Punjabi folk religion - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Punjabi Folk Cosmology

Punjabi language

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...

folk cosmology, the universe is divided into three realms:

English	Punjabi	Inhabitants
Sky	Akash	Dev Lok (Angels)
Earth	Dharti	Matlok (Humans)
Underworld	Nagas	Naglok (Serpents)

Devlok is the realm of the gods, saints and ancestors, existing in akash, the sky. Ancestors can become gods or saints.

Jathera

A Jathera is a shrine

Shrine

A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....

constructed to commemorate and show respect to the founding common ancestor

Ancestor

An ancestor is a parent or the parent of an ancestor ....

of a surname

Surname

A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

and all subsequent common clan

Clan

A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...

ancestors.

Whenever a founder of a village dies, a shrine is raised to him on the outskirts of the village and a Jandi tree is planted there. A village may have many such shrines.

The Jathera can be named after the founder of the surname or the village. However, many villages have unnamed Jatheras. In some families, the founder of the Jathera is also a saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

. In such instances, the founder has a dual role of being the head of a Jathera (who is venerated by his descendants) and also of being a saint

Saint

(such as Baba Jogi Pir) (who can be worshiped by any one).

Punjabi surnames

Punjabi

Punjabi people

The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...

's believe that members of a surname

Surname

A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

all hail from one common ancestor

Ancestor

An ancestor is a parent or the parent of an ancestor ....

. A surname in Punjabi

Punjabi language

is called a 'gaut' or 'gotra

Gotra

In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...

'.

Members of a surname are then subdivided into smaller clans comprising related members who can trace their family tree. Typically, a clan represents people related within at least seven generations but can be more.

In ancient times, it was normal for a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

to comprise members of one surname. When people moved to form a new village, they continued to pay homage to the founding Jathera. This is still the case for the Chahal

Chahal

The Chahal, also Cháhal and Cháhiland Chál, are one of the largest tribes of Jat people in the Punjab region. The tribe is mostly located in Patiala, but many live in Ambala, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur, and as far as Gujranwala and Sialkot.Many Chahals have moved around the world, particularly...

's and Sandhu

Sandhu

Sandhu or Sindhu is a Jatt of Jat ethnicity found in Iraq, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir in India and also in Pakistan...

's who may have new Jathera's in their villages but still pay homage to the founding ancestor of the entire surname.

Over time, Punjabi villages changed their composition whereby families from different surnames came to live together. A village therefore can have one Jathera which can be communally used by members of different surnames but has the founder of the village as the named ancestor or many Jathera's can be built to represent the common ancestors of specific surnames.

When members of a clan form a new village, they continue to visit the Jathera in the ancestral village. If this is not possible, a link is brought from the old Jathera to construct a new Jathera in the new village.

Attendance

People visit the Jathera when getting married, the 15th of the Indian month and sometimes on the first Sunday of an Indian month. The descendants of the 'elder' go to a pond and dig earth and put it on the mound of their Jathera and offer ghee and flowers to the Jathera. In some villages it is customary to offer flour.

Veneration

Jathera veneration is not strictly a part of organised religion and forms part of Punjabi folk religion. Jathera veneration in the Punjab is distinguished from Ancestor worship in its strictest sense as it does not take the same form as in organised religion and is seen as showing respect to elders.

Popular legends associated with Jathera origins include those of the Chahal Jats, Atwal

Atwal

Atwal is a clan name of Jats from the Punjab region of Northern India and Pakistan. Atwal is derived from the Sanskrit word Attalika meaning 'high hill-tops'. People living there were called Atwals.- Religion :Most Atwals in India are Sikh...

's and the Cheema

Cheema

Cheema is a Jatt of Jat ethnicity found inPunjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and also in Pakistan.Cheemas are one of the two major sub clans of Jats along with other Jat clans like Sandhu, Grewal, Pannu, Uppal etc.. .Historically, this tribe has held considerable tracts in the upper Rechna Doab since...

's.& Tuli's

Jathera List

Jathera	Surname
Pir Baba Kala Mehar	Sandhu
Baba Jogi Pir	Chahal
Baba Kaallu Nath	Romana
Baba Sidh Kalinjhar	Bhullar
Lakhan Pir	Cheema
Pir Baddon Ke	Cheema
Sidhsan	Randhawa
Tilkara	Sidhu
Sidh Surat Ram,	Gill
Tulla	Bassi
Phalla	Dhillon clan of Maharampur
Kapila	Samrai(Samrama)
Korpal	Hakim pur
Adi	Garcha
Jathera in village Takhni, Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur is a city and a municipal council in Hoshiarpur district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourth century. In 1809 it was occupied by the forces of Maharaja Karanvir Singh and was united into the greater state of Punjab....	Guggi
Baba Mana Ji	Shergill
Baba Kartar Singh Ji,Jamalpur ASR	Aulakh

Tuli's jathere in Gurdaspur district near Kalanaur in village Agwan (Pagthana tuli da)
There is a Petrol pump run by Tuli Family in kalanaur who takes care of the Holy shrine in Village Agwan.

