Happy Lohri Everyone :-)

Hey Friends 🙂 It’s celebration time here 😀 Today is 13th January and it’s Lohri (the Punjabi festival) today. 13th Jan is a very special day for me (actually tomorrow 14th Jan is also a very special day but I can’t tell you why 😛 because it’s a little secret!) Anyways, The weather is so beautiful here….too cool and too happy 😀 The cold weather and the chilly winds can not stop any Punjabi from celebrating Lohri!! 😀

You can read here more about Lohri. Lohri is celebrated to mark the end of winter’s and to pray for a good harvest. It’s a Punjabi festival where bonfire’s are lit and peanut’s, jaggery (Gurh), and sesame are offered to the fire praying for a good harvest and popcorn as well.

Over time, people have associated Lohri to the tale of Dulla Bhatti. The central character of most Lohri songs is Dulla Bhatti, who lived in Punjab during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar. He was regarded as a hero in Punjab. Besides robbing the rich, he rescued girls being forcibly taken to be sold in slave market of the Middle East from the Sandal Bar region. He arranged their marriages to boys of their religion with rituals and provided them with dowries. So every other Lohri song has words to express gratitude to Dulla Bhatti. He was a hero of all Punjabis and his life story is available on the internet.

And here is the Dulla Bhatti folksong…

Sundar Mundriye. Ho!
Tera kaun vicaharaa. Ho!
Dullah bhatti walla. Ho!
Dullhe di dhee vyayae. Ho!
Ser shakkar payee. Ho!
Kudi da laal pathaka. Ho!
Kudi da saalu paatta. Ho!
Salu kaun samete!
Chache choori kutti!
zamidara lutti!
Zamindaar sudhaye!
bade bhole aaye!
Ek bhola reh gaya!
Sipahee pakad ke lai gaya!
Sipahee ne mari eet!
Sanoo de de lohri te teri jeeve jodi!
Paheenve ro te phannve pit!