Lohri

Lohri

Lohri is a North Indian festival which is celebrated on the last day of the Indian calendar month of Paush. It is celebrated a day before Makar Sankranti. By the Gregorian calendar the festival is celebrated on 13^th January (99 % of the time) while it may sometimes also fall on the 12^th or 14^th January. It is a festival dedicated to the end of the winter season and people generally believe that the severity of winter starts decreasing on this day, though the season itself lasts till about mid March.

Lohri commemorates the hero of Punjab, Dulla Bhatti, who staked everything to save the honour of girls who were harassed and molested by Mughal soldiers. A Muslim-Rajput warrior, he is remembered for rescuing a girl from the soldiers, adopting her and later marrying her off with a Hindu boy just as his own sister. He is also described as a Robin Hood kind of hero who looted the merchant caravans and royal treasures and distributed the bounty to the poor and needy. He rescued many women from the invaders and restored them to their parents. His story is immortalised in the traditional Lohri song, “Sundar Mundriye”.

Sunder mundriye ho!
Tera kaun vicharaa ho!
Dullah Bhatti walla ho!
Dullhe di dhee vyayae ho!
Ser shakkar payee ho!
Kudi da laal pathaka ho!
Kudi da saalu paata ho!
Salu kaun samete!
Chacha gali dese!
Chache choori kutti! zamidara lutti!
Zamindaar sudhaye!
Bum Bum bhole aaye!
Ek bhola reh gaya!
Sipahee far ke lai gaya!
Sipahee ne mari itt!
Bhaanvey ro te bhaanvey pitt!
Sanoo de de Lohri, te teri jeeve jodi!
Translation

Beautiful girl
Who will think about you
Dulla of the Bhatti clan will
Dulla's daughter got married
He gave one ser of sugar!
The girl is wearing a red suit!
But her shawl is torn!
Who will stitch her shawl?!
The uncle made choori!
The landlords looted it!
Landlords are beaten up!
Lots of simple-headed boys came!
One simpleton got left behind!
The soldier arrested him!
The soldier hit him with a brick!

Cry or howl

Give us Lohri, long live your pair (to a married couple)!

The festival is also associated with the harvest of Rabi crops. The crop of Sesame seed (til) and groundnuts comes during this season.

During the day children go from door to door singing folk songs in praise of Dulla Bhatti. They are given groundnuts, rewris, jaggery, gachack etc, and sometimes money. Turning them back empty handed is considered inauspicious.

Everyone gets together at sunset and a large bonfire is lit at a central place. People wear their brightest clothes and dance the bhangra and gidda to the beat of the dhol. They toss groundnuts, sesame seeds, gur, rewris and popcorn on the bonfire and sing and dance till the fire dies out. Traditional dinner of Makki di roti and Sarson da saag is served to all.

Lohri is more than just a festival for the fun loving, sturdy, robust, enthusiastic, energetic and jovial Punjabis. Lohri is symbolic of their love for celebrations and also brings an opportunity for people to get together to share each other’s company.