Punjabi festivals

Punjabi festivals are various festive celebrations observed by Punjabis in Pakistan, India and the diaspora Punjabi community found worldwide. The Punjabis are a diverse group of people from different religious background that affects the festivals they observe. According to a 2007 estimate, the total population of Punjabi Muslims is about 90 million (~75% of all Punjabis), with 97% of Punjabis who live in Pakistan following Islam, in contrast to the remaining 30 million Punjabi Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus who predominantly live in India.^[1]

The Punjabi Muslims typically observe the Islamic festivals, do not observe Hindu or Sikh religious festivals, and in Pakistan the official holidays recognize only the Islamic festivals.^[2]^[3] The Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus typically do not observe these, and instead observe historic festivals such as Lohri, Basant and Vaisakhi as seasonal festivals.^[4] The Sikh and Hindu festivals are regional official holidays in India, as are major Islamic festivals.^[5] Other seasonal Punjabi festivals in India include Teejon (Teeyan) and Maghi.^[4] Teeyan is also known as festival of women, as women enjoy it with their friends. On the day of maghi people fly kites and eat their traditional dish khichdi.

The Punjabi Muslim festivals are set according to the lunar Islamic calendar (Hijri), and the date falls earlier by 10 to 13 days from year to year.^[6] The Hindu and Sikh Punjabi seasonal festivals are set on specific dates of the luni-solar Bikrami calendar or Punjabi calendar and the date of the festival also typically varies in the Gregorian calendar but stays within the same two Gregorian months.^[7]

Some Punjabi Muslims participate in the traditional, seasonal festivals of the Punjab region: Baisakhi, Basant and to a minor scale Lohri, but this is controversial. Islamic clerics and some politicians have attempted to ban this participation because of the religious basis of the Punjabi festivals,^[8] and they being declared haram (forbidden in Islam).^[9]

^ Wade Davis; K. David Harrison; Catherine Herbert Howell (2007). Book of Peoples of the World: A Guide to Cultures. National Geographic. pp. 132–133. ISBN 978-1-4262-0238-4.
^ Official Holidays 2016, Government of Punjab – Pakistan (2016)
^ Official Holidays 2016 Archived 2018-09-01 at the Wayback Machine, Karachi Metropolitan, Sindh, Pakistan
^ ^a ^b Census of India, 1961: Punjab. Manage of Publications
^ Official Holidays, Government of Punjab, India (2016)
^ Jacqueline Suthren Hirst; John Zavos (2013). Religious Traditions in Modern South Asia. Routledge. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-136-62668-5.;
Eid ul-Fitar, Ramzan Id/Eid-ul-Fitar in India, Festival Dates
^ Tej Bhatia (2013). Punjabi. Routledge. pp. 209–212. ISBN 978-1-136-89460-2.
^ The ban on fun, IRFAN HUSAIN, Dawn, Feb 18, 2017
^ The barricaded Muslim mind, Saba Naqvi (August 28, 2016), Quote: "Earlier, Muslim villagers would participate in 🕉️ festivals; now they think that would be haraam, so stay away. Visiting dargahs is also haraam"

[Harrison2007p132-1] Wade Davis; K. David Harrison; Catherine Herbert Howell (2007). Book of Peoples of the World: A Guide to Cultures. National Geographic. pp. 132–133. ISBN 978-1-4262-0238-4.

[Official_Holidays_2016-2] Official Holidays 2016, Government of Punjab – Pakistan (2016)

[kmc.gos.pk-3] Official Holidays 2016 Archived 2018-09-01 at the Wayback Machine, Karachi Metropolitan, Sindh, Pakistan

[autogenerated5-4] Census of India, 1961: Punjab. Manage of Publications

[Official_Holidays-5] Official Holidays, Government of Punjab, India (2016)

[6] Jacqueline Suthren Hirst; John Zavos (2013). Religious Traditions in Modern South Asia. Routledge. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-136-62668-5.;
Eid ul-Fitar, Ramzan Id/Eid-ul-Fitar in India, Festival Dates

[7] Tej Bhatia (2013). Punjabi. Routledge. pp. 209–212. ISBN 978-1-136-89460-2.

[8] The ban on fun, IRFAN HUSAIN, Dawn, Feb 18, 2017

[9] The barricaded Muslim mind, Saba Naqvi (August 28, 2016), Quote: "Earlier, Muslim villagers would participate in 🕉️ festivals; now they think that would be haraam, so stay away. Visiting dargahs is also haraam"

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