r/punjabi

Hi guys! I love Punjabi music, and I just came out with a podcast episode all about it!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5yKx0kYFahgl1zYcuO97DQ?si=oIbONGRlTzeh7t6c1jLfDw

I talk about my fav songs/singers, my thoughts on the industry, and my experience at Karan Aujla’s concert.

I would love some feedback. Thank you so much! 😊

Theere has been misinformation about the formation of Haryana and the resource allocation ( Chandigarh, water etc.). I will try to represent Haryana and give its view.

1. Reorganization of State was based on linguistic census of 1961. Fazilka tehsil( Ferozpur District) was Hindi majority tehsil yet it never gets transferred to Haryana.

2.Narwana and Jind Tehsil( erstwhile Sangrur district) was Hindi majority and transferred to Haryana.

3.Kharar Tehsil ( erstwhile Ambala district,of which Chandigarh is part of in '61) was Hindi majority yet it was made a UT.

Ropar Tehsil( erstwhile Ambala district) gets transferred to Punjab and Nalagarh tehsil to Himachal.

4. In terms of Government Jobs Punjabi areas captured overwhelming number of posts.

Hopeful for a positive discussion😀😀

In the late colonial period in the early 20th century, the traditional miniature style of painting had already long been displaced by realist oil paintings introduced to the Sikhs from the West. Two Sikh artists from the period stand-out whose influence still impacts us today, namely Sobha Singh and Kirpal Singh. Each one propounded a painting style that came to dominate. In Indian art, the term rasa is used to describe a particular emotion and aesthetic that is evoked when looking upon an art-piece. Sobha Singh painted principally in the shanta rasa, described as conjuring a sense of calmness, serenity, and tranquility upon the viewer, achieved through certain colours, mannerisms, and symbolisms. Meanwhile, Kirpal Singh painted in the very different veer rasa, bibhatsa rasa, and bhayanaka rasa styles, instilling a sense of heroism, terror, violence, and shock to the audience, characterised by the raw and gritty portrayals. In Kirpal Singh's works, one overwhelming theme is present: shahadat tasveeran (martyrdom images), the start of a trend that become hegemonic in the 20th century of Sikh painting.

Kirpal Singh was a man of humble means, he was born in 1923 into a Ramgarhia family of carpenters in a village in Zira tehsil, present-day Firozpur district. His father had carved the Jain temple of Zira's wooden-gate. Kirpal had no formal higher-level education in art. He became interested in producing artwork after witnessing girls' in his house's courtyard crafting colourful phulkaris, he too wanted to create beauty with his hands. One of his first drawings as a child was of a scene from the Baburnama, which he was very proud of, hanging it in his room at home. He would make sketches in his note-book and copy the images from his text-books in-order to hone his young skills. He later studied at Sanatan Dharma College in Lahore, undivided Panjab. In 1940, he did a series of pilgrimage tours to the various gurdwaras of the city, especially the ones associated with historical and religious martyrs (shaheeds) of the Sikh Quom, a plethora of which are located in the cultural-capital of the Panjab. At the same time, the birth anniversary was being celebrated in Lahore while he was touring. One can imagine what kind of impact seeing these places first-hand at such an auspicious time had on the mind of the young Kirpal.

After studying, he became employed in the colonial military's accounts department but the partition of Panjab in 1947 made him shift to Jalandhar. At Jalandhar, he became acquainted with the works and styles of the European masters of art, names such as Ilya Repin, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Rubens, whose work would influence Kirpal there-after. In 1952, he moved to Delhi to work as a commercial-artist but came to dislike the trade. At one point, he was operating out of a farm in rural Haryana, with him creating a painting of Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib at Gwalior Fort. After a couple of disappointing exhibitions of his works, Kirpal struck-luck in 1956, when the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee hired him and other Sikh artists to work under their patronage to create paintings depicting scenes from Sikh history, which were to be housed in the Central Sikh Museum, established two years later in 1958 at Amritsar. All the artists the SGPC hired for the task painted in the western realism style, officiating the method in Sikh art tradition and giving it a sanctified status. However, Kirpal had trouble with the curator of the museum and quarreled with them often, with Kirpal coming to dislike living in the city, despite its sacred-status. He began wearing a black chola, coming to identify with the Sufi practice of asceticism.

Eventually, Kirpal quit his SGPC role and shifted to Delhi, working for other patrons. One day he caught the eye of Mohinder Singh Randhawa, who invited him Chandigarh. Kirpal had some interesting jobs under Randhawa, from painting some of the largest works ever created in India for the Anglo-Sikh War Memorial in Ferozeshah to painting dinosaurs from the Mesozoic Era for the Museum of [the] Evolution of Life! In 1984, he re-painted some of the works he had done previously for the Central Sikh Museum in a more detailed manner. Unfortunately, he died in an accident in 1990. He is survived by a son named Jarnail Singh, who followed in his father's foot-steps as an artist. He also had a daughter, with not much being known about her.

