Lohri Songs

In the morning on Lohri day, children go from door to door singing and demanding the Lohri 'loot' in the form of money and eatables like til (sesame) seeds, peanuts, jaggery, or sweets like gajak, rewri, etc. They sing:

“Dabba bharaya leera da”
“Ai ghar ameera da”

Translation: Box filled of cloths strips..this house is of the rich!

And those who weren't that generous had to face a bunch of kids chanting the following:

“Hukka bhai Hukkaa”
“Ai ghar bhukka”

Translation: Hukka! Oh! Hukka!..this house is full of misers!

Apparently the central character of most Lohri songs is Dulla Bhatti, a Muslim highway robber who lived in Punjab during the reign of Emperor Akbar. Besides robbing the rich, he rescued Hindu girls being forcibly taken to be sold in the slave market of the Middle East. He arranged their marriages to Hindu boys with Hindu rituals and provided them with dowry. Understandably, though a bandit, he became a hero of all Punjabis. So every other Lohri song has words to express gratitude to Dulla Bhatti.

This translation of the Lohri song by Vani presents it as a boliyaan match between girls and boys: