The smallest and wealthy state of our country, Punjab is situated in north western part of India. The name ‘punj-ab’ or ‘land of five rivers’ got its name because of 5 rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. This state is divided into three different regions by these rivers: Majha, Malwa and Doaba. Basically the state of Punjab is an agricultural state with naturally blessed excess water and completely fertile soil.

On the basis of civilization, Punjab is very old with a prominent culture in the whole world. Punjabi language was originated from Indo-European tree of languages that also contains Latin and Persian. Being a place of religious and ethnic diversity, Punjab is the place of origin for several religious movements. Few of the significant ones include Buddhism, Sikhism and various Islamic Sufi schools.

Historical Punjab

The state of Punjab bloomed significantly at the time of Babar, great Mogul emperor. He expanded his territory from Delhi in eastern part to Ghazni and Kabul in the western direction. The opulence survived even during the period of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s tenet (1780-1838). This state faced a major shrunk during 1947 partition of the nation resulting in major loss of resources and land. The present state is just one fourth of the original area.

Even after its partition in 1947, Punjab displayed significant economic development.  The state contributes third in production of milk and roughly two third of total productivity of the food grains in our country. It stands as leading wheat producer with the account of about two million tones every year.  The major agricultural revolution in the name of Green revolution was serious considered by Punjab citizens. Though the population of Punjab records less than 2.5 percentage of our Indian population, they arouse as one among the wealthy races of India. The per capita income of Punjabi’s is double than that of our national average.

Society And Culture Of Punjab

Punjab carries a diverse culture. Their culture is exact reflection of multidimensional heritage related to ancient civilizations. Punjab allures majority of population with their unique magnetism exhibited through their festivals. The prime constituents of their festivals are their fun-loving folktales, popular dance types and attractive clothing. Their festivals deploy various fun-filled activities like Gidda, Bhangra and Baisakhi. Most of the Punjabi festivals depict exact reflection of their immense energy.  There are also modern functions that add with various other reasons to make this state a unique paradise for most of the tourists.

Food Of Punjab

Luxurious food items are trade mark of Punjabis. Mostly wheat consuming population, they cook rice for special occasions. Their usual breads include parathas, corn flour roti (make di roti) and Naans. Every Punjabi meal comes with milk and its various products in the name of paneer (cottage cheese), malai (cream), curd and butter. The vital masala in every Punjabi dish is ginger, garlic, onion and lot of ghee fried tomatoes. They routinely make use of mustard, turmeric, red chilli powder, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cumin and coriander. Paneer dish is their major vegetarian menu and tandoori chicken is their yummy non-vegetarian menu. Food items that are exclusively available only in Punjab are Sarson Ka Saag, Roghan Josh meat curry, stuffed parathas and Mak hi Dal.

Tourism in Punjab

There are lots of tourist attractions with a perfect mixture of urban and rural taste. The largest and significant Golden Temple at Amritsar is a religiously unique Gurudwara in Punjab. This holy shrine will be heavily populated around the year.  The dome made from pure gold delivers an amazing sight that is reflected in the Sarovar holy water. There are also other Gurudwaras that are worth watching includes Damdama Sahib, Sri Anandpur Sahib (Khalso birth place) and also Goindwal Sahib.

Amritsar Jallianwala Bagh is one among the historical site where thousands of people jumped into a well in order to protect themselves from firing of British General. This place stands as one among the horrors of Britishers and the sacrifice of Punjab for Indian Independence.

There is also Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s summer palace which is currently running as museum. This museum holds weapons dated back to Mogul period and also display Punjab’s ruling dynasties.

Amritsar Golden Temple Architecture With a Golden Outlook

The religious capital of Sikh population is, Amritsar, the known city carrying Golden Temple. Similar to natural way of prayers where the minds of Hindu turned towards Benaras, Muslim’s attracted towards Mecca, Sikhs are magnetized towards Amritsar where Adi Granth, the original version is maintained and read nonstop. Harmandir Sahib or Golden temple is situated at the center of Amrit Sarovar (which gave its name to this city) alluring devotees from all over the world. There is a holy tank bounded by white marble trail along with a causeway running across the water towards temple. This shrine is a double storey structure made with marble, and gold covering its dome symbolizes the people’s devotion and their commitment to offer a portion of their income towards temple. Inside the shrine, it is really amazing to catch the various bright multi-colored designs decorating the ceiling and marble surface. The idol of God is available to all devotees both day and night. The harmonious ‘kirtan’ or prayer from ‘Gurbani’ travels to depth of the minds of devotees along with holy gospel.

Visiting Punjab

The ideal time to tour Punjab is during the spring and autumn season. The landscapes along with their lavish mustard fields take up ones breath naturally. The pastoral charmness of this place together with the holy spirit of Punjabis delivers a long lasting travel experience.

Drive Your Way

Located at the northern part of our country, Punjab is linked to all major destinations inside the country and also easily reachable from different regions of the world. Chandigarh is linked to Leh, Mumbai, Delhi, Goa and Amritsar through Indian Airlines. There is regular Jet Airways flight from Delhi. Airport is just 11 km from the center of city and there are auto-rickshaws and taxis that are readily available to travel inside the city. Right from city centre (Sector 17), Chandigarh railway station is hardly 8 km. Chandigarh is well connected to Delhi by Himalayan Queen, Jan Shatabdi and Shatabdi Express trains. Chandigarh’s CITCO buses and Transport buses regularly run to and fro between railway station and city centre coinciding with the important trains for the convenience of travelers. There is also pre-paid auto-rickshaw facility outside the railhead, carrying the printed city rates on a board.

There is good connectivity of roads between Chandigarh and other major centers of this region along with Delhi. The main roads connecting Chandigarh with other parts of the country are the NH 22 (Chandigarh to Manali) and NH 21 (Ambala-Shimla). From Delhi it takes approximately five hours covering 245 km, mostly on NH 1, commonly known as GT Road. One can take a short refreshment break at Oasis, a multi-amenity place established by Haryana Tourism. ISBT or the Inter State Bus Terminus in Sector 17 is multi-facility complex with retiring rooms, rest rooms, reservation offices of RTCs and food outlets. Road Transport Corporation of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan operate deluxe coaches (few are air-conditioned) towards Chandigarh along with some other private organizations like Indo Canadian Transport Company, which operates deluxe coach services.