Boliyan or bolis are
couplets that are sung in
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
.
Boliyan are often sung in accompaniment of
bhangra dances.
A boli expresses typical situations and their emotions. Usually a boli is sung and introduced by one woman, and then other girls form a chorus. These boliyan are usually passed down generation by generation orally. This forms a continuous and successive chain, each generation being taught by its predecessor. It is through this process that boliyan have been refined and passed on from long ago.
Although commonly women do ''
giddha'' and sing'' boliyan'', in the
Malwa region, in lower Punjab, men sing the ''boliyan''. They also do ''
Bhangra'' dances to accompany the ''Boliyan'' (see
Malwai Giddha).
Boliyan are traditional, but time has made changes in them too. They are not only composed by professionals, but even farmers contribute to them. They have a uniform rhythm, and often their appeal is enhanced by a meaningless rhyme being added to them. Almost all folk dances are performed in circles.
Whilst dancing the ''giddha'', the women sing in sonorous voices, to the accompaniment of the ''
dholak
The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The instrument is about 45 cm in length and 27 cm in breadth and is widely used in '' qawwali'', '' kirtan'', ''lavani'' and '' bhangra''. The drum has two differ ...
'' (drum), ''
ghadda'' (pots) or to the beat of clapping. The leader (woman) of the chorus sings the ''boli'', which the chorus repeats. The ''ghadda'' is played by gently striking a ring or a small stone on it in keeping with the rhythm. It helps to build an atmosphere of gaiety.
Forms
Boliyan can be categorized as two forms: ''Nikian Boliyan'' (small) and ''Lambian Boliyan'' (long). Nikian Boliyan are songs formed of two sentences connected with giddha; the first sentence introducing and the last sentence concluding. Lambian Boliyan take the form of a chain or flow of feelings, sometimes denoted while exaggerating.
Examples
"Jaago", the night before the wedding, the awakening night, is when all of the family join and sing ''boliyan'', to celebrate the joyous occasion. The first ''boli'' to be sung on the Jaago Night is ''Jaago Aiya''- which translates into the following:
[{{cite book, title=Folk Dances of Punjab, last=Walia, first=Aarohi, year=2008, page=68, publisher=Unistar Books, location=Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Punjab, India, isbn=9788171426027, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tM7vvmV1SWcC&pg=PA86]
''Jatta Jaag Vey.'' - All you Jat
The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...
ts Wake Up
''Hun Jaago Aiya. - For the Jaago has come
''Shava vey hun Jaago Aiya.'' - Wow, just look; the Jaago has come.
'' Lori de ke paiya''
'' uth pau gi''
'' addiyan karu gi''
'' chukni pau gi''
'' Jaago aaiya''
'' Jatta Jaag Vey''
'' Hun Jaago Aiya''
See also
*
List of Indian folk dances
Indian folk dances, which typically consist of a few simple steps, are performed throughout the world to celebrate a new season, childbirth, weddings, festivals, and other social occasions. In some Indian folk dances, men and women perform separ ...
*
Big Boli Star
References
External links
"Boliyan Kulwinder Dhillon" (Paiya Lehnga Shisheyan Wala) - YouTube
Punjabi words and phrases
Punjabi culture