Heer Ranjha

2021-09-27T10:52:07Z

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[[File:Tilla Jogian.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Tilla Jogian]], [[Pakistan]] where Ranjha came]]
'''''Heer Ranjha''''' (or '''''Heer and Ranjha''''') is one of several popular tragic romances of [[Punjab region|Punjab]], other important ones being "[[Sohni Mahiwal]]", "[[Mirza Sahiban]]" and "[[Sassui Punnhun|Sassi Punnhun]]". There are several poetic narrations of the story, the most famous being ''Heer'' by [[Waris Shah]] written in 1766. It tells the story of the love of Heer Sial and her lover Dheedo Ranjha.<ref name=APNA>(Arif Jamshaid) [http://apnaorg.com/prose-content/english-articles/page-7/article-2/index.html The epic of Heer Ranjha, research paper on epic poem written by Waris Shah in 1766 on Academy of the Punjab in North America website] Retrieved 14 November 2020</ref>

==History==
''Heer Ranjha'' was written by [[Waris Shah]]. Some historians say that the story was the original work of Shah, written after he had fallen in love with a girl named Bhag Bhari.<ref name="hanif">{{citation|title=Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: South Asia|author=N. Hanif|page=387|year=2000}}</ref> Others say that Heer and Ranjha were real personalities who lived under the [[Lodi dynasty]] in India of the 15th and 16th century and that Waris Shah later utilised these personalities for his novel that he wrote in 1766. Waris Shah states that the story has a deeper meaning, referring to the unrelenting quest that man has towards God.<ref name="pirzada">{{citation|title=Chasing Love Up against the Sun|page=12|author=Waqar Pirzada|year=2014}}</ref>

==Example from the epic poem==
Rag Heer Ranjha. The invocation at the beginning,<ref>In Waris Shah's version there is an added invocation to the famous [[Panj peer]] or five saints</ref> in one version:

:Awal-akhir naam Allah da lena, duja dos Muhammad Miran
:Tija naun maat pita da lena, unha da chunga dudh sariran
:Chautha naun unn paani da lena, jis khaave man banhe dhiran
:Panjman naun Dharti Maata da lena, jis par kadam takiman
:Chhewan naun Khwaja Pir da lena, jhul pilave thande niran
:Satwan naun Guru Gorakhnath de lena, pataal puje bhojan
:Athwan naun lalaanwale da lena, bande bande de tabaq zanjiran

:First take the name of Allah and second the Great Muhammad, the prophet [of God]
:Third, take the name of father and mother, on whose milk my body thrived
:Fourth, take the name of bread and water, by eating which my heart is gladdened
:Fifth, take the name of Mother Earth, on whom I place my feet
:Sixth, take the name of Khwaja (Khizr, the Saint), who gives me cold water to drink
:Seventh, take the name of Guru Gorakh Nath who is worshipped with a platter of milk and rice
:Eighth, take the name of Lalanwala who breaks the bonds and the chains of captives

(The Legends of the Panjab by RC Temple, Rupa and Company, Volume two, page 606)

==Summary of the love story==
[[File:Luddan ferries Ranjha across the Chenab.jpg|left|thumb|Luddan ferries Ranjha across the Chenab]]
Heer is an extremely beautiful woman, born into a wealthy Sial Rajput family in [[Jhang]], [[Punjab]] and Dheedo Ranjha of the [[Ranjha (tribe)|Ranjha]] tribe of Jats, is the youngest of four brothers and lives in the village of [[Takht Hazara]] by the river [[Chenab]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Re-Thinking Punjab: The Construction of Siraiki Identity|publisher=[[Hussain Ahmed Khan]]|year=2004|isbn=978-9-69862-309-8|location=Lahore : Research and Publication Centre|pages=130}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Transition and Transformation in Varis Shah's Hir|publisher=[[Shackle, Christopher]]|year=1992|isbn=978-3-44703-241-4|location=Snell, Rupert (eds.). The Indian Narrative: Perspectives and Patterns. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.|pages=253}}</ref> Being his father's favorite son, unlike his brothers who had to toil in the lands, he led a life of ease, playing the flute ('Wanjhli'/'[[Bansuri]]'). After the death of Ranjha's father, Mauju Chaudhry, Ranjha has a quarrel with his brothers over land, Ranjha leaves home. In Waris Shah's version of the epic, it is said that Ranjha left his home because his brothers' wives refused to give and serve him food. Eventually he arrives in Heer's village and falls in love with her. Heer's father offers Ranjha a job herding his cattle. Heer becomes mesmerised by the way Ranjha plays his flute and eventually falls in love with him. They meet each other secretly for many years until they are caught by Heer's jealous uncle, Kaido, and her parents Chuchak and Malki. Heer is forced by her family and the local priest or '[[Maulvi]]' to marry another man named Saida Khera.<ref name=APNA/>

