ABSTRACT
The Punjab has a legacy of composite religion and culture. In the post-Independence period, the population of Punjab comprised and still comprises two major communities of Sikhs and Hindus and the two minor communities of Christians and Muslims. Over a period the demography of Punjab has changed tremendously which has had a serious impact on the polity, socio-religious and cultural life of the Punjabis. The tradition of venerating the holymen is so popular among the Punjabis that they forget their caste and religious affiliations and become the devotees of such pirs. In the eyes of the contemporary Sikhs, the Hindalis were notorious. Their heretical cult was founded by Hindal of Jandiala, Amritsar. The Hindalis did not adopt socio-religious and cultural symbols of the Sikhs lest they were identified with the Khalsa who were in the thick of Turko-Afghan struggle. The Sikh religious pluralism was recognized both by the British and Sikhs.
