The vehra is the courtyard — the open yard at the heart of the Punjabi house, where household life happens under the sky: charpais, drying grain, children's play.
Meaning
ਵੇਹੜਾ (vehra) is the courtyard — the open yard at the heart of the Punjabi house, around which rooms are built. The vehra is where household life happens under the sky: charpais in summer, grain drying in harvest season, children playing, women chatting over work.
Origin and etymology
The word’s origin is not firmly established in the sources; it is the old Punjabi name for the house’s open yard.
Cultural context
The traditional Punjabi house turns inward to its vehra: rooms on three or four sides, the open court in the middle catching sun and breeze. Summer nights are slept in the vehra on charpais under the stars; winter mornings begin there in the sun. At harvest time the vehra fills with wheat being cleaned and dried; at weddings it fills with guests.
The vehra is the women’s domain as much as the family’s — the place of grinding, churning, gossip and song. Modern houses with lawns and drawing rooms have shrunk the vehra, but in village memory it remains the true living room of the Punjabi home.
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਅਰਥ
ਵੇਹੜਾ ਘਰ ਦਾ ਖੁੱਲ੍ਹਾ ਵਿਹੜਾ ਹੈ। ਕਮਰੇ ਇਸ ਦੇ ਆਲੇ-ਦੁਆਲੇ ਬਣੇ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਹਨ।
ਗਰਮੀਆਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਵੇਹੜੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਮੰਜੇ ਡਾਹ ਕੇ ਸੌਂਦੇ ਹਨ। ਫ਼ਸਲ ਦੇ ਦਿਨਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਵੇਹੜਾ ਅੰਨ ਨਾਲ ਭਰ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ।
ਵੇਹੜਾ ਘਰ ਦੀਆਂ ਔਰਤਾਂ ਦੀ ਦੁਨੀਆ ਹੈ — ਇੱਥੇ ਗੱਲਾਂ ਹੁੰਦੀਆਂ ਹਨ, ਗੀਤ ਗਾਏ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਨ, ਕੰਮ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਹਨ।
How it's used
- 1ਬੱਚੇ ਵੇਹੜੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਖੇਡ ਰਹੇ ਹਨ।The children are playing in the courtyard.
- 2ਵੇਹੜੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਮੰਜਾ ਡਾਹ ਦਿਓ।Lay out the charpai in the courtyard.
- 3ਕਣਕ ਵੇਹੜੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਸੁਕਾਈ ਜਾ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ।The wheat is being dried in the courtyard.