Now we shall discuss his art-style. Kirpal Singh clearly favoured both the somber and inspirational episodes of Sikh Itihaas (history). He enjoyed depicting the Sikh gurus, martyrs, and heroes from the pages of the Sikh past, showcasing their bravery and resilience against the utter barbarity and cruelty of their opponents. These motifs inspire Sikhs of today to recall their ancestors and forebearers, instilling a sense of self-reflection within our souls, leading us to also gain the strength to face the hardship that life poses to each and every one of us. The backgrounds of his paintings are always rather blurry, calling us to pay attention to the primary scene and bask in its message. There is a certain sense of brave and resounding masculinity imbued in his portrayals of Sikh warriors in-particular, shown proudly and regally, armed with weapons and on-horseback, eliciting the Sikh principles of Tyar Bar Tyar ("ready upon ready"), Chardi Kala (unrelenting optimism no matter the situation faced), and Sant-Sipahi (saint-warriors).

This style of painting became extremely popular and many painters after Kirpal Singh were inspired by his work, even emulating and copying his paintings, not as plagiarism but out of respect and honour for the great-master. Today, you can see his paintings decorating the walls of our homes and the langar halls (community-kitchens) of our sacred sites. I hope you enjoyed reading this and next-time you see a painting by Kirpal Singh, take a moment to appreciate it and feel the emotions it evokes within you.

If you want to see his paintings, many are housed in Sikh museums such as the Central Sikh Museum in Amritsar, the Sardar Baghel Singh Museum of Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in New Delhi, the Guru Tegh Bahadur Niwas at Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Gurdwara Mehdiana Sahib, at Punjabi University (Patiala), Punjab Agricultural University (Ludhiana), the Sikh Regimental Centre in Rampur, the Anglo-Sikh War Memorial in Ferozeshah, Takht Sri Patna Sahib, Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, and the Government Museum and Art Gallery of Chandigarh. I am sharing high-resolution scans of a selection of his works so that you may savour them. I decided to omit including captions of the paintings as I did not want to bias them with my own interpretation and I leave you as the viewer to come to you own conclusions on the scenes depicted. However, nearly all depict famous sakhis (tales), events, or figures from the annals of Sikh history.

Acknowledgments: I would like to take a moment to recognize the research of Mohinder Singh Randhawa, Gurmukh Singh, and Sayan Gupta, whose writings I consulted to create an accurate piece on Kirpal Singh's life and style.

He was a Panjabi Muslim folk hero who led a revolt against Mughal-rule during the reign of Emperor Akbar. He is entirely absent from the recorded history and the only evidence of his existence comes from Panjabi folk songs. His image has been described as being akin to Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Many tales narrate his life. This Panjabi festival of Lohri is connected to him.

This depiction was published in the work Dulla Bhatti Kalan. Shoutout to X/Twitter user maula_jatt_v2 for finding this.

Have you seen any videos of this dumb cat

I am an amateur Sikh historian who has wanted to write a dedicated article covering the entire history of Sikh Communism and socialism. However, if anyone knows where I may find resources or knows any information that may help with the task, please let me know. Thank you! I will share some interesting images related to leftist ideologies in Panjab.

Pictured:

1. Darshan Singh Pheruman (second from left) under arrest in Amritsar following his participation in a 1938 mogha (canal) morcha. He is standing alongside communist activists, including Sohan Singh Bhakna (second from right). Source: Amarjit Chandan Collection

2. Cover depicting the body of a worker being garlanded by the extended arms of the Kirti. Source: Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall

3. Kirti cover depicting an agriculturist and a factory worker. Source: Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall

4. Noted Ghadarite, ‘Baba’ Jawala Singh, lying in state surrounded by comrades. Jawala Singh died in a bus accident in 1938 on his way to the All India Kisan Conference. The banners in the background proclaim Jawala Singh as a patriot and leader of workers and peasants, and as a founder of the revolutionary movement. The woman sitting to the immediate right of Jawala Singh’s body is Raghbir Kaur, the only communist woman MLA elected to the Punjab Assembly in the 1936–37 elections. Standing right behind is Sohan Singh Bhakna. Source: Amarjit Chandan Collection

5. Communists marching in the Harse Chhina agitation against decreased irrigation distribution in 1946. Source: Photo by Margaret Bourke-White/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images

6. Peasants – men, women, and children – marching across fields in the 1946 communist-led Harse Chhina agitation. Source: Photo by Margaret Bourke-White/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images

7. Women listening to a speaker at the Harse Chhina agitation. Source: Photo by Margaret Bourke-White/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images

Figures and info published in: Raza, Ali. Revolutionary Pasts: Communist Internationalism in Colonial India. Cambridge University Press; 2020.