Blazing bonfire on a cold winter evening,
crackling wood, roasted potatoes and sweet p
otatoes,
hands busy nibbling sesame, gur and peanuts,
songs and dance along with prayers for a golden
harvest are an integral part of
any Lohri celebration.
The festival of Lohri marks the culmination of winter and the celebration of fertility. As the harvest is in, beauty and love surrounds everyone and people rejoice this day with friends and enjoy the good life. As each winter season ends, farmers of Punjab evaluate the harvests and renew their commitment to life. With a good harvest, farmers can take the first step to live a more gentle lifestyle or at least to start planning for changes in lifestyle.
The Rabi crop (wheat) is normally sown in October and the half-grown saplings show promising signs of a good harvest when they are cut in March-April. The delight of the farmers on seeing the fields coming up with the promise of gold (the wheat fields look golden color) knows no bounds and after the intense toil and sweat that they have put in, they would definitely like to celebrate, for there is plenty of time before work in the fields again requires their attention. The people celebrate with gay abandon. In January the weather is very cold and what better way than to light a bonfire, which forms the essence and the focal point of Lohri.
The festival of Lohri, featuring dancing and celebrations around a bonfire, marks the end of winter and welcoming of warmer weather. Bidding adieu to the season of winter, this festival heralds the onset of spring and summer with its gentle, warm days, imploring Mother Nature to once again create, generate and renew the cycle of life. In celebration of the season of life and re-birth, Lohri is always held on 13th January.
Lohri is one of the most well known and colorful festivals of Punjab, which is the most fertile region of India. Punjab has five rivers (Indus, Satlaj, Jhelum, Ravi, Chenab) flowing through it. These rivers are the reason for it’s fertility. The land and rivers of Punjab are shared by India and Pakistan.
Punjabi people are traditionally hard working farmers. Their winter crop of wheat is sown in autumn and is ready in April. In January, the fields are covered in green, lush wheat plants, billowing in the wind. The farmers, celebrate the health of the crop and pray for a good harvest. This is the time before the hard work of harvesting begins. As January is a cold month, the festivities take place around a bonfire. This bonfire is built collectively by each family of the community, often by giving donations to youngsters who then go and buy wood for the fire and sweets for distribution and organize the Lohri.
Lohri is also viewed as the beginning of a new year. According to legend, a good Lohri sets the tone for the whole year ahead — the more joyous and bountiful the occasion, the greater will be the love, peace and prosperity. The rituals, celebrations, prayers, community get-together and feasting associated with Makara Sankranti and Lohri are only symbolic of a common thanks-giving to Nature as represented by the Sun god, and in the process, the festivities embody a spirit of brotherhood, unity and gratitude, with family reunions and merrymaking generating a lot of happiness, goodwill and cheer. |
