The festival of Lohri is celebrated in the initial month of the year. It is one of the major festivals of North India, which is celebrated mainly in Punjab and Haryana. Every year across the country, the festival of Lohri is celebrated with great pomp a day before Makar Sankranti. On this day, folk songs are sung while standing around the fire. Along with new paddy, kheel, maize, jaggery, rewari, and peanuts are offered in the fire. Also, revolve around the fire. This festival is associated with the harvest, which the Sikhs celebrate to celebrate the ripening of the crop. However, there are three popular reasons for celebrating Lohri. It has some mythological beliefs. Let us know when is Lohri this year and why is Lohri celebrated.
When is Lohri?
Every year the festival of Lohri takes place a day before Makar Sankranti. This year Makar Sankranti is on 15 January and Lohri is being celebrated on 14 January.
Why is Lohri celebrated?
There are many beliefs regarding celebrating Lohri. A mythological belief is related to Prajapati Daksh and his daughter Sati. King Daksh despised Lord Shiva and did not include him in the Yagya, then seeing her husband's neglect, Mother Sati sacrificed her life in the same fire pit. It is believed that since then the festival of Lohri is celebrated as a form of repentance. For this reason, on the occasion of Lohri, married girls are invited to their homes and honored.
Another reason to celebrate Lohri
The second belief related to Lohri is that of Shri Krishna. The story is that all the Gokul residents were busy in preparations for Makar Sankranti and Kansa was plotting to kill Bal Krishna. A day before Sankranti, Kansa sent a demon named Lohita to Gokul to kill Lord Krishna. Kanha killed the demon Lohita while playing. It is in this happiness that the festival of Lohri is celebrated.
The third reason to celebrate Lohri
The third belief regarding Lohri is from the reign of Akbar. It is said that during the reign of Akbar, a person named Dulla Bhatti lived in Punjab province. There was a place named Sandal Bar (Pakistan), where poor girls were sold to the rich. The village contractor threatened him for marrying farmer Sunder Das's two daughters, Sundari and Mundari. When Dulla Bhatti came to know about this, he burnt the contractor's farm and got his two daughters married as per the farmer's wish. Since then the festival of Lohri started being celebrated.
(PC: Freepik)
