Lohri 2023: Date, Significance, Legends, and Rituals of the Traditional Harvest Festival

Aayaa Basant, Paalaa Urant!

The spring is here; the cold is nowhere

Lohri is a popular festival celebrated in North India, predominantly in Punjab, some parts of Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir, and in Pakistan. A celebration of the winter solstice, Lohri festival marks the end of the winter season and the beginning of the spring, or Basant season. An element of the Punjabi significance of the festival is that Lohri is the eve of Maghi, the first day of the month of Magh. The festival celebrates farmers for their toil, hard work and sweat.

Lohri 2024 is on January 14 Sunday

7 months and 2 days to go for the event

Harvested fields and grounds are lit with bonfires around which people gather to dance to and sing traditional folk songs. Back in the day, an entire village would gather around the central bonfire with the village elders and celebrate the festival as a community. Celebration of Lohri today is, however, an intimate affair observed among close circles.

Lohri Date: Lohri festival typically falls on the 13th of January of the Gregorian calendar every year. Among other culturally significant festivals are the Makar Sankranti and Pongal celebrated in the month of January. Traditionally, Lohri is celebrated on the day prior to Makar Sankranti, a festival reliant on a solar event. Given that Makar Sankranti is observed on the 15th of January, 2023, Lohri 2024 falls on the 14th of January, 2023.

Etymology of Lohri: The term Lohri seems to have originated from two words, loh (iron) and ari (saw). People also believe that the word Lohri comes from Tilohri, til (sesame) and rorhi (meaning gur or jaggery).

Origin of Lohri Festival

The exact origin of when and why the festival of Lohri began is lost in the midst of antiquity. However, the origin can be traced back to the tale of Dulla Bhatti, a Muslim bandit who lived in Punjab during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar.

Dulla Bhatti is a central character remembered during Lohri for his strength, valor and courage when he is known to have saved Hindu girls from being stolen and enslaved. He was also known for his empathy when he robbed the rich to feed the poor, making him the Robin Hood of the medieval India.

Children go from door to door demanding Lohri, singing odes, carols and traditional folk songs about Dulla Bhatti, a hero in the Punjabi folklore. These children are sent off with handfuls of Lohri delicacies, like gazak (candy flat-cake made of sugar or caramelized jaggery, coated with sesame seed), bhuga (puffed or roasted rice), til (sesame seeds), moongphali (peanuts), gur (jaggery), and rewri (candies).

Significance of Lohri Festival

Lohri is the celebration of the post-harvest ceremonies, where farmers pay tribute to the Sun God. People also celebrate the festival to pay tribute to the hard work of farmers. Traditionally celebrated on the longest night of winter, people celebrate the end of the cold, in anticipation of the spring.

For the people of Punjab, Lohri is more than just a harvest festival. Lohri is symbolic of fertility and the joy of life. It assumes greater significance with celebratory, auspicious events in the family, like the birth of a male child or a marriage in the year that passed. On the night of Lohri, the new bride and the newborn baby are celebrated with much enthusiasm. For ages, Lohri had been considered 'the son festival' where they rejoiced the birth of a baby boy over that of a baby girl. Times have changed, and every newborn is celebrated with love and joy.

Lohri festival makes an auspicious day for the Hindus, when they hold rituals to circumambulate around a fire and distribute prasad (blessed food or savories). The ritual symbolizes a prayer to Agni, or the God of Fire, for the bountiful harvest they have had, like in the South Indian festival celebrated on the same day as Lohri, called Bhogi. Lohri entitled as a Hindu festival is a misconception.

The next day is Maghi, the first day of the month of Magh of the Indian Calendar, which ushers a new season in Punjab. The Sikhs hold a mela or a fair on this day to commemorate the martyrdom of Chaali Muktae (the Forty Liberated or the Immortal Ones) remembered in the Sikh Ardras (prayers).

Legends of Lohri

There are two renowned fable associated with the history of the Lohri festival:

The Legend of the Sun God

Lohri celebrates the end of the winter season and is observed on the last day of the month of Pans of the Indian Calendar. It is believed that the forefathers devised a sacred mantra, or prayer to invoke the Sun God to protect them from the cold.They believed that the mantra brought in warm and long days, getting rid of the winter season, and they chanted this mantra while they circumambulated around the fire.

Going round the fire is still followed as a ritual while the mantra is no longer sung. The Lohri fire is symbolic of the homage to the Sun God.

The Legend of Dulla Bhatti

Abdullah Bhatti (Dulla Bhatti) was born in a Punjabi family to mother Ladhi and father Farid Khan during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. A legendary hero of Punjab, Dulla Bhatti is known for his courage to battle against Emperor Akbar for his savagery. Dulla Bhatti avenged the murder of rebels against the Emperor. He also saved poor girls who were sold and forcefully abducted and enslaved by the Moghul forces, and later on arranged marriage for them with Hindu men. The chronicles of Dulla Bhatti are held in high esteem, that almost every Lohri song and folklore mentions of his name.

Important Timings On Lohri 2024

Rituals of Lohri

Lohri fire is an indispensable part of the festivities. People gather around the bonfire to sing and dance to traditional Lohri songs. They cast gazak (candy flat-cake made of sugar or caramelized jaggery), puffed or roasted rice, til (sesame seed), peanuts and gur (jaggery) to the bonfire shouting "Aadar aaye Dilethar Jaaye" (May honor come and poverty vanish), as part of the festivities.

On this day, children ring door to door singing traditional songs and demanding Lohri, and they are sent off with handfuls of Lohri delicacies, like candy flat-cake made of sugar, sweet puffed or roasted rice, sesame seeds, peanuts, and candies. Leaving them empty handed is regarded as inauspicious.

Punjabi dishes like the makki ki roti (corn based bread), sarson ka saag (coked mustard greens), and rao di kheer (a mixture of rice and sugarcane juice) are part of the communal feast.

People get in their best outfits, go merry all night and exchange sweets and Lohri wishes. The newly wed brides wear jewelry and newborns are give little comes to hold. As the Lohri fire is set ablaze, people throw sticks of sugarcane into the flame. Families play host to relatives and friends. The traditional bhangra dance along with dhol and gidda mark the festivities of Lohri.