Lohri

A festival marked with extreme frolic, a festival associated with solar year, a festival to worship fire, a bonfire festival of North India – it is about Lohri one of the most celebrated festivals of India. Celebrated on 13th January every year, Lohri is the coldest day of year. People of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and Delhi celebrate the festival with great fervor. The festival heralds the end of chilly winters in North India. Almost every Indian can be seen enjoying on the day when Earth starts moving towards the Sun marking the auspicious period of Uttarayan (North) from Dakshinayana (south). If you are a newly wed couple then your first Lohri is of great significance. Even a new born baby makes the Lohri of a family much prominent as it signifies fertility.

The celebrations of Lohri include praying to the bonfire for abundance and prosperity. People make a small image of the Lohri goddess with gobar (cattle dung), adorn it, kindle a fire beneath it and chant its praises. People could be seen gathering around the bonfire and throwing til, groundnuts, puffed rice and popcorns into the flames of the bonfire, singing and dancing till the fire dies out. They take dying embers of the fire to their homes. Ladies jovially perform Gidda, Kikli. While men could be seen doing Bhangra, jhoomer, luddi, julli and dankara. These traditional songs and dances are the legacy of Punjab's culture.

There are many folklores associated with Origin of Lohri. Among them the most common is Dulla Bhatti who is the leading character of most Lohri songs. While others maintain that the name of the festival originated from Loi, the wife of Saint Kabir. Most of the people of rural Punjab pronounce Lohri as Lohi.

Lohri is not only a cultural gala but a social observance. Being related to harvest season the festival is of immense importance in an agricultural country like India. Everybody observes the festival imparting love and affection to all. The social barriers freeze when people visit homes, distribute sweets, meet and greet each other. The past grievances are forgotten and the gap is thus bridged.

Celebrate this vibrant festival of fertility with full enthusiasm and vitality that signifies peace and harmony.

Swati Saxena