The festival of Lohri is celebrated on the last night of Paush month according to the Hindu calendar. Lohri has special significance for Sikhs. Preparations start a few days before the festival. It is popular to celebrate this festival especially at the conclusion of autumn. In 2019, this festival will be celebrated on 13 January, Sunday. Days start looming after Lohri, i.e. the Magh month begins. This festival is celebrated all over the world. However, in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, this festival is celebrated with great pomp and show.
On the evening of Lohri, people burn wood and dance around the fire and sing and offer sacrifices, peanuts, kheel, maize seeds in the fire. People orbiting fire and sitting around the fire make the fire. During this time Revdi, Kheel, Gajjak, enjoy eating corn.
Know how to celebrate Lohri-
- There is a tradition of going door-to-door on Lohri and singing songs of Dulla Bhatti and other types, but this is rarely the case nowadays.
- The children go to Lohri from house to house and are not returned empty handed. Hence they are given jaggery, groundnut, sesame, gajak or revdi.
- Woods are collected from house to house throughout the day. Nowadays money has also been given in place of wood from which wood is bought and brought in the evening in the open space around the chairahae or houses.
- In that fire, sesame, jaggery and maize are offered as an offering.
- Lohri is distributed to all by lighting a fire. The dance-music phase also continues. Male Bhangra and women dance Gidda.
Lohri was earlier called Tilodi. The word Tilodi is made up of the words Til and Rhodi . Which now became famous as Lohri.
History of Lohri –
There were two orphan girls. Whose names were Sundari and Mundari. By not marrying them duly, his uncle wanted to present him to a king. At the same time there is a robber named Dulla Bhatti. He freed Sundari and Mundari from the bloodthirsty and married them.
Dulla Bhatti helped the girls in this hour of trouble. Dulla Bhatti persuaded the boys and got Sundari and Mundari married by lighting a fire in a forest. Dulay himself also bestowed both of them. It is also said that the groom gave him sugar as Shagun. When the groom sent the girls away, he put a sugar in their bag. Dulla Bhatti also played the role of a father to poor girls. They also say that they celebrate this festival in memory of Saint Kabir’s wife Loi. That is why this festival is also called Loi. Thus, this festival is celebrated all over North India with pomp.
