Lohri 2024 Date: Is 13 or 14 January? Check the Correct Date Here

When is Lohri 2024: Lohri is a popular festival celebrated majorly in Northern India. The traditional Dogra and Sikh festival marks the end of winter and the arrival of warm weather. As per astro science, the festival symbolizes the sun’s journey to the Northern Hemisphere. This popular harvest festival of North India involves a holy bonfire to express gratitude for the good harvest and pray for prosperity to the almighty. Read this article to clear the uncertainty around the exact date for the Lohri celebration.

When is Lohri January 13 or 14?

Lohri, also known as Lohadi or Lal Loi is a popular festival which marks the passing of the winter solstice. The popular Sikh festival is based on the Hindu Solar Calendar. Also, it is closely associated with the popular Hindu festival Makara Sankranti and is celebrated one day before it. 

This year Maghi (Makar) Sankranti will fall on January 15, and this means Lohri will be celebrated on January 14, 2024. 

Source: Drik Panchang

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Why is Lohri on January 14 this year?

The celebration of Lohri is based on the Hindu