Punjab GK Quiz

'Punjab' comes from Persian words meaning the land of five what?

• Rivers
• Mountains
• Kings
• Forts

Answer: Rivers. Panj means five and ab means water. The five rivers are the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar on 13 April 1919 happened on the day of which festival?

• Lohri
• Holi
• Baisakhi
• Diwali

Answer: Baisakhi. Crowds had gathered on Baisakhi when General Dyer's troops opened fire without warning. Lohri is Punjab's winter festival in January.

Amritsar is named after the sacred pool around the Golden Temple. What does the name mean?

• City of gold
• Pool of nectar
• Abode of God
• Land of saints

Answer: Pool of nectar. Amrit means nectar and sar comes from sarovar, a pool. Guru Ram Das founded the city, which was first called Ramdaspur.

Phulkari, a craft Punjab is famous for, literally means 'flower work'. What kind of craft is it?

• Pottery
• Embroidery
• Wood carving
• Metal inlay

Answer: Embroidery. Phulkari is embroidery in bright silk thread, traditionally worked on shawls and dupattas.

Chandigarh, the capital shared by Punjab and Haryana, was planned by which architect?

• Edwin Lutyens
• Charles Correa
• Le Corbusier
• Laurie Baker

Answer: Le Corbusier. Le Corbusier took over the project in 1951, after a first plan by Albert Mayer and Matthew Nowicki. Edwin Lutyens designed New Delhi.

At the daily flag-lowering ceremony near Amritsar, Attari is the Indian side of the border. What is the village on the Pakistani side?

• Hussainiwala
• Kartarpur
• Sialkot
• Wagah

Answer: Wagah. The Attari-Wagah Beating Retreat ceremony draws crowds every evening. Hussainiwala, near Ferozepur, holds a retreat ceremony of its own.

The Kartarpur Corridor, opened in 2019, takes pilgrims across the border to the gurdwara where which Guru spent his final years?

• Guru Nanak
• Guru Arjan Dev
• Guru Tegh Bahadur
• Guru Gobind Singh

Answer: Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak lived his last years at Kartarpur on the Ravi. The corridor opened in November 2019, ahead of his 550th birth anniversary.

Hero Cycles, once listed by Guinness as the world's largest bicycle maker, began in 1956 in which Punjab city?

• Ludhiana
• Jalandhar
• Amritsar
• Patiala

Answer: Ludhiana. The Munjal brothers started Hero Cycles in Ludhiana, and Guinness listed it as the world's largest bicycle maker in 1986. Nearby Jalandhar is known for sports goods.

In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa at which town in Punjab?

• Talwandi Sabo
• Anandpur Sahib
• Fatehgarh Sahib
• Patiala

Answer: Anandpur Sahib. The Khalsa was founded at Anandpur Sahib on Baisakhi day. Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib there is one of the five Takhts, the seats of Sikh authority.

The National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala, on the Sutlej, marks where Bhagat Singh was cremated in 1931 with which two comrades?

• Chandrashekhar Azad and Ashfaqulla Khan
• Bhagwati Charan Vohra and Jatin Das
• Ram Prasad Bismil and Roshan Singh
• Rajguru and Sukhdev

Answer: Rajguru and Sukhdev. The three were hanged in Lahore on 23 March 1931 and cremated in secret at Hussainiwala. The day is observed as Shaheed Diwas, Martyrs' Day.