Punjab

Punjab is a prosperous agricultural state in northwestern India, the heartland of Sikhism and the breadbasket of the nation. Its capital is the shared city of Chandigarh, while Ludhiana and Amritsar are major cities. Famed for its fertile fields, vibrant culture and the Golden Temple, it has a distinctive and energetic identity.

Punjab is a flat, exceptionally fertile alluvial plain fed by rivers from the Himalayas, intensively irrigated and farmed. The name means land of five rivers. The climate is continental, with very hot summers and cool winters.

Punjabi culture is exuberant and world-renowned, famous for bhangra music and dance, hearty cuisine, and warm hospitality. It is the spiritual home of Sikhism, centered on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and has a large global diaspora.

A cradle of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and crossroads of invasions, Punjab was the seat of the Sikh empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Partitioned between India and Pakistan in 1947, the Indian portion later gave rise to Haryana in 1966.