Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 13: Lohri, the winter festival celebrated predominantly in Northern India, took place today with great enthusiasm and customary rituals across the Jammu region.
On this occasion, bonfires were lit as people exchanged warm Lohri greetings and distributed traditional treats such as sweets, peanuts, and Gajak. Children, dressed in traditional attire and carrying ‘Chhajjaa’, eagerly visited homes in their neighborhoods to extend their Lohri wishes, receiving sweets and small gifts in return.
The entire city of Jammu was aglow with festive cheer, as shops bustled with customers purchasing groundnuts, walnuts, rewri, fruits, and more.
Many social, religious, and political organizations hosted Lohri celebrations at various locations, where bonfires were lit to uphold the tradition. Participants danced joyously around the sacred Lohri fire to traditional songs accompanied by the rhythmic beats of drums.
Young boys, adorned with bamboo-stick Chhajjaas decorated with colorful paper, performed the ‘Chhajja dance’, receiving cheers and applause from the gathered elders.
The traditional offering known as ‘Tricholi’, made from soaked rice mixed with groundnuts, rewri, gur, and walnut kernels, was offered to the Fire God while chanting Vedic mantras and circling the bonfire.
Throughout the day, families visited the homes of relatives and friends, sharing gifts and warm greetings. Social media buzzed with vibrant Lohri messages and videos shared among friends and family.
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On this festive day, close relatives and friends were invited to feast in homes where the first Lohri was celebrated by newlywed brides or parents of newborns.
Similar celebrations took place throughout Jammu, with bonfires kindled in various Chowks and lanes, as residents exchanged greetings of Lohri.
Reports indicated that Lohri was celebrated in a traditional manner in Kathua, Samba, Udhampur, Ramban, Rajouri, Poonch, Kishtwar, and Doda districts as people wished each other Lohri greetings.
This auspicious festival marks the beginning of the ‘Magh’ month, occurring just after Lohri, signaling the end of the harsh winter. Lohri signifies the transition from the cold, biting chill of winter to the longer days following the Winter Solstice, and it is also linked to the harvest of Rabi crops.
Numerous legends are associated with this beloved festival, the most notable being the tale of Dulla Bhatti, a figure believed to have lived in Punjab during Emperor Akbar’s reign. According to Punjabi folklore, he acted as a ‘Robin Hood’, taking from the wealthy to aid the poor, particularly rescuing girls from slavery and arranging their marriages with village boys, providing them dowries from his ill-gotten gains. Among these girls were Sundri and Mundri, immortalized in the folk song ‘Sunder Munderiye’.
