Punjabi Folk Music

Punjabi folk music is the song tradition of Punjab, spanning Pakistan and India, built on the tumbi's one-string twang, the dhol drum and the voices of hereditary singer lineages. Its core forms are the kali, a long narrative song perfected by *Kuldeep Manak*; the mirrored boliyan dance verses of women's giddha; jugni, the travelling flame of folk wisdom; and the great Sufi romances of Heer Ranjha sung by masters such as *Alam Lohar*. Sung in Punjabi at weddings, melas and shrines, it is the root stock from which bhangra and much of South Asia's popular music grew.