Harvest celebrations across India

The harvest season beckons India. Through this gallery we bring photos of the harvest season celebrations across the country.

Seen here are the traditional celebrations in North India, marking the festival of Lohri, complete with drums, music and dance, taking place around the sacred bonfire.(NDTV Photo)

(Watch: Pongal cheer in Tamil Nadu)

(Read: Jaipur celebrates Sankranti with MJ kites)

(Read: Mahakumbh Mela begins in Haridwar today)

(Watch: Assam's fish feast)

(Watch: Life of a Naga Sadhu)

Lohri is celebrated a day before Makar Sankranti, as it marks the end of the winter season. There is a pooja, involving parikrama around the fire, followed by distribution of prasad. The festival symbolises a prayer to Agni, the spark of life, for abundant crops and prosperity. (NDTV Photo)

(Watch: Pongal cheer in Tamil Nadu)

(Read: Jaipur celebrates Sankranti with MJ kites)

(Read: Mahakumbh Mela begins in Haridwar today)

(Watch: Assam's fish feast)

(Watch: Life of a Naga Sadhu)

Lohri was celebrated in full gusto at the Great India Place in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi.

During the day, children go from door to door singing folk songs in praise of Dulha Bhatti, a thief in folklore who helps the poor and fights for their rights. These children are given sweets and savories. These collections are known as Lohri, and they are distributed at night during the festival. (NDTV Photo)

(Watch: Pongal cheer in Tamil Nadu)

(Read: Jaipur celebrates Sankranti with MJ kites)

(Read: Mahakumbh Mela begins in Haridwar today)

(Watch: Assam's fish feast)

(Watch: Life of a Naga Sadhu)

Lohri celebrations at the India Habitat Center brings respite as the winter season peaks in Delhi.

The central character of most Lohri songs is Dulla Bhatti, a Muslim highway robber who lived in Punjab during the reign of Emperor Akbar. Besides robbing the rich, he rescued Hindu girls being forcibly taken to be sold in slave market of the Middle East. Though a bandit, he became a hero of all Punjabis.

(Watch: Pongal cheer in Tamil Nadu)

(Read: Jaipur celebrates Sankranti with MJ kites)

(Read: Mahakumbh Mela begins in Haridwar today)

(Watch: Assam's fish feast)

(Watch: Life of a Naga Sadhu)

Punjab being a predominantly agricultural state prides itself on its food grain production.

Lohri is one of Punjab's most significant festival. Thus, the festival is symbolic of ripening of the crops and of copious harvest.

This explains the Punjabi decor of the celebrations in Noida. (NDTV Photo)

(Watch: Pongal cheer in Tamil Nadu)

(Read: Jaipur celebrates Sankranti with MJ kites)

(Read: Mahakumbh Mela begins in Haridwar today)

(Watch: Assam's fish feast)

(Watch: Life of a Naga Sadhu)

Singing and dancing form an intrinsic part of the celebrations. People wear bright clothes, perform the bhangra and gidda to the beat of the dhol. (NDTV Photo)

(Watch: Pongal cheer in Tamil Nadu)

(Read: Jaipur celebrates Sankranti with MJ kites)

(Read: Mahakumbh Mela begins in Haridwar today)

(Watch: Assam's fish feast)

(Watch: Life of a Naga Sadhu)

BSF jawans on the border revel in the Lohri celebrations. (NDTV Photo)

(Watch: Pongal cheer in Tamil Nadu)

(Read: Jaipur celebrates Sankranti with MJ kites)

(Read: Mahakumbh Mela begins in Haridwar today)

(Watch: Assam's fish feast)

(Watch: Life of a Naga Sadhu)

The festival, celebrated across north India, came as a stress buster for the Ludhiana police who braved the cold to join in the celebrations.(NDTV Photo)

The cops engaged in singing and dancing at a local function in Ludhiana.
The otherwise atomized department came together to be a part of the festivity and merry making.(NDTV Photo)

A police official is all smiles as he watches over the celebrations.(NDTV Photo)

The fire is also an image of energy and spiritual strength. And thus the Lohri fire gets sanctified and is venerated like a deity.(NDTV Photo)

Offerings of peanuts, popcorn and sweets made of til- chirva, gajak and revri are made to propitiate fire as a symbol of the sun god.(NDTV Photo)

To mark the beginning of the harvest season, Pongal is celebrated in southern India.

Pongal in Tamil means "boiling over or spill over." The act of boiling over of milk in the clay pot is considered to denote future wishes for the family. (NDTV Photo)

The increased prices of sugar and jaggery haven't been a stopper for the Pongal celebrations. Seen here are people reveling in the traditional celebrations. (NDTV Photo)

India also celebrates Makar Sankranti on Thursday with countless kites playing a riot of colours across the sky.

The festival is also celebrated to honour, worship and to pay respect to the word mother, Saraswati Maa (Goddess of Knowledge). (NDTV Photo)

Besides kites on Bollywood stars, kites on Michael Jackson are doing brisk business. (NDTV Photo)

A sadhu gestures while taking a bath on the banks of river Ganges in Haridwar during the Kumbh Mela festival.
Thousands of Hindu devotees took a ritual bath before daybreak on Thursday as one of the world's largest religious gatherings got under way. (AFP Photo)

Celebrations continue across Assam as communities come together during the Bihu festivities.
Villages in Assam still observe the lively tradition of community fishing on Bihu.(NDTV Photo)