Lohri is a harvest festival which is mainly celebrated in the northern parts of India especially in Punjab and Harayana. This year, it is going to be held on 13 January 2017, Friday.

Lohri is celebrated on the day of winter solstice by enlightening the bonfire at night. The day of winter solstice has the coldest night of the winters. That is why, the bonfire is alighted. This festival is celebrated by the people with great enthusiasm and joy.

Lohri Belongs to Punjab - Why?

In ancient times, Lohri is linked to Bikrami Calendar and twined with Makar Sankranti. And, in Punjab, Makar Sankranti is celebrated as Maghi Sangrand. That's why it is celebrated on a winter solstice.

After few years, the festive trend of Lohri expanded to the adjoining states of Punjab, like Sandy, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu.

Let's study the origin of this great festival in more detail.

Origin of Lohri

While celebrating Lohri in 2017, it is a good idea to know about its origin. As humans are mortal, we cannot bring out the evidence of all the events occurred in past. However, there are many tales associated with the origin of this beautiful festival Lohri. These tales form the part of folklore. Apart from all this mess, the main thing that stays constant is the belief that Lohri is a cultural celebration of winter solstice. One may conclude that Lohri is meant to be celebrated on the shortest day of the year.

According to the Bikrami Calendar, Lohri is celebrated on the winter solstice. This was twinned with the Makar Sankranti which is celebrated on the very next day of Lohri. In Punjab, Makar Sankranti is celebrated as Maghi Sangrand.

The main part of this wonderful festival is bonfire. As fire lighting is common during winters, this day is celebrated as the last day of fire lighting by doing bonfire because longer days begin after winter solstice. Apart from this, for some people, concept of bonfire has some religious meanings too, that are quite close to the remnants of Pagan origins. However, most of the people believe that bonfire is nothing more than a tradition.

Science Contradicts Lohri Concept!

Scientifically, the shortest day falls around 21 to 22 December and days begin to become longer after that. Hence, winter solstice is meant to be in between 21 December to 22 December.

Lohri Celebration

As now you must have understood that Lohri is celebrated on the last day of winter, which is also coldest. People across the globe begin the preparation of Lohri few days in advance.

The celebration takes a special pitch if a family had a new marriage or child birth recently. Usually, Punjabi people arrange for a private party for the celebration of Lohri in which their near dear ones participate. You must have an idea of the celebration skills of Punjabis. Hence, this festival is also full of music and dance. Lohri Songs add bliss to the festival.

Dancing and singing is the intrinsic part of this glorious festival. As Punjabis are also famous for their glitzy appearance, they wear brightest clothes. With a festive look, they perform their cultural dance Bhangra and Gidda tuning up with the beats of Dhol. Now, let's come to their delicacies.

Apart from music and dance, Lohri is also about their traditional dish of 'Makke-Di-Roti, Sarson-Da-Saag'. This dish is served as the main course food at Lohri night.

As Lohri is the harvest festival, it holds great importance for farmers. It is not like only farmers celebrate this festival, people living in urban areas also celebrate it in a beautiful way.

So, you also become the part of this wonderful festival and live it up to the best! With this brief article on Lohri, we wish you a Very Happy Lohri 2016!

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