There is a great misconception among even Indians of other states who think that Punjab is only made of Sikhs who wear turban. Punjab state of India is not religiously fundamentalist, but a secular and open place where all religious beliefs are practiced without any fear.
Punjabis of all beliefs form the same streets and the differences are hardly visible ever. The marriages among Sikhs and Hindus and among various Hindu castes and origins have become more common and the harmony is much greater.

RECENT HISTORY

Last 20 years have been troublesome for Punjab. Essentially this whole century has been extremely bad for Punjab and more than once our people have been sacrificed in hundreds of thousands by cruel politicians and bureaucrats who are insensitive monsters.

Most Punjabi politicians are (like everywhere else) narrow-minded, egoists and opportunists and the ugly politics have played its games in Punjab and weakened it.

Unfortunately some Punjabi military strategists of separated Punjab province of Pakistan - a sovereign state, decided to sabotage peace in Indian state of India by dividing Sikhs and Hindus, in collaboration with some disgruntled Sikh individuals.
The fire incensed by this hateful crime is now history but it has left a scar among many hearts. There is a great need of love and compassion to heal these wounds and Punjabi people have again rejected any force dividing them on religious lines. The war injected by Pakistani military elements was discovered by Punjab state people and they rejected this condemnable act of cowardice and inhumanity.

Punjab a state of Republic of India, situated in the northwestern corner of the country. It is bounded on the north by the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, on the east by Himachal Pradesh and the union territory of Chandigarh, on the south by Haryana and Rajasthan, and on the west by Pakistan. The city of Chandigarh is the joint administrative capital of Punjab and Haryana.

The word Punjab is a compound of two Persian words, panj ("five") and ab ("water"), signifying historically the land of five waters, or rivers. Owing to territorial changes, however, only two of the rivers referred to (the Sutlej and the Beas) lie within the boundaries of India's Punjab.

The historical foundations of Punjab may be said to have been laid by Banda Singh Bahadur, a hermit who became a military leader and, with his fighting band of Sikhs, temporarily liberated the eastern portion of Punjab from Mughal rule in 1709-10. The Sikhs later established their power over the area, building a powerful kingdom and adding more territory. The Punjab came under British rule in 1849. With Indian independence in 1947, the area was split between the new sovereign nations of India and Pakistan, the smaller eastern portion going to India. In 1966 India's Punjab was further divided into the two new states of Punjab (with a majority of Punjabi speakers) and Haryana (with a majority of Hindi speakers) and the union territory of Chandigarh, which includes the city of Chandigarh and the immediate surrounding region; Punjab's northernmost districts were transferred to Himachal Pradesh.

A significant portion of Punjab is a flat plain, sloping gently from about 900 feet (275 m) in the northeast to about 550 feet (170 m) in the southwest. The region's physiography is divisible into the Shiwalik Hills in the northeast, about 900 to 3,000 feet (275 to 920 m) high; the narrow, undulating foothill zone dissected by closely spaced seasonal torrents; and the flat tract, with fertile alluvial soils on low-lying floodplains along rivers.

Punjab has an inland subtropical location, and its climate is continental, semiarid to subhumid. Summers are very hot, the mean temperature in June being 93 F (34 C) and rising above 113 F (45 C) on exceptional days. Winters are cool, the January mean temperature being 55 F (13 C) and night temperatures sometimes touching the freezing mark. Annual rainfall varies from about 49 inches (1,250 mm) in the northeast to about 14 inches (360 mm) in the southwest. More than 70 percent of the annual precipitation is concentrated in the monsoon months of July to September.

Punjab has Sikhs,Hindus,minorities of Christians, Jains, and Muslims. The official and most widely spoken language is Punjabi, followed by Hindi. About one-third of the population lives in cities and towns.

The state's economy is characterized by agriculture and small- and medium-scale industry. With about 70 percent of its people engaged in agriculture, Punjab accounts for as much as one-quarter of India's output of wheat. Other crops include corn (maize), rice, millet, barley, and edible seeds, together with cotton, sugarcane, potatoes, and oilseeds. Most of the land is irrigated through various river-valley projects. The area's great success in increasing agricultural production since the 1960s is largely attributable to the so-called Green Revolution, which has stressed the introduction of modern farming methods, new seeds and fertilizers, and irrigation.

Punjab lacks mineral and fossil-fuel resources, and the state's industrial development has consequently been associated with agriculture and consumer goods. The principal industries produce cotton, woolen, and silk textiles; sugar; machine tools; fertilizers and agricultural implements; and such consumer goods as sewing machines, bicycles, sports equipment, automotive parts, and flour and milk products. Punjab has an extensive system of roads and railways. Air passenger service exists between Delhi and a number of Punjab cities, such as Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Bhatinda (Bathinda).

Punjabi folklore, ballads of love and war, fairs and festivals, dancing, music, and Punjabi literature are characteristic of the state's cultural life. The state's outstanding architectural monuments are the Harimandir, or Golden Temple, at Amritsar, which is the chief temple of the Sikhs, the Hindu Temple of Durgiana at Amritsar and an outstanding mosque at Kapurthala.