Northern
January is immensely cold, there’s fog and everything seems rather at a
standstill but one thing brilliant about nature is that the fields look
promising and is a good enough reason to celebrate as it is also the resting
period before the cutting of crops. It is also customary to celebrate this
festival with pomp and joy for newly weds; houses blessed with a newborn baby
or infact any happy event in the family. For agriculturists it is also the
beginning of a new financial year. It sure is enticing to find an apparent wave
of activity going on amongst People for Lohri celebrations- the long-awaited
bonfire festival, which is celebrated on the 13th of January
every year. Interestingly at the same time “Pongal” is celebrated in Tamil
Nadu, “Bihu” in Assam, “Bhogi” in Andhra Pradesh “Sankranti” in Karnataka,
Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and “Utraan” in Gujrat.
RITUALS
“
De Mai Lodi, Jeeve teri Jodi”, “ Sundar munderiya ho. tera kaun vichara ho.
Dulha bhatti waal aho…”etc can be heard in the morning on Lohri day as it’s a
ritual for children to demand “Lohri” from elders in the form of money, sweets,
peanuts, Gajak, Sesame seed Rewadi, popcorn, jaggery etc. Interestingly “ Dulha
Bhatti Waala” was the Punjabi Robin Hood and that is the reason children sing
his praises as a custom on Lohri as he was also known to have saved the life of
a girl and giving her in marriage as his own sister”. The main event in
the evening is making of a huge bonfire, which is symbolic of the homage to the
Sun God for bringing in warmth around which people sing and dance and throw
puffed rice, Lohri related sweets etc in the fire that sanctifies one’s
endeavor for a good life on the one hand and destroys evil spirits on the
other.
TO SUM
IT UP
The
celebrations generate a lot of bonhomie as family and friends sit around the
bonfire, singing, dancing and praying for prosperity, while making offerings of
peanuts, jaggery, popcorn, beaten rice and Sesame seed gajak to the rising
flames.
