Pakistani folklore

Jahangir and Anarkali.

Pakistan has a wide variety of folklore, mostly circulated regionally. However, certain tales have related variants in other regions of the country or in neighbouring countries. Pakistani mythology here means the myths and sacred narratives of the culturally and linguistically related groups of ancient peoples who inhabited the ancient Pakistan and its borderlands.

Music

Main article: Pakistani folk music

Provincial folklore

The provinces of Pakistan are known by the love stories in their folklore that have been immortalized by singers, reciters and storytellers of the regions.

Sindhi folklore

Main article: Sindhi folklore

Sindhi folklore (Sindhi: لوڪ ادب‎) is the folk tradition which has developed in Sindh over a number of centuries.Sindh abounds with folklore, in all forms, and colors from such obvious manifestations as the traditional Watayo Faqir tales, the legend of Moriro, epic tale of Dodo Chanesar, to the heroic character of Marui which distinguishes it among the contemporary folklores of the region. The love story of Sassui, who pines for her lover Punhu, is known and sung in every Sindhi settlement. Other examples of the folklore of Sindh include the stories of Umar Marui and Suhuni Mehar.[1]

Sindhi folk Singers and women play a vital role to transmit the Sindhi folklore. They sang the folktales of Sindh in songs with passion in every village of Sindh.

Sindhi folklore has been compiled in a series of forty volumes under Sindhi Adabi Board's project of Folklore and Literature.This valuable project was accomplished by noted sindhi scholar Dr.Nabi Bux Baloch.The material for the project has been collected both from the oral traditions village folks and the written record. This folklore series deals with diverse segments Sindhi folklore and literature i.e. Fables and Fairy-tales, pseudo-historical Romances, Folk-poetry, Folk songs, Proverbs, Riddles etc.

Balochi folklore

Balochi folklore is alive with the love stories of Hani and Shah Murad Chakar, Shahdad and Mahnaz, Lallah and Granaz, Bebarg and Granaz, and Mast and Sammo, among others. The war tales of the Baloch are equally stirring. The chap, a Baloch style of dancing, has a curious rhythm distinguished by an inertial back sway with every forward step. Baloch music has a unique flavour of its own.

Kashmiri folklore

Kashmiri regions in the north are equally rich in folklore.

Pakhtun folklore

In the Pukhtun areas of the northwest, the North-West Frontier Province is the home of energetic warlike dancers, the most prominent being the Khattak dance, which bears the name of the tribe that dances it. The romantic tale of Adam Khan and Durkhanai features a lute player (rabab) whose music earns the love of a beautiful girl, although she hasn't seen him yet.

Punjabi folklore

Main article: Punjabi folklore

Many folk tales from Punjab have been disseminated worldwide by the Punjabi diaspora, especially in the UK and United States. The tale of two lovers, Heer and Ranjha, is based in the Pakistani part of the Punjab, in a city called Jhang. Today it is celebrated in songs, movies, theatre, and quotations. One may call a romantic person a Ranjha, meaning he is a devoted lover. Similarly a girl in love may be called "Heer." Apart from the epic of Hir and Ranjha, the Punjab has a rich tradition of ballads, folk tales, folk music and dance. The folklore of the Potohar Plateau of the north shows a local variant, while the lush green irrigated agriculture of the central plains is home to more sophisticated forms of folklore. The oldest living urban centre of Multan in the south is home to gentler forms of music and dance.

Saraiki folklore

Saraiki areas in the south are equally rich in folklore.

Cultural folklore

The Muslim high culture of Pakistan and rest of South Asia emphasizes Arabic, Persian and Turkic culture. Islamic mythology and is part of Pakistans folklore, as Islamic religion dominates Pakistan. The Shahnameh, One Thousand and One Nights and Sinbad the Sailor were part of the education of children in what is now Pakistan before English education was imposed by the British colonialism.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kalyan Adwani, ed. Shah Jo Risalo. Jamshoro: Sindhi Adabi Board, 2002.
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