The Dasam Granth is a collection of various poetic compositions attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. The text enjoyed an equal status with the Adi Granth, or Guru Granth Sahib, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and were installed side by side on the same platform. The Dasam Granth lost favor during the colonial period when reformist Singh Sabha Movement scholars couldn't contextualize the reworkings of Puranic stories or the vast collection of 'Tales of Deceit' Sri Charitropakhyan.
The Punjabi Suba movement was a long-drawn political agitation, launched by Punjabi speaking people demanding the creation of autonomous Punjabi Suba, or Punjabi-speaking state, in the post-independence Indian state of East Punjab. The movement is defined as the forerunner of Khalistan movement.
Bansi Kaul was an Indian theatre director and the founder of Rang Vidushak, a theatre group in Bhopal. He was a recipient of the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honor, in 2014, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995. Some of his notable plays included Aala Afsar, Kahan Kabir, and Sidhi Dar Sidhi urf Tukke pe Tukka. He was a designer and associate show director for the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony and also the art director for the 1986 and 1987 Khajuraho Festival.
Guru Nanak founded the Sikh religion in the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the 15th century and opposed many traditional practices like fasting, Upanayana, idolatry, caste system, ascetism, azan, economic materialism, and gender discrimination.
Surinder Kaur was an Indian singer and songwriter. While she mainly sang Punjabi folk songs, where she is credited for pioneering and popularising the genre, Kaur also recorded songs as a playback singer for Hindi films between 1948 and 1952. For her contributions to Punjabi music, she earned the sobriquet Nightingale of Punjab, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1984, and the Padma Shri in 2006.
Sodhi is a clan of Khatris and Jatts originated from the Indian Punjab.
Kumara Varma is an Indian theatre director. To date, he has directed at least thirty-six Indian and Western plays during the past five decades, including Raja Oedipus, Urubhangam, Mattavilasam, Abhijnana Shakuntalam, Ashadh Ka Ek Din, Baaki Itihas, Uddhwast Dharmashala, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Death Watch, Agg De Kaleere and Leedli Nagari ki Neeti Katha.
Balwant Gargi was an Indian Punjabi language dramatist, theatre director, novelist, short story writer, and academic.
Punjab has a long history of education.
Punjab is a state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and Rajasthan to the southwest; by the Indian union territories of Chandigarh to the east and Jammu and Kashmir to the north. It shares an international border with Punjab, a province of Pakistan to the west. The state covers an area of 50,362 square kilometres, which is 1.53% of India's total geographical area, making it the 19th-largest Indian state by area out of 28 Indian states. With over 27 million inhabitants, Punjab is the 16th-largest Indian state by population, comprising 23 districts. Punjabi, written in the Gurmukhi script, is the most widely spoken and the official language of the state. The main ethnic group are the Punjabis, with Sikhs (57.7%) and Hindus (38.5%) forming the dominant religious groups. The state capital, Chandigarh, is a union territory and also the capital of the neighbouring state of Haryana. Three tributaries of the Indus River — the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi — flow through Punjab.
Dhaliwal, also known as Dhariwal, is a surname and clan found among the Jat Sikhs of Punjab, India. Historically, they were influential Sardars under the Singh Krora Misl during the Sikh Confederacy in India.
Dr. Neelam Man Singh Chowdhry is a Chandigarh-based theatre artist who has worked around the world. She was awarded the 2003 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in the Theatre Direction category. She was the recipient of the 2011 Padma Shri Award. She is Professor Emeritus at Punjab University. Her well-known plays include Kitchen Katha, The Suit, Yerma, Nagamandala, The Mad Woman of Chaillot, Little Eyolf, Bitter Fruit, Naked Voices, Stree Patra and Gumm Hai.
Moran Sarkar was an Indian queen, the wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire. She was a nautch girl before she became a queen.
Waryam Singh Sandhu is an Indian author of short stories. In 2000, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for his short story collection Chauthi koot. Although he writes in Punjabi, his works have been translated into Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and English.
Navnindra Behl is an Indian theatre and television director, writer and actor.
Baldev Singh, also known as Baldev Singh Sadaknaama, is an Indian novelist and story writer in Punjabi-language. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award 2011 for his novel Dhahwan Dilli De Kingre. As of 2012, he has written 55 novels and various short stories and plays.
Dr. Harcharan Singh (1914–2006) was an Indian dramatist and writer in the Punjabi language. He dedicated 69 years of his life to Punjabi theater, in which he authored 51 books and staged numerous plays all over the world.
Piro Preman was the first female Punjabi poet, and an ex-Muslim follower of the Gulabdasia sect.She was formerly a Dalit Mirasi Muslim prostitute named Ayesha.
Swarajbir Singh is an Indian Punjabi playwright, poet, administrator, and editor. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his play Masia di Rāt (2016)
