Happy Lohri 2019: January is when 'golden crop' wheat is at its prime lush across the fields of Punjab.
Happy Lohri! As one goes around celebrating Lohri and wishing their loved ones a happy Lohri, here are some interesting facts behind Lohri and why it is celebrated as a harvest festival of Punjab. Lohri is celebrated as a harvest festival of Punjab. People living in Punjab celebrate Lohri with tremendous joy as it is a festival of feasts and foods. Lohri is a celebration of the winter crop season. On Lohri, some people also pray to the Sun deity Surya as Lohri is observed a night before Makar Sankranti, that marks beginning of longer days. To celebrate the festival and wish a happy Lohri to the loved ones of a community, people light a holy bonfire at night which signifies the passing of the winter solstice.
Why is Lohri called the Harvest Festival Of Punjab?
The main winter crop that grows in Punjab is wheat. While the crop is sown in October and harvested in March and April, the month of January is when the 'golden crop' of wheat is at its prime lush across the fields of Punjab. Lohri, the end of the chilly winter, is a festival that is celebrated in great verve and zeal in Punjab as for Punjabis, wheat and its golden harvest holds tremendous value. To celebrate Lohri, people in Punjab pile logs of woods to make a bonfire while their friends, relatives and loved ones gather around. They then take rounds around the bonfire and throw peanuts, popcorn, sweets and revari into the holy fire. Meanwhile, people dance to the beat of dhol even as some people perform bhangra and giddha. This is done to please the deity of fire and prayer for a bountiful harvest of crops as Lohri marks the end of the winter season and the beginning of a new season of harvest.
Hence, a bountiful harvest and the celebration that comes along with is the reason what makes a happy Lohri.