SOBHA SINGH (1901-1986), painter, famous especially for his portraits of the Gurus, was born on 29 November 1901 in a Ramgarhia family of Sri Hargobindpur, in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. His father, Deva Singh, had been in the Indian cavalry. At the age of 15, Sobha

PAL SINGH ARIF, SANT (1873-1958), mystic and poet, was born on Maghar sudi 15, 1930 Bk/4 December 1873, the son of Gurdit Singh Sandhu and Sahib Kaur of the village of Paddhari, now in Amritsar district of the Punjab. He learnt to read and write Punjabi from the village granthi

ATTAR SINGH, SARDAR SIR (1833-1896), scholar nobleman, was a collateral of the rulers of Patiala, and belonged to the village of Bhadaur, in present day Sangrur district of the Punjab. He was born in 1833, the son of Kharak Singh. From the very beginning, he had a bent for

Bhagwant Singh (1926 - ) an eminent punjabi poet, was born in 1926. His poetry stems from the inhibited experiences of a frustrated middle class, and the axis which makes him conscious of the hollowness and hypocrisy revolving round it. He does not use the traditional regular metres but

GHUKKEVALI, village 21 km north of Amritsar (31°38`N, 74°52`E) and connected by a link road to the AmritsarAjnalaDera Baba Nanak road, has two historical shrines, sacred to Guru Arjan (1563-1606) and Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-75), respectively. GURDWARA GURU KA BAGH, located in what was formerly called Guru kl Raur (raur

Guru Nanak (1469-1539) represents the highest point of Punjabi literature, it has reached so far. Not because he is the first preceptor of the; religion of the Sikhs who are to this day staunch champions of Punjabi literature, the excellence in its own right, though it is available to us

KAFI (Arabic Qafi), literally stands for the leader, the enlightener, one who fulfils the need. In poetics it denotes the refrain in a song or hymn, and is also the title given to a poetic form in Arabic as well as in Indian literature. Guru Nanak was the first to

Meharban, Sodhi, original name Manohardas, son of Prithichand, the elder brother of Guru Arjan Dev (the fifth Guru of the Sikhs), wrote poetry as well as prose, but his prominent work is Janam sakhi Guru Nanak Dev (Story of the nativity of Guru Nanak, the first Guru of the

PUNJABI SUBA MOVEMENT, a long drawn political agitation launched by the Sikhs demanding the creation of Punjabi Suba or Punjabi speaking state in the Punjab. At Independence it was commonly recognized that the Indian states then comprising the country did not have any rational or scientific basis. They were more

SIHARFISARDAR HARI SINGH NALVA, subtitled "Hari Singh Naive di Mahima ," by Qadar Yar, is a poem in Punjabi, Gurmukhi script, celebrating the valour of Hari Singh Nalva, a general in the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The poem is also popularly known as Var Sardar Hari Singh Nalva. Qadar

Sethi, Surjit Singh (1928 - ) was born at Gujarkhan, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He did his M.A. in English and submitted his thesis on Ibsenism (Dramatics) for Ph.D. Primarily a playwright, he writes short stories and novels also. His first full-length play, Coffee house (1958), is a portrayal of \'hollow