Jagmohan Singh Barhok
Happy Lohri To All Friends & Relatives
The festival of ‘Lohri’ is celebrated with full fervour and gaiety in the Northern parts of the country in general and East Punjab comprising of Punjab,Haryana,Chandigarh including Delhi in particular .People do a lot of dancing ,drinking and merriment, inviting guests for a get together to celebrate the festival. Many songs and folklore are also associated with the Lohri festival. The most popular one is as follows in the honour of Dullah Bhatti.
Sunder mundriye ho!
Tera kaun vicharaa ho!
Dullah Bhatti walla ho!
Dullhe di dhee vyayae ho!
Ser shakkar payee ho!
Kudi da laal pathaka ho!
Kudi da saalu paata ho!
Salu kaun samete!
Chacha gali dese!
Chache choori kutti! zamidara lutti!
Zamindaar sudhaye!
Bum Bum bhole aaye!
Ek bhola reh gaya!
Sipahee far ke lai gaya!
Sipahee ne mari itt!
Bhaanvey ro te bhaanvey pitt!
Sanoo de de Lohri, te teri jeeve jodi!
Dulla Bhatti or ‘Son of Punjab’ was a peasant whose father was executed for revolting against emperor Akbar for imposing new land revenue laws ,without hearing the poor farmers.
Dullah Bhatti later became a legend and part of the then Punjabi folklore.. Although Dullah Bhatti never openly revolted against the Mughal ruler,instead he ventured to become socially active helping the poor farmers from the clutches of the rich and arranging marriages of girls belonging to the poor families.
The song ‘Sundar Mundariye’ is reminiscent of Dullah Bhatti as a legendary saviour of Punjabi girls and is sung as a rich tribute to him, days before the Lohri festival . In the song ‘ho’ represents a group of persons or ‘chorus’ singing or following the main singer .We also became part of singing hymns of praise during our childhood like many others .Bhatti was hanged publicly for the emperor feared he might influence the masses. Dullah Bhatti died like a tiger without a hint of fear on his face in 1599.