Ranjha is heartbroken. He wanders the countryside alone, until eventually he meets a [[Shaivism|Shaiva]] [[Jogi (caste)|Jogi]] (ascetic). After meeting [[Gorakhnath]], the founder of the "Kanphata" (pierced ear) sect of jogis at [[Tilla Jogian]] (the 'Hill of Ascetics', located 80 kilometres north of the historic town of [[Bhera]], [[Sargodha District]], Punjab), Ranjha becomes a jogi himself, piercing his ears and renouncing the material world. While reciting the name of the Lord, he wanders all over Punjab, eventually finding the village where Heer now lives.

The two return to Heer's village, where Heer's parents agree to their marriage - though some versions of the story state that the parent's agreement is only a deception. On the wedding day, Kaido poisons her food so that the wedding will not take place, in order to punish the girl for her behaviour. Hearing this news, Ranjha rushes to aid Heer, but is too late, as she has already eaten the poison and has died. Brokenhearted once again, Ranjha eats the remaining poisoned ''[[Laddu]]'' (sweet) which Heer has eaten and dies by her side.

Heer and Ranjha are buried in Heer's hometown, Jhang. Love-smitten couples and others often pay visits to their mausoleum.<ref name=APNA/><ref>[http://pakgeotagging.blogspot.com/2014/05/tomb-of-heer-ranjha-in-jhang-takht.html Tomb Of Heer Ranjha In Jhang on Pakistan Geotagging website] Retrieved 14 November 2020</ref>

==Legacy and influence==
Because its plot involves a romance opposed by family members and ends with the two lovers dying, the story is often compared to the [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] play ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sirhandi|first=Marcella C.|date=1999-09-01|title=Manipulating Cultural Idioms|journal=Art Journal|volume=58|issue=3|pages=40–47|doi=10.1080/00043249.1999.10791952|issn=0004-3249}}</ref><ref>[http://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/27353/689057.pdf?sequence=1 Cultural Insights Punjab Can It Be a Bridge to Peace Between India and Pakistan?] Calhoun website, Published 1 October 2011, Retrieved 14 November 2020</ref>

