Vaen and siapa: the songs of mourning
The laments women sing for the dead, and the ritual mourning in which they beat their breasts in a circle.
When someone dies, the women of the family and village sing vaen, improvised laments recalling the dead person's life and calling to them. In the siapa, women stand in a circle and beat their breasts in rhythm, often led by a professional mourner, the mirasan or nain.
Reformers of every faith tried to stop the siapa as excessive, and it has faded in towns, but the vaen survives, and Punjabi poets from Waris Shah to Amrita Pritam borrowed its voice.
More music forms
The Guru Granth Sahib is arranged by raga, not by author: the scripture was meant to be sung.
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The heroic ballad of the Sikhs, sung to the small dhad drum and sarangi in front of the Akal Takht.
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Unaccompanied verse sung at speed by two or three voices, the Malwa cousin of the dhadi ballad.
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The short, witty couplets that fly back and forth during giddha and bhangra.
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Three-line verses of love and longing, sung in duet between lovers or friends.
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The firefly-spirit who wanders the land in song, reporting what she sees.
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The Sufi song of the Punjab, created by Shah Hussain and perfected by Bulleh Shah.
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The school of classical singing born at the court of the Maharajas of Patiala, famous for its daring, fast and ornate style.
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The singing family of Sham Chaurasi near Hoshiarpur, whose greatest masters, Salamat Ali and Nazakat Ali Khan, moved to Pakistan in 1947.
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The songs women sing through a Punjabi wedding: ghoriyan for the groom, suhag for the bride leaving home, and sithniyan to tease the other side.
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The loriyan sung to babies and the rhymes of the courtyard, the first poetry every Punjabi child hears.