Lohri and The Legend of Dulla Bhatti

What Is Lohri

Lohri is synonymous with bonfire, til, jaggery and the famous song of Punjab. The lyrics of this song are ‘Sundar mundariye, Tera kaun vichara, Dulla Bhatti wala…’

While most of us know the song, many do not remember the Hero of the song, Dulla Bhatti. Today, let us take you through the story of Dulla Bhatti, the Robinhood of Punjab.

The story begins during the Mughal era when a centralized land revenue was applied on all croplands. People of then united Punjab were unhappy with this rule and 2 brave, local zamindars stood up for the people. Farid, a Muslim Rajput and his father Bijli fought against this unfair rule and subsequently executed by the Mughals for their impunity.

After 4 months of this incidence, a late Farid’s wife Ladhi, gave birth to little Dulla Bhatti. Dulla was born the same day as the Mughal prince Shaikhu, later named Jahangir. Akbar, father of Jahangir, was advised that the baby should be fed by a Rajput woman to ensure he grows up valiant. Another reason for this was that Akbar wanted to safeguard his rule from any more rebellions by the Bhatti clan. Eventually a young Dulla came to know the plight of his forefathers by the Mughals and got into notorious activities. These included social banditry where he looted from the rich to give to the poor. What was probably the most effective contribution that Dulla Bhatti had was to save the girls of Punjab. It is known that girls from Sandal bar, Punjab (undivided) were abducted and sold off as slaves to traders in the Middle East. Dulla rescued these girls and married them off to Hindu men. He even made all the arrangements for the wedding. Later as his activities increased as did his heroic stature the Mughals decided to do off with him. Bhatti was captured in the year 1599 and hanged in Lahore to make an example of him. However, Dulla Bhatti is regarded as a hero even now with the Punjabi folk-songs keeping his bravery alive in the songs still sung around the bonfires of Lohri.

Significance Of Lohri

Lohri is celebrated in the province of Punjab and around it on the 13th January. It is the celebration of the longest night of winter and signifies the coming of longer sunny days. It also signifies the beginning of the harvest season. The main event of the festival is a bonfire which is a tribute to the fire gods and/or Sun god to bless everyone with a bountiful harvest. Items like gajak, popcorn and puffed rice are offered to the fire. The next day of Lohri marks Makar Sankranti.