==In popular culture==
The epic poem has been made into several feature films between 1928 and 2013.<ref name=citwf>{{cite web|url=http://www.citwf.com/listFilms.asp?filmName=Heer+Ranjha |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008134931/http://www.citwf.com/listFilms.asp?filmName=Heer+Ranjha |date=3 April 2016|archive-date=8 October 2018 |title= List of many films made on the love story of Heer Ranjha on Complete Index To World Film (CITWF) website|access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Film and release year !!Actors !!Producer and director !!Film songs lyricist and music composer
|-
|''Heer Ranjha'' (1928)<ref name=citwf/>||[[Zubeida]] as Heer, Shehzadi, Jani Babu||[[Fatma Begum]], Victoria Fatma Co./FCo ||
|-
|''Heer Sundari'' (1928)<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999">{{cite book|last1=Rajadhyaksha|first1=Ashish|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofi0000raja|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema|last2=Willemen|first2=Paul|publisher=British Film Institute|year=1999|access-date=12 August 2012|url-access=registration}}</ref>
|Janibabu, Nirasha, [[Master Vithal]]
|Anand Prasad Kapoor, Sharda Film Co.
|
|-
|''Heer Ranjha'' (''Hoor-e-Punjab'') (1929)<ref name=citwf/>||Salochna as Heer, [[Dinshaw Bilimoria]] as Ranjha, Jamshedji, Neelum, M. Ismail as Kaidu, [[Abdul Rashid Kardar]] as Saeda Kherra||Hakim Ram Parasad (Producer), Pesi Karani & R. S. Chaudhry (Directors), Imperial Film Company, Bombay ||
|-
|''Heer Ranjha'' (1931)<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999" />||Master Faqira as Ranjha, Shanta Kumari as Heer||J. P. Advani, Karishna Tone||
|-
|''[[Heer Ranjha (1932 film)|Heer Ranjha]]'' (1932)<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999" />||[[Rafiq Ghaznavi]] as Ranjha, Anwari Bai as Heer||[[Abdul Rashid Kardar]], Hakim Ram Parasad at Lahore||[[Rafiq Ghaznavi]]
|-
|[[Heer Sial (1938 film)|''Heer Syal'']] (1938)<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999" />
|Eiden Bai, Haider Bandi, M. Ismail, [[Noor Jehan]]
|Krishna Dev Mehra
|
|-
|''Heer Ranjha'' (1948)<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999" />||[[Mumtaz Shanti]] as Heer, Ghulam Mohammed as Ranjha||''Wali Sahib''|| Aziz Khan
|-
|''[[Heer (1955 film)|Heer]]'' (1955)||[[Swaran Lata (actress)|Swaran Lata]] as Heer, [[Inayat Hussain Bhatti]] as Ranjha||[[Nazir Ahmed Khan|Nazir]] at Lahore||Hazin Qadri, ''Safdar Hussain''
|-
|''Heer'' (1956)<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999" />||[[Nutan]] as Heer, [[Pradeep Kumar]] as Ranjha||Hameed Butt||[[Kaifi Azmi]]
|-
|''Heer Syal'' (1960)<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999" />
|
|Shanti Prakash Bakshi
|
|-
|''Heer Sial'' (1962)||[[Bahar Begum]] as Heer, [[Sudhir (actor)|Sudhir]] as Ranjha|| ||
|-
|''[[Heer Sial (1965 film)|Heer Sial]]'' (1965) || Firdaus as Heer, [[Akmal Khan]] as Ranjha||Jafar Bukhari at Lahore||[[Tanvir Naqvi]], ''Bakhshi Wazir''
|-
|''[[Heer Ranjha (1970 film)|Heer Ranjha]]'' (1970)<ref name=citwf/>||Firdaus as Heer, [[Ejaz Durrani]] as Ranjha||Masood Pervez at Lahore||[[Ahmad Rahi]], [[Khwaja Khurshid Anwar|Khurshid Anwar]]
|-
|''[[Heer Raanjha]]'' (1970)<ref name=citwf/>||[[Priya Rajvansh]] as Heer, [[Raaj Kumar]] as Ranjha||[[Chetan Anand (director)|Chetan Anand]]||[[Kaifi Azmi]], [[Madan Mohan (composer)|Madan Mohan]]
|-
|''Sayyed Waris Shah'' (1980)<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999" />
|[[Urmila Bhatt]], Ajit Singh Deol, Koushalya Devi, Prema Kumari
|
|Ganpat Rao
|-
|''Aaj Di Heer'' (1983)<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999" />
|Tina Ghai, [[Satish Kaul]], [[Mehar Mittal]], [[Om Shivpuri]]
|Raj Oberoi
|B. N. Bali
|-
|''[[Heer Ranjha (1992)|Heer Ranjha]]'' (1992)<ref name="citwf" />||[[Sridevi]] as Heer, [[Anil Kapoor]] as Ranjha||[[Harmesh Malhotra]]||[[Anand Bakshi]], [[Laxmikant Pyarelal]]
|-
|''[[Waris Shah: Ishq Daa Waaris]]'' (2006)
|[[Gurdas Maan]], [[Juhi Chawla]], [[Sushant Singh]], [[Divya Dutta]]
|[[Manoj Punj]], [[Manjeet Maan]] (Sai Productions)
|[[Jaidev Kumar]]
|-
|''Heer Ranjha: A True Love Story'' (2009)||[[Neeru Bajwa]] as Heer, [[Harbhajan Mann]] as Ranjha||[[Ksshitij Chaudhary]] and Harjit Singh||[[Babu Singh Maan|Babu Singh Mann]], Gurmeet Singh
|}

In 2013, the television serial ''[[Heer Ranjha (TV series)|Heer Ranjha]]'', directed by Shahid Zahoor and produced by [[Yousuf Salahuddin]], aired on [[PTV Home]]. ''Heer Ranjha'' is a 2020 Indian [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]-language [[period drama]] television series starring Amaninder Pal Singh and Sara Gurpal in the lead roles. It aired on [[Zee Punjabi]] and is based on the folktale of Heer and Ranjha.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Heer Ranjha|url=https://www.zee5.com/tvshows/details/heer-ranjha/0-6-2413|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-05|website=[[ZEE5]]}}</ref>

==In music==

Bally Jagpal British musician has a song dedicated to their story. ‘RANJHA’ (sad love song).

The British musician [[Panjabi MC]] references the tale of Heer and Ranjha in his 2003 song ''[[Jogi (Panjabi MC song)|Jogi]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lyricstranslate.com/en/jogi-ascetic.html|title=jogi lyrics + English translation|website=lyricstranslate.com website|access-date=14 November 2020}}</ref> It has been sung by various Pakistani singers, including the classical/traditional artist [[Ghulam Ali (singer)|Ghulam Ali]].

The tale is mentioned in popular Bollywood songs such as "Ranjha" by Rupesh Kumar Ram from the movie ''[[Queen (soundtrack)|Queen]]'' ,"Ranjha Ranjha" by [[Rekha Bhardwaj]] and [[Javed Ali]] from the movie ''[[Raavan (soundtrack)|Raavan]]'' and "Dariya" from the movie ''Baar Baar Dekho''.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

The names of Heer and Ranjha have been referred in the song lyrics of "One Love: The Taj Anthem" by [[A.R.Rahman]].{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

Alam Lohar is renowned for reciting Heer in various styles and one of the first international folk singers to bring this story in a song format.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

One of the songs of 2012 Hindi film ''[[Jab Tak Hai Jaan]]'' has been named "Heer".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/jab-tak-hai-jaan-watch-the-new-song-heer-520366.html |website=News18 India website|title=Jab Tak Hai Jaan: Watch the new song 'Heer' |date=6 November 2012 |access-date=14 November 2020}}</ref>

Also, the 2018 Hindi film ''[[Race 3]]'' has a song named "Heeriye" which refers to Heer and Ranjha.

In 2020, popular Indian YouTuber [[Bhuvan Bam]] wrote and sang a song "Heer Ranjha" and it has garnered more than 10 millions as of now, which depicts the brutal customs of society.

==See also==
*[[Muna Madan]]
*[[Damodar Das Arora]]
*[[Sassi Punnun]]
*[[Trilok Singh Chitarkar]] see gallery - Painting of Sayyid Waris Shah (1722-1798) prepared in 1956 and published by Languages Department, Government of Punjab.

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkLRoxeZ3jA&t=236s Documentary on Heer Ranjha Kamran Saqi] Documentary Film on Heer Ranjha Produced by Kamran Saqi - Royal News
*[http://www.onlineurdunovels.com/read.php?no=240&t=Heer%20Waris%20Shah Read Online Heer Waris Shah By Peeran Dita Targarh] in [[Urdu]] language.
*[http://www.apnaorg.com/poetry/heercomp/ Complete Heer Waris Shah] in [[Shahmukhi]] language.
*[https://www.punjnud.com/PageList.aspx?BookID=5616&BookTitle=Heer/ Qissa Heer Waris Shah] in [[Unicode]] [[Punjabi language]].

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heer Ranjha}}
[[Category:Heer Ranjha| ]]
[[Category:Punjabi culture]]
[[Category:Punjabi folklore]]
[[Category:Punjabi literature]]
[[Category:Sufi literature]]
[[Category:1766 novels]]
[[Category:Literary duos]]
[[Category:Tragedies (dramas)]]
[[Category:Indian folklore]]
[[Category:Indian literature]]
[[Category:Love stories]]
[[Category:Pakistani folklore]]
[[Category:Pakistani literature]]

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Heer Ranjha