Baba Kaallu Nath Mela

A large Mela

Mela

Mela is a Sanskrit word meaning 'gathering' or 'to meet' or a Fair. It is used in the Indian subcontinent for all sizes of gathering and can be religious, commercial, cultural or sports. In rural traditions melas or village fairs were of great importance...

is organized at village Nathana (near Bhucho Mandi) in district Bathinda in the month of February–March in honor of Baba Kaallu Nath of the Romana surname. The Mela

Mela

lasts for four days. The first day is especially for Romana's and three days for all people to attend.

Baba Kala Mehar Mela

A Mela is held in honor of Baba Kala Mehar by the Sandhu

Sandhu

Sandhu or Sindhu is a Jatt of Jat ethnicity found in Iraq, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir in India and also in Pakistan...

's every year in Amritsar

Amritsar

Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...

district.

The fair takes place in and around April each year with Sandhus and people from other clans and tribes attending from around Punjab and Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

.

According to Sandhu

Sandhu

Sandhu or Sindhu is a Jatt of Jat ethnicity found in Iraq, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir in India and also in Pakistan...

legend, Baba Kala Mehar used to tend to his cattle and one day while doing so, he happened to meet Baba Gorakh Nath (Gorakshanath

Gorakshanath

Gorakshanath was an 11th to 12th century Hindu Nath yogi, connected to Shaivism as one of the two most important disciples of Matsyendranath, the other being Caurangi. There are varying records of the spiritual descent of Gorakshanath. All name Adinath and Matsyendranath as two teachers preceding...

). Baba Gorakh Nath asked Pir Baba Kala Mehar if he can give him some milk from his buffaloes. A miracle happened that while the cattle being tended at that time were all bulls, Baba Ji is said to have miraculously taken milk out of bulls on striking them with his stick.

Baba Jogi Pir Mela

The village of Bhopal falls in the Mansa

Mansa

Mansa is a Mandinka word meaning "king of kings". It is particularly associated with the Keita Dynasty of the Mali Empire, which dominated West Africa from the thirteenth to the fifthteenth century...

tehsil of Bathinda district.

The village is known for the fair of Baba Jogi Pir who is said to be the guru (preceptor) of Chahal

Chahal

jats. It is said that during the times of Mughal

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

rule, Baba Jogi Pir fought with the forces of the Mughal rulers.

During the battle, his head was chopped off, but his headless body kept on fighting until it fell down dead in this village. The people were deeply touched by the sacrifice of Jogi Pir, constructed a shrine, and began to hold a fair.

Another legend narrates that once a few people stayed under a grove of trees in the premises of the shrine. They felt pangs of thirst at night, but there was no source of water where from they could quench their thirst . A heavenly voice which was believed to be that of Jogi Pir was heard: “why do you die of thirst? Pick out a brick from the pond and take water”. They did likewise, found water from underneath the brick they picked up and thus they quenched their thirst.

A fair is held twice annually for three days on Bhadon 28 (August–September)and Chet 16 (March- April) at the shine of Jogi Pir. It is attended by both Hindus and Sikhs, Chahal

Chahal

Jats in particular attend in large number. The people pay their obeisance at the shrine, especially after the birth of a child or the solemnization of marriage. Earth is also scooped one of the tank by the people for invoking the blessings of Jogi Pir.

Shaheed Shrine

A Shaheed Shrine

Shaheed Shrine

A Shaheed Shrine is a building constructed to commemorate and show respect to a saint.-Punjabi Folk Cosmology:In Punjabi folk cosmology, the universe is divided into three realms:...

is a building constructed to commemorate and show respect to a saint

Saint

Sakhi Sarwar

Many villages in Punjab, India and Pakistan, have shrines of Sakhi Sarwar

Sakhi Sarwar

Sakhi Sarwar is a town and union council of Dera Ghazi Khan District in the Punjab province of Pakistan.-Lakh Data:Syed Ahmad Sultan Sakhi Sarwar is also known as Lakh Data, Sakhi Sultan and Lalan Wali Sarkar. He was the son of Hazrat Zainul Abedin, who migrated from Baghdad and settled in Shahkot ...

who is more popularly referred to as Lakha Data Pir. There is a shrine of pir sakhi sarwar in district Dera Ghazi Khan in punjab provence of Pakistan. There is great fiar held in March every year at the shrian of Lakh data pir. Village name is also sakhi sarwar. It is 34 km far away from Deara Ghazi Khan.

Seasonal Festivals

Punjab is a state involved in agriculture. For this reason Punjabi's continue to show repect to the seasonal festivals of Lohri, Basant, Baisakhi and Teej

Teej

Teej is a fasting festival for Hindu women. It takes place on the third day of Shukla Paksha of the Shraavana or Saawan month of Hindu calendar that normally falls from late July to early September...

. Over time some seasonal festivals have come to coincide with religious festivals but the original meaning of the festivals has not been lost.

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