LamanKullvi
Courtship, conducted as a contest — a line of men sings a verse, a line of women answers it, and the answer has to fit the metre and cap the sense. It is love poetry that is judged in public and in real time.
कब गाया जाता है: Fairs, fields and gatherings.
Nati versesKullvi, Seraji and Mandeali
Place, weather, harvest, absent lovers and local scandal, set to the fixed nati cycles and added to continuously.
कब गाया जाता है: Any occasion large enough to dance at.
Devta invocationKullvi and Seraji
The deity's origin story, the boundaries of its territory, its past judgements and its quarrels with neighbouring deities. These songs are the primary record of village history in a region that kept almost nothing in writing.
कब गाया जाता है: Fairs, and during possession of the gur.
Ainchali and suhagMandeali and Kullvi
The bride's bathing, dressing and departure, sung by women in sequence over several nights, each song tied to the ritual step it accompanies.
कब गाया जाता है: Weddings.
JhooriPahari
Love, usually illicit and usually sung about someone the audience can identify. The form belongs most strongly to the Sutlej side and is fully at home here.
कब गाया जाता है: Fairs and evening gatherings.
Harvest and pasture songsKullvi, Seraji, Gaddi
Work rhythm, the count of animals, the crossing of a pass and the wait for a return — sung by mixed working parties and by herders alone.
कब गाया जाता है: Reaping, and the movement of flocks.
Bhunda and ritual cycle songsSeraji
Sacrifice, atonement and the renewal of a covenant with the deity, sung only when the observance is held, which can be once in a generation.
कब गाया जाता है: The rare multi-year observances at Nirmand and a few other sites.