Sports

Punjabis play a wide variety of sports and games, ranging from modern games such as hockey and cricket, to the more traditional games such as Kabaddi, Kushtian (wresting) and Khuddo khoondi (similar to hockey). There are over 100 traditional games and sports of Punjab.
Alexi Singh Grewal, born September 8, 1960 in Aspen, Coloradois an Indian-American Olympic gold medalist and former professional road racing cyclist. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Grewal became the first American man to win an Olympic gold medal in road cycling.

Milkha Singh The Flying Sikh. To the late Brigadier Dalip Singh goes the credit of being the first Sikh to represent India in the Olympics.

Kila Raipur is a noted village of Ludhiana district in Punjab, India as it hosts the annual Kila Raipur Sports Festival, known as the Rural Olympics. The events played often demonstrate the physical strength and valor of the Punjabi men and women.

Other famous rural sports in punjab Kikli Kokla, Chhapaki Lukan Miti (Hide & Seek), Guli Danda, Rasa Kashi (Tug of War).

Gatka

Gatka is an ancient martial art which has been thoroughly battle-tested and has existed in northern India for many thousands of years. It is considered to be a spiritual as well as a physical exercise. Both these aspects of the person are developed to a high level during the learning phase in this ancient art. Although it uses the sword as its primary weapon, many other weapons are available to the Gatka master. Today, this art exists exclusively amongst the Sikhs who have passed down the flamboyant techniques through generations, since the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind wore the two swords of Miri (temporal, worldly) and Piri (spiritual, transcendental). The Sikhs have been responsible for the revival of this early art ensuring it's survival despite mass persecution of the native population in India by foreign invaders like the Mughals and others for many hundreds of years. 

Gatka is a complete martial system which uses spiritual, mental and physical skills in equal portions to help one fully competent in defending themselves and others. In addition to giving the student defensive skills, it also helps the individual with other aspects of their life: makes the mind alert and responsive, maintains the body in a near perfect condition and makes soul fearless, compassionate and tranquil. The techniques involved are extremely effective for defence and attack as well as visually spectacular. The Sikhs mastered Gatka and perfected its use in battle. Many battles were won by the Sikhs, despite almost always numbering far fewer than the opposite forces. The techniques within Gatka were combined with the spiritual practices of the Sikhs to create a perfect fighting system. Opposing forces have documented how awesome the sikhs were at the battle. 

Dance

Bhangra

It is the traditional music and dance-which was used to celebrate the coming of spring and Vaisakhi. The actual meaning of Bhangra is 'a person intoxicated with joy' All-which is a perfect description as the explosive, colorful, vibrant atmosphere That Represents Bhangra is sure to bring joy to anyone.






Giddha

Giddha is a popular folk dance of women in Punjab and exhibits teasing, fun and exuberance of Punjabi life. The dance is derived from the ancient ring dance and is just as energetic as Bhangra and at the sametime it to riding schools Creatively display feminine grace, elegance and elasticity. Essentially Giddha is danced in circles.
This dance Translates into gestures, Bolian-verses of different length satirizing politics. The dancers enact verses called bolis, How many followers represent folk poetry at its best.

Cuisine

Punjabi cuisine has an immense range of dishes. "Sarso ka saag" and "Makki di roti" are examples of well-known dishes. Chole- bature also is among the famous dishes from Punjab cuisine.
More popular dishes include, naan, butter chicken, mutter paneer, tandoori chicken, samosas, pakoras. Yogurt is used as a side to almost every dish. Even though there are varieties of sweets, rasgulla, barfi and gulab jamun are considered very popular.

Dresses

The traditional dress for Punjabi men is the Punjabi Kurta and pajama, especially the popular Muktsari style in India. The traditional dress for women is the Punjabi Salwar Suit which replaced the traditional Punjabi Ghagra. The Patiala salwar is also very popular. Phulkari is made for special occasions. The Punjabi Padgi or Turban by which Punjabi men are recognized in the world.

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Punjabi Language

Punjab is a broad panorama of beauty and splendor. Its language is an asset, which is gaining huge popularity among people throughout the country. Punjabi is the official language of the state, which bears a lot of similarity with Hindi. It is the eleventh most popular language in the world.

The script used in Punjabi language is Gurmukhi, which is based on Devanagri. It is both a fusion and a tonal language. It is a fusion language because several morphemes (the smallest linguistic unit which has semantic meaning) fuse together to form the language. It owes its tonal aspect to the fact that words here are distinguished by the tones.

Punjabi language has several dialects, which have emerged area-wise, depending on the exact region where the language is in use. Some of the important dialects are Bhattianj, Malwai, Pahari, Doabi, Kangri, Hindko, Pothowari, Shahpuri, Rachnavi, Majhi, Thali, Thalochri, Chakwali, and Ghebi.