Cotton Mandi

Cotton mandis in Punjab are bustling again after a long lull. The successive failure of cotton crops over last few years have had a deleterious effect on agrarian economy of cotton producing areas leading to many suicides. pics: jaypee

Jagatjit Palace in its original glory

Maharaja Jagatjit's Singh palace in Kapurthala now houses Sainik School. The Maharaja's palace and gardens were modeled on Versailles. He hired a French architect M. Marcel, was inspired by the palaces of Versailles and Fontainbleau. Its plaster of Paris figures and painted ceilings represent the finest features of French art and architecture. It was built in renaissance style with the sunken park in the front (Known as Baija) and has many other similarities to that of Palace of Versailles. The construction of this palace took roughly eight years(1900-1908).The interior decoration of the palace, which is unique of its kind in India was carried out by expert European and Indian workmen. The great Darbar Hall is one of the finest in India. The palace is full of imported art work from France, Italy, Holland. (source:http://www.kapurthalaonline.com/)

Undivided Punjab's last hockey team

The last national hockey championship of undivided India was held in Bombay in 1947. Punjab won the title for the second year in a row, beating Bombay by a solitary goal in the final, which was played at the packed Bombay Hockey Association ground near Dhobi Talao. It was the first week of April 1947 when the Punjab team returned to Lahore to receive the ovation of the home supporters at the railway station (see photograph below). Balbir Singh Sr. is seated in front (extreme left). Some of the other players are: Back row standing (from left): 2. Aziz 3. Gurcharan Singh Bodhi 5. Amir Kumar Front row standing (from left): 2. Keshav Dutt 3. Ram Swarup 4. Dharam Singh (source: http://www.bharatiyahockey.org/)

Dalit Gurdwara

The Dalit community have their own gurdwara here in the separate residential area earmarked for them, albiet in the name of Guru Ravidass. Vill Narangwal, dt Ludhiana. pic: jaypee

Old man and the grandson

No creches here. Old members in the family take care of children when both the parents work. An old man takes his grandson around on his shoulders. pic: jaypee

Langar

Women-folk preparing meals in a Community kitchen in the village gurdwara. Vill Fatehgarh Chhanna, dt. Barnala. pic: jaypee

grain parcher

Bhatti wali or Bhatiaran parching grains, a common sight until few years back. A picture from Western Punjab pic: Saqib Z.

fall bridge

One of the few surviving bridges across canals built by Britishers at Pul Sudhar near Ludhiana. Water is made to fall from a considerable height to give speed to its flow. pic by jaypee

remnants of history

'Faqir Mohd Khan son of Isa Khan 1941' inscribed on the entrance of the haveli at Halwara near Ludhiana, is just one of the testimonies of the partition that uprooted thousands of people from their native places. pic by jaypee

Ghraat, the Watermill

Known as ghraat in local parlance, one of the few remaining flour mills powered by waterwheels on the canal at village Sudhar in Ludhiana district. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gristmill to know more about flour mills run with water. pic: jaypee

Partition

"Moslem refugees crowding a train that will take them from Delhi into Pakistan" read the caption of the photograph published in The Manchester Guardian on August 27, 1947

Sikhs in Canada

One of the first Sikh groups to arrive in Vancouver, 1906

Punjab, 1974

A TRADITIONAL OUTDOOR VILLAGE KITCHEN IN PUNJAB

An old, retired military captain proudly displays his grand daughter in his large courtyard on a Mid February Sunday afternoon. The open kitchen in the background is mostly used for cooking in the summer, using wood burned with a mixture of sun dried cow dung, mud and straw. In the monsoon season and the winter the food is cooked in the indoor kitchen either with charcoal fire or on a kerosene stove. This large house belong to the old captain his artist wife and their four grown up sons. The house has two large bedrooms, a lounge, a back house and a room on the roof top. The open space on the roof top is used for sleeping in the summer. The bed in the photo is made of wood and jute string.

Sugarcane juice being heated to make gur

Both photographs by Seema Gill Heley clicked in 1974 around Chandigarh, in Punjab

Punjab, 1945

Peasants marching at the AIPC(All India Peasants' Conference)Jhandiwala village

Women relaxing after the day's chores
at the backdoor of a house

Women grinding grain

Women, making lassi, a yoghurt drink, Punjab, 1945


All photographs by Sunil Janah in 1945

A Family Enterprise

A Dalit family, with no land of its own, does harvesting in lieu of season's share of wheat. pic: jaypee

Punjabis in WW II

Punjabi soldiers sailing from Bombay.1914. Pic: Imperial War Museum, London
Wounded Punjabi soldiers in Brighton, England. 1916. Pic: Brighton Museum
Wounded Punjabi soldier dictating a letter at a hospital
in Brighton. August 1915. Pic: Imperial War Museum, London

Ruins

There is a perceptible change in the village landscapes. This dilapidated structure in village Khuddi in Sangrur district was a beautiful house once. pic: ravi

Bhagat Singh Merchandise

T-shirts with pictures of Bhagat Singh emblazoned on them being sold at May Day function in Ludhiana. pic: jaypee

All in a Day's Work

Besides other household chores women folk have to arrange for fuel too. Whole family chips in, including children. pic: jaypee