Lohri Festival

Lohri is a popular North Indian winter folk festival celebrated primarily in the Punjab Region. This much-awaited festival marks the end of the winter solstice and the beginning of the happy sunny days. This festival is observed the night before Makar Sankranti which occurs on the same date every year. Lohri marks the arrival of longer days after the winter solstice and harvesting of the Rabi crops. Primarily Sikhs and Hindus of this region like to deck up in colorful traditional attires, sing and dance around the bonfire. They welcome the longer days of warmer temperatures by offering different food items to the Fire God and offer prayers to destroy all negativity from their life and to bless them with new energy at the beginning of the year.

Traditionally, the word Lohri comes from ‘Tilohri’ i.e. ‘til’ meaning sesame and ‘rorhi’ meaning Jaggery (gur). Later on, people started calling it Lohri. Scientifically, all these food ingredients help to cleanse the digestive system and help to bring new energy for the New Year as well as to harvest new crops. That is the reason behind foods like jaggery, gajak, til ki chikki are offered to the fire as an ancient way of paying gratitude to nature.