If it’s not for our vibrant festivals, winters will be hard to endure. January month brings icy cold winds and foggy mornings to our region but it’s also the time for harvest festivals of Lohri/Sankranti which are celebrated with great fervor in most homes.
The word Lohri is derived from two words til (sesame) and rorhi (jaggery), which are traditionally eaten during the festival. The terms til and rorhi together used to sound like ’tilohri’ earlier in history, gradually morphing into the term ‘Lohri’.
Each year, as a community, we celebrate Lohri in Malibu Towne to mark the passing of the winter solstice. This year again, the whole community came together to light the bonfire and celebrate with the sound of Dhols. People, young and old, sang and danced around the Lohri fire and put foods like gajak, revari, popcorn, puffed rice and others into the fire as ‘tributes’ to the gods in exchange for blessings. The same was also generously shared with others present at the celebration.
Bonfire symbolically indicates many things to many people, but overall everyone will agree that it signifies that bright days are ahead of the people’s lives and acts as the carrier of people’s prayers to the sun god — it’s just a really good excuse to get together as a community.
