Punjabi Hindus
An ancient Indian law book called the Manusmriti, developed by Brahmin Hindu priests, shaped Punjabi religious life from 200 BCE onward.
[23] In the early part of the 20th century, the Samaj and organisations inspired by it, such as Jat Pat Todak Mandal, were active in campaigning against caste discrimination.
In the western Punjab, Baisakhi, the new year's day of the Hindus, is celebrated as an agricultural festival, by all Muhammadans, by racing bullocks yoked to the well gear, with the beat of tom-toms, and large crowds gather to witness the show, The race is called Baisakhi and is a favourite pastime in the well-irrigated tracts.
Then the processions of Tazias, in Muharram, with the accompaniment of tom-toms, fencing parties and bands playing on flutes and other musical instruments (which is disapproved by the orthodox Muhammadans) and the establishment of Sabils (shelters where water and sharbat are served out) are clearly influenced by similar practices at Hindu festivals, while the illuminations on occasions like the Chiraghan fair of Shalamar (Lahore) are no doubt practices answering to the holiday-making instinct of the converted Hindus.
The sects of reformers based on a revolt from the orthodoxy of Varnashrama Dharma were obviously the outcome of the knowledge that a different religion could produce equally pious and right thinking men.
[30] The newly formed governments had not anticipated, and were completely unequipped for, a two-way migration of such staggering magnitude, and massive violence and slaughter occurred on both sides of the new India-Pakistan border.
At the instigation of the Arya Samaj, many Punjabi Hindus in present-day Ambala, Una, and Sirsa stated Hindi as their mother tongue in the censuses of 1951 and 1961.
Today, Punjabi Hindus make up approximately 38.5% population of present Punjab State of India.
[4] Punjabi Hindus form between approximately 8 and 10 percent of Haryana's population and are very much influential in the state politics.
Following the large-scale exodus that took place during the 1947 partition, there remains a small Punjabi Hindu community in Pakistan today.
[39] Much of the community resides in the primarily rural South Punjab districts of Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur where they form 3.12% and 1.12% of the population respectively,[40][41] while the rest are concentrated in urban centres such as Lahore.
[52] The Arya Samaj was a Hindu reformist organization founded in the 1870s by Dayananda Saraswati, and while he was from Gujarat, the movement had a lot of influence among Punjabi Hindus, especially the Khatris and Aroras, the Arya Samajis being social reformers who aimed to promote monotheism and were against what they called "supersititions" such as idolatry, wanted to rise the literacy rates (especially for women) and were fighting caste discrimination.
[54][55][56] Thakurdwara complexes often had a samadh (samadhi) mausoleum dedicated to the founder of the temple and a dharamsala (building for accommodating pilgrims and ascetics, such as bairagis).
[54] Another feature is a small passageway called the antrala (vestibule), which connects the garbha griha and mandapa (pillard hall) spaces together.
