Lohri 2023: The Hindu festival of Lohri marks the ripening of winter crops as well as the beginning of a new harvesting season. Lohri is all about delicious food, family and friends, along with traditional folk songs and dance. The auspicious festival of Lohri is widely celebrated by the people of Haryana and Punjab, especially by the Hindu and Sikh communities. Lohri, also known as Lohri and Lal Loi, falls a day before Makar Sankranti.
On this day, people light a fire outside their homes or in public areas using wood and cow dung cakes and then circumambulate around the fire offering sesame seeds, jaggery, gajak, rewdi and peanuts. Along with harvesting the crop, they also offer bhog made from the crop offered to Agni.
Lohri 2023: Date and timings of worship
It is not clear on which day Lohri should be celebrated this year. Many people are confused whether it falls on January 13 or 14. According to Drik Panchang, the festival of Lohri will be celebrated on Saturday, January 14, 2023. That’s why Makar Sankranti will fall on Sunday, January 15, 2023. Apart from this, the Brahma Muhurta will be from 5.27 am to 6.21 am and the Lohri Sankranti date will be from 8.57 pm.
Lohri 2023: History
The legend of Dulla Bhatti, who lived in Punjab during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar, is the most famous folk tale associated with Lohri. He used to rob the rich and help the poor and needy. Historians claim that he once rescued a child from kidnappers and raised her as his own daughter. He even performed the rituals on his wedding day without any priest. People used to sing the traditional song ‘Sunder Mundri’ every year in Lohri because they loved and admired him.
Lohri 2023: Significance and Celebrations
Lohri and sugarcane products go hand in hand. If you are celebrating Lohri, you must be offering jaggery (gur) along with gajjak. Along with this radish, spinach and mustard leaves (sarson ka saag) are essential items to be included in the menu and have been a delicacy since ancient times. Add makki di roti and there you have it, a feast to enjoy. Apart from these dishes, you can eat peanut and sesame rice which is made of sesame seeds, rice and jaggery.
Lohri is a festival to celebrate fertility and the joy of life. In the villages, while the cut fields and fields are littered with bonfires, there is much more to the ritual. In the cold winter morning people start roaming around to collect branches to make bonfires. Children also participate in the fair. They go from house to house demanding the ‘loot of Lohri’ and receive the money with til (sesame), jaggery, peanuts, gajjak or revdi. Water is sprinkled in the rooms of the houses as a ritual.
In the evening, people gather for ‘parikrama’ and throw popcorn, puffed rice as well as Rewari-like gram on the bonfire. Sugarcane is also put in the bonfire as an offering. Due to this, the aroma of burning sugar spreads all around. In addition, they pray ‘Aadar Ae Dilathar Jai’ (May honor come and poverty disappear), wishing for the fertility of their land and an abundant harvest. They then celebrate by singing folk songs and dancing.
The revelers wear new clothes and exchange sweets. Lohri is also an auspicious festival for newlyweds and newborn babies. While newlyweds wear jewellery, newborn babies hold a comb as part of a ritual. It is a festival of togetherness and the bond between friends and family. Light the bonfire and let the festivities begin. Happy Lohri!
(ANI)