kachera under a Chaddra. Many old Amritdharis in villages still wear a Kurta-Chaddra. 

Chaddra/Majhla/Tamba are main garments. Women in Pakistan Panjab's Jhang tract also wore these, sometimes its wrapped differently known as "dhudder". 

Jhangiya, Langot and Kacchera can be considered undergarments, worn under the above. People who engaged in physical-work or wrestlers sometimes took off the above and just wore these on thier own. A Kacherra provided more covering than Jhangiya/Langot which is why it was preferred by Sikhs and a requirement for Amritdharis. 

Dhoti was worn by Hindu men which is shorter than Chaddra/Majhla/Tamba and tied differently. 

10 hours ago, dallysingh101 said:

This is (at least based) upon one of the most earliest image of Singhs:

Sikh school girls 

1875. Amritsar. Girls enrolled in a school run by the Church Missionary School. 

24 minutes ago, dallysingh101 said:

This one is urban (Amtritsar) not rural: 

I've seen this. This shows a lot of communities living in urban Amritsar, including Kashmiri muslims  and Hindus.  
 

2 minutes ago, dallysingh101 said:

I knew it!!! lol

It was worn by other communities too, I believe the cattle-grazers were mainly Muslims. But in general, the Hindu men of Panjab wore shorter Dhoti's compared to Chaddra/Majhla worn by Sikh and Muslims outside of physical work.  

42 minutes ago, dallysingh101 said:

What's those pitchforks called in Panjabi? 

 

Tangli