Great Rajput Rai Abdullah Bhatti aka Dulla, a Muslim zamindar, rescued a Hindu girl, when she was being forcibly taken away by Mughals, found a Hindu boy, and married her off hurriedly without a priest in his fort at Rakh, between Gujranwala and Sialkot. Gave her ‘ser’ of sugar as ‘shagun’. Since he did not know the mantras, he sang this as the girl and the boy took ‘phere’….. Dulla Bhatti took in the girl after she had been raped by a Mughal soldier, disgraced and abandoned. Dulla Bhatti took the girl to his fortress hideaway and arranged for her to be married to a young Hindu man. Dulla himself gave the girl away in place of her father and officiated the wedding ceremony.
Part of the Hindu wedding ceremony involves the bride and groom making offerings to the sacred fire, and walking around the fire to finalize their marriage. And of course, the priest is supposed to chant blessings on the couple. Since Dulla wasn’t a priest, nor even Hindu (he was Muslim), he didn’t know the proper prayers, so he sang a nonsense song instead. It became folklore.
سندر مندریئے ہو!
تیرا کون وچار ہو!
دُلا بھٹی والا ہو!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!
(Laugh,cry or howl!)Translation:
Beautiful girl
Who will think about you
Dulla of the Bhatti clan will
Dulla’s daughter got married
He gave one ser of sugar!
The girl is wearing a red suit!
But her shawl is torn!
Who will stitch her shawl?!
The uncle made choori!
The landlords looted it!
Landlords are beaten up!
Lots of simple-headed boys came!
One simpleton got left behind!
The soldier arrested him!
The soldier hit him with a brick!
(Cry or howl)!
Give us Lohri, long live your pair (to a married couple)!
Whether you cry, or bang your head later!
This song is sung in Punjab every Lohdi as children go home to home to collect peanuts, rewdi, gachak etc.
This tomb in Lahore is of Abdullah Bhatti whose folk tales are sung at Lohri in Punjab.
