Food: Food Imagine a table of steel plates and saucers full of rich spicy dishes – vegetables and meats and yogurts and breads. Punjabi main dishes use rich masalas , or spices, cooked with ghee , or butter. Punjabis cook vegetables, meat and lentils in the spices and serve them with rice or a flatbread called roti , similar to tortillas. To help ease the spices, they serve a side dish of yogurt or a glass of buttermilk. Punjabis usually drink hot milky chai , or tea, with every meal.

Clothing: Clothing Punjabi Girls. Punjabi girls traditionally wear salwar kameez with bright colored chunnis . The salwar kameez has two pieces: the kameez , or long shirt, and salwar , or pants. A chunni is a long colorful cloth that women wear around their necks. Some clothes are simple and made out of cotton, and some are elaborate made out of silk. Though some women wear turbans, most use a long thin scarf to cover their heads.

Clothing: Clothing Punjabi Boys. Punjabi men and boys wear loose pants or slacks with a collared shirt or t-shirt. Some also wear a kurta pajama , a shirt and pant outfit which is very popular amongst Punjabi farmers. On their heads, many Sikh men wear turbans, called pagris . Sikh boys wear a patka , or a small cloth that wraps around their head, and then choose to wear the turban when they get older.

Music and Dance: Music and Dance Bhangra is a lively form of music and dance that originated in Punjab. As many Bhangra lyrics reflect the long and often tumultuous history of Punjab, knowledge of Punjabi history offers important insights into the meaning of the music. While Bhangra began as a part of harvest festival celebrations, it eventually became a part of such diverse occasions as weddings and New Year celebrations. Moreover, during the last thirty years, Bhangra has enjoyed a surge in popularity worldwide, both in traditional form and as a fusion with genres such as hip-hop and reggae.

DRESSES OF PUNJAB Costumes of Punjab are indicative of the bright and vibrant culture and lifestyle of the people. The costumes are a mix of colour, comfort and beauty. It may be noted here that the state of Punjab is well known for the use of phulkari in its costumes. Other commonnly worn clothes by people in Punjab are pagri, dhoti, lacha, kurta, khusa, gharara, paranda, choli and shalwar kameez. PUNJABI

CUSINES One of the main features of Punjabi cuisine is its diverse range of dishes. There are certain dishes which are exclusive to Punjab, such as Makay di roti and Saron Da Saag. The main spices in a Punjabi dish consists of onion, garlic and ginger. Typical Punjabi foods include Lahori Pulao, Chicken Karahi, Kaju Aloo, Sarso Ka Saag, Archari Bhindi, Aloo Ghost, Paya, Gol Gappay, Special Punjabi Salad, Murgh Channa, Khusra kabab, Tilmilli Tali Machli, Lassi, Jalebi, Habshi Halwa, Rasgoole, Gajrela, Sohan Halwa, Kulfi, Lauqi ka halwa, Pherni, Kheer, Moti Chur ke Ladoo and many more. Wheat is the staple food of Punjabis; however, they do enjoy eating rice on festivities and other special occasions. The philosophy of life for most of the Punjabis is to eat, drink and make merry.

 ART The crafts in the Punjab are of two types: the crafts produced in the rural areas and the royal crafts that flourished in the urban centre particularly in Lahore. The former include cotton textiles, basketry, embroidery etc. while the latter are tile and woodwork skills, ivory, silver and gold work, naqqashi and architectural crafts. Lahore is the centre of hand-made carpets. The hand-woven cotton cloth like khaddar of Kamalia, are popular. The cloth woven on handlooms is either block printed or beautifully embroidered. Multan is famous for beautiful hand-woven bed covers. CRAFTS Crafts of Punjab include: women woven Pidhis (low, four legged woven stools), which are both functional and artistic, leather jootis crafted from leather of different shades. Women weave durries (a pile less cotton spread, which can be used on a bed or on the floor). Phulkaris (cloth) are major craft generally in red or maroon color and the thread employed in the close embroidery is made of silk in gold, yellow, crimson red, blue and green colors. Mud works, weaving, embroidery, wood works, folk toy making, parandis and miscellaneous crafts are also included.

DANCES OF PUNJAB Due to the long history of the Punjabi culture and of the Punjabi people, there is a large number of dances. These dances are normally performed at times of celebration. These dances are normally performed at times of celebration the most prominent being at Punjabi weddings, where the elation is usually particularly intense. The overall style can range from very high energy to more reserved, however the common elements make it particularly attractive to the viewers. Punjabi dances are designed for either men or women. Common female Punjabi dances are: Sammi, Giddha, Jaago, Kikli and Luddi. Common male Punjabi dances are: Bhangra, Malwai, Giddha, Jhumar, Luddi, Julli, Dankara and Dhumal.

Punjabi Quosine Punjabis are big-time food lovers, preferring a wide variety in their menu. They are full of life and their food too reflects this liveliness. Punjabi food forms an important part of the North Indian cuisine, which appeals to the taste of many. The people in this state generally go for spicy foods and use oil and ghee to a considerably higher extent. There are no intricate marinades or exotic sauces, but an exuberant use of masalas, with a liberal addition of oil or ghee.

The people of Punjab prefer wheat to rice; though they do have rice occasionally. In roti itself, you find such a wide variety that you are left to wonder about Punjabi cuisine's versatility. Makke ki Roti (chapati made of corn) and stuffed paranthas have wide popularity. Milk and milk products are also commonly used by the people here. Curd and butter milk are important concomitants of a Punjabi meal. Lassi, made out of curd, is a popular drink of Punjab, which satisfactorily quenches the thirst in summers.

One can easily notice a disparity within Punjab, as per the choice of food. For instance, the people in Amritsar go for stuffed paranthas and milk products, whereas Malwa inhabitants prefer bajra khitchdi more. One thing that runs common throughout the Punjab is the wide use of onion, garlic, ginger and tomatoes, as the common masala for most food items. People also regularly use garam masalas like cardamom, cinnamon, mace and bay leaf in their food preparation. Besides they usually garnish their food with finely-cut coriander leaves and juliennes of ginger.

 

Digital Library of Punjab

Launched in 2003 under Nanakshahi Trust, the Punjab Digital Library was a result of the early phase of the digital revolution in Punjab. While most saw the Nanakshahi as a small digitization organization, or as an assemblage of some unknown youth working towards capturing some manuscripts on their digital cameras, its founders saw it as a cornerstone of a fundamentally new approach to preserving Punjab’s heritage for future generations. In the shadow of search engines, a Semantic Web approach conceived in the early 2003 reached maturity in 2006. This was when the organization planned to expand its operations from a mere three-employee organization to one of the leading NGO’s working in the field of digital preservation all over India.

Digitized collections include manuscripts held by the Punjab Languages Department, items from the Government Museum and Art Gallery Chandigarh, Chief Khalsa Diwan, SGPC, DSGMC and manuscripts in the Jawahr Lal Nehru Library of Kurukshetra University. Hundreds of personal collections are also included. With over 5 million pages digitized, it is the biggest repository of digital data on Punjab.