Jugni is an age-old narrative device used in Punjabi

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

. It is the

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

of the

Punjab region Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. Jugni is sung at Punjabi weddings in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, US,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and UK. In folk music, it stands in for the poet-writer who uses Jugni as an innocent observer to make incisive, often humorous, sometimes sad but always touching observations.

Description

In spiritual poetry, Jugni means the spirit of life, or essence of life. Jugni is a style of singing that was first created by a famous Punjabi folk singer (late) Alam Lohar, who belonged to a small village in Punjab of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, prior to the creation of

Alam Lohar Alam Lohar () was a Pakistani Punjabi folk music singer. He is widely regarded as the greatest singer of Punjabi folk music. He is credited with creating and popularising the musical term Jugni. Early life Alam Lohar was born in 1928 in Ac ...

and after this singer, other singers have adopted this style. Alam Lohar is also credited with popularizing this poetry from early Sufi spiritual writings and then subsequently later on it was transformed by other singers as a female girl just like prefixes like Preeto. Alam Lohar started this genre of singing 'Jugni' during his early performances around pre-partition (1947), he sang Jugni throughout his early years of singing which was in the 1930s when he was a child star (started singing at a very young age) and many of his songs were not recorded at that time due to limited recording facilities within British India (pre-partition). His LP record titled 'Jugni' was recorded later on in his career and became a gold disc LP in 1965. Alam Lohar has also recorded multiple variations of Jugni and some of this is still available to hear on many LP records and visible on black and white TV recordings even available on YouTube to view. Other singers throughout the world have been greatly influenced by the Jugni recordings that Alam Lohar performed including his son Arif Lohar. Much of early Jugni writing is spiritual in nature and relates to one's understanding of the world and one's relationship with God. Many poet philosophers have used the Jugni device, which is in the public domain, to make social, political or philosophical, often mildly subversive, commentary. ''Jugni invokes the name of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

(often using the word "Saeen", the vernacular word for Lord). A kernel of truth is an essential and integral part of every Jugni composition and there is a theory that Alam Lohar introduced and was influenced in relaying this term from reading old Sufi writings. Noting, Jugni is also an old Muslim worship tool, majorly named as TASBIH, a series of 21, 33, 51 or 101 pearls, which is used by SUFI SAINTS for practicing the holy words. Mainly it is made by white pearls and white thread and is known to be holy. Afterward, JUGNI has become an ornament for Punjabi Women. The narrative style relies on Jugni landing up unexpectedly in diverse places and, wide-eyed, learning something new. Jugni makes her comments in three or four well written verses which may or may not rhyme but can always be sung in a rudimentary Punjabi folk style. The object could be a city, a state, a marketplace, a school, a religious place or a saloon, Jugni's non-malicious commentary catches the essence of the place and produces in the listener a chuckle and sometimes a lump in the throat. The Indian artist to make a mark was Asa Singh Mastana. Also, Kuldeep Manak, born Latif Mohammad, has made notable Jugni contributions. Apart from that every other pop or folk singer from Harbhajan Mann, Arif Lohar,

Gurdas Maan Gurdas Maan (born 4 January 1957) is an Indian singer, songwriter and actor mainly associated with Punjabi language music and films. He gained national attention in 1980 with the song "Dil Da Mamla Hai". Since then, he had gone on to record ov ...

, Gurmeet Bawa to Rabbi Shergill has had his Jugni moment. Bollywood movie Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye has at least three songs that use the word Jugni. The song was sung by Des Raj Lachkani (basically a dadi singer), Lachkani is a village near Patiala, India. In Pakistan, Jugni was popularized by the late

singer

. He received a gold disc LP for his Jugni in 1965. After that Saleem Javed and Arif Lohar, Alam Lohar's son, among others, have kept the tradition alive. Arif has brought in a more contemporary touch by incorporating modern vibes and rock influence in his versions of Jugni with Mukhtar Sahota (notably in his album "21st century Jugni"). In popular Pakistani culture Alamgir's Jugni is often the most-commonly recognized, which, in the mid-80's, encouraged young college students, most notably Saad Zahur, an architecture student at Lahore's NCA, who popularized the song with their own renditions. Arif Lohar has currently sang it for Coke Studio in Pakistan along with Meesha Shafi, a popular Pakistani youth, a version that will help this iconic song to further live on and on. This version of Jugni has crossed 26 million views and is the most popular Punjabi video on YouTube.

Examples

List of Jugni songs

There are many variations of this song sung by many folk artists. *"Jugni" by Malkit Singh (''Star Crazy'' by Bally Sagoo, 1991) *"Jugni" by Nouman Khalid featuring Bilal Saeed *"Jugni Mast Kalandar" by Baba Sehgal *''

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

'' (2004) - Rabbi Shergill *"Ramta Di Jugni" - Hazara Singh Ramta *"Jugni" by Des Raj Lachkani ( ''Oye Lucky Lucky Oye!'', 2008) *"Jugni" by

Daler Mehndi Daler Singh (born 18 August 1967), better known as Daler Mehndi, is an Indian singer, songwriter, author, and record producer. He has helped to make Bhangra (music), Bhangra popular worldwide, as well as Indian pop music independent of Bollywoo ...

(2008) *"Sadi Gali" by Lehmber Hussainpuri and "Jugni" by

Mika Singh Mika Singh (born 10 June 1977) is an Indian singer, rapper, musician and actor. His songs include "Bas Ek King" (''Singh Is Kinng''), "Mauja Hi Mauja" (''Jab We Met''), "Ibn-e-Batuta" (''Ishqiya''), "Dhanno" (''Housefull (2010 film), Housefull' ...

('' Tanu Weds Manu'', 2011) *"Jugni" by Babbu Maan ( ''Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster'', 2011) *" Alif Allah (Jugni)" by Arif Lohar and Meesha Shafi ( ''Coke Studio Pakistan'', season 3) **Also in ''Cocktail'' (2012), sung by Arif Lohar and Harshdeep Kaur *"Jugni Ji Remix" by Dr Zeus and Kanika Kapoor *"Jugni" by Jazzy B ('' Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns'', 2013) *"Jugni" (1989) by Alamgir *"Jugni" (1993) by Saleem Javed **Also used in the song "Poster Lagwado Bazar Mein (Duet)" by Lalit Sen and Shweta Shetty in ''Aflatoon'' (1997) *"Jugni" (1990) by Azaad Group UK *" Jugni" by

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

('' Kaatru Veliyidai'', 2017) *"Jugni" by Tochi Raina (''Sufi Acoustica'', 2018) *"Jugni 2.0" by Kanika Kapoor, featuring

Mumzy Stranger Muhammad Mumith Ahmed (; born 18 January 1984), known professionally as Mumzy Stranger or his producing name SP (an abbreviation of Stranger Productions), is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He made his mainstream record ...

and DJ Lyan Rose *"Jugni" by Diljit Dosanjh & Diamond Platnumz

Jugni artists

Some of the more popular and notable names of this style include: *

(1930s–1979) is credited with creating and popularising the term ''jugni''. * Arif Lohar * Asa Singh Mastana * Gurmeet Bawa * Kuldeep Manak * Surinder Kaur * Surjeet Bindrakhia

References

External links