Praise and preparations

Manmohan Singh Dau’s encyclopedia article describes women singing ghorian together about the groom. The songs praise him through the voices of his mother, sisters and other relatives. Adornment and the occasion of mounting the mare supply subjects for the verses. The account also allows singers to alter words as needed, preserving variation within the form.[1]

Abnash Kaur’s separately signed reference essay gives particular ceremonial roles: sisters attend to the mare’s bridle, while sisters-in-law apply surma to the groom’s eyes. Songs weave these preparations together with the happiness and good wishes of different relatives. The activity being praised is therefore surrounded by a network of people whose actions and voices help make it a wedding occasion.[3]

A printed example from 1888

An earlier textual example appears in Henry Court’s 1888 translation of Sikkhan de Raj di Vikhia, printed in Lahore. Its section on Punjab’s music identifies ghoris among women’s marriage songs. The selected verse and explanation describe a newly bathed groom mounted on horseback. Questions identify him through relationships: brother, son-in-law and husband. Praise of his appearance accompanies that placement within a family network. Romanised verses sit beside their English explanations. This is a specific printed representation of a wedding scene. It offers evidence that such linked images were already recorded in this nineteenth-century translation, while leaving the singers, place and date of an individual performance unspecified.[2]

A devotional reworking

Abnash Kaur also explains a different use of the form in two Guru Ramdas compositions in Wadhans, at scripture pages 575–576. Her account reads the body as the mare and the soul as the groom travelling towards union with the divine. The familiar wedding scene becomes an extended spiritual metaphor. These compositions and ceremonial family songs therefore share imagery while serving different purposes.[3]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Manmohan Singh Dau; Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Patiala. ਘੋੜੀਆਂ — signed Bal Vishvakosh article ↗independently signed university encyclopedia article · Source date: 2014-01-20 (online posting; print date not established) · Locator: Aggregate page, first block headed ਘੋੜੀਆਂ, source Bal Vishvakosh, signature ਮਨਮੋਹਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਦਾਉ, posting 20 January 2014; women singing together, relative voices and variable wording. Accessed 2026-11-01.Only the first Bal Vishvakosh block signed Manmohan Singh Dau is selected. Its group-singing description, variable wording and kinship praise were read. Adjacent Nabha, Jaggi and other source blocks are excluded.Return to Script form 1 ↑Return to Praise and preparations, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. Sardha Ram’s work, translated and edited by Henry Court; Civil and Military Gazette Press, Lahore. History of the Sikhs; or, Translation of the Sikkhan de Raj di Vikhia ↗historical translated source · Source date: 1888 · Locator: Actual scan, title/imprint PDF7; translator’s preface PDF11–13; Music and Songs of the Panjab, printed 132–133/PDF224–225, Ghoris verse and explanation; printed 133 also visually inspected. Accessed 2026-11-02.Actual 338-page scan downloaded. Title/imprint and the selected Ghoris passage were read; printed 133 was visually inspected. The translation’s textual representation is distinguished from a performance observation. No song lines or facsimile image are reproduced, and no rights exception is requested.Return to A printed example from 1888, paragraph 1 ↑
  3. Dr Abnash Kaur; Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Patiala. ਘੋੜੀ/ਘੋੜੀਆਂ — signed Sahit Kosh essay ↗independently signed university reference essay · Source date: 2015-08-11 (online posting; print date not established) · Locator: Aggregate page, block headed ਘੋੜੀ/ਘੋੜੀਆਂ from Sahit Kosh Paribhashak Shabdavali, signature ਡਾ.ਅਬਨਾਸ਼ ਕੌਰ, posting 11 August 2015; ceremonial relatives paragraph and Wadhans 575–576 explanation; saved text lines 720–748. Accessed 2026-11-01.The complete Sahit Kosh block signed Dr Abnash Kaur was inspected. Ceremonial roles and the explanation of two Wadhans compositions are attributed to this essay. The complete original hymns were not independently inspected and no translation is supplied.Return to Praise and preparations, paragraph 2 ↑Return to A devotional reworking, paragraph 1 ↑
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Record PH-CUL-0068 · English edition · human review not performed