Lohri is the first of India's rich and diverse melange of festivals to be celebrated with great pomp and energy across different regions of the nation in the new calendar year. In North India, and predominantly Punjab, this harvesting festival begins the year's festivities with a tribute to the farmers for their hard work and work that enables us to live prosperous lives.
This is the harvest season for Punjabi farmers when they begin to reap the abundance of their harvest of the Rabi crops – for the most part wheat. This period denotes the end of the winter solstice, after which we can expect warmer and longer days.
Lohri falls on January 13 every year, as per the Gregorian calendar. As per the regional calendar, Lohri falls on the most recent day of the period of Paush, the coldest month of the year. In ancient times, Lohri was observed before the winter solstice, the longest evening of the year. Today, it is celebrated toward the beginning of Uttarayana – the time when the sun moves from the South toward the North.
The day after Lohri festival denotes the beginning of the Magh month and this day is called Maghi in Punjab, when Pongal is celebrated in Tamil Nadu and Makar Sankranti in most other parts of the nation, for example, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand.
Lohri is predominantly celebrated in Punjab and some parts of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu. However, in the true Indian style of integration, it is celebrated by numerous Hindus and Sikhs everywhere on over the nation. In this way, you will see bonfires, singing and moving in numerous parts of the nation today!
The harvesting period is a season of cheer and celebration, especially in the cultivating network. Farmers get together to thank the sun god, Surya, for the blessing of heat and warmth that enabled the wonderful harvest - reward for their long a long time of difficult work.
We are generally indebted to the farmers for their painstaking efforts lasting through the year without which we would not be able to eat or live. It is as much a characteristic of respect and recognition to the farmers as a celebration of a plentiful and prosperous year of harvest, that the festival of Lohri is celebrated.
• you will see excited children and grown-ups practice diligently for dance performances
• you will hear the majestic sound of the beat of the dhol or drums to popular Punjabi society numbers
• of course, you would have witnessed the superb and heart-warming sight of the bonfire!
• People take a dip in the blessed waters of rivers to cleanse themselves of their wrongdoings.
• They additionally donate to noble cause as a characteristic of sharing the bounties they have been blessed with.
• Children generally visit every house in the neighborhood singing tunes and collecting commitments for the bonfire.
• Sarson ka saag (mustard greens) and makki ki roti (millet bread rolled level and roasted on a pan), and sugarcane kheer (pudding) are the special Lohri food items prepared on this day.
• Phully (popcorn), gunna (sugar cane), moongphali (peanuts) and gajak (a sweet dish made of sesame seeds or peanuts and jaggery) are customary tidbits.
'Time to leave the past behind'
• The most exciting part of Lohri celebrations is the gathering of family, friends, and neighbors around the bonfire that is lit after the sun sets. On the nippy evening of the Lohri festival, the bonfire adds warmth to each one of those who congregate around it.
• Days before Lohri begins, people collect twigs, dry leaves and old clothes for the bonfire.
• In some villages of Punjab, people make little icons of the Lohri goddess with gobar or bovine manure. This is lit with wood and has become the grand bonfire that we know and love today.
• People wear new clothes, and dance to Punjabi people dances, for example, Gidda and Bhangra; Lohri melodies are sung by children and grown-ups alike.
• Sugarcane, sweets, moongphali (peanuts) and chirwa (beaten rice) are tossed in the bonfire as offerings to the God of Fire, Agni. They are additionally distributed as Lohri prasad (special blessing or offering).
• The Lohri bonfire signifies the disposing of old ideas, thoughts and contemplations and the welcoming of new and great musings, prayers, and wishes to each one of those near and dear to you. Fire or Agni is an important witness in Hindu marriages and is the supporting force of life and hence, people worship and respect it during this festival.
1. It is believed to be an event to celebrate Agni, the God of Fire, and to worship Surya, the Sun God.
2. There is the account of Dulla Bhatti, a Muslim bandit who lived during the era of Mughal Emperor Akbar (some state Jahangir). He rescued Hindu maidens from being sold as slaves to the Middle East. He would get them married to Hindu young men in the presence of fire (Agni) and sing tunes in celebration. Along these lines, began the custom of the Lohri bonfire. Two maidens named Sundri and Mundri, who were so rescued are included as part of Lohri folklore, Sunder Mundriye. Tunes hailing this hero and his brave feats are still sung today.
3. Another folklore is that Holika and Lohri were sisters. Holika perished in the Holi fire while Lohri lived on.
4. It is likewise believed that since 'loh' means light and warmth of the fire, Lohri was derived from that.
5. Since until (sesame seeds) and rorhi (gud or jaggery) are generally eaten as of now, a blend of the two - tilrorhi came to be known as Lohri over time.
Other article of Lohri Festival available at Seniors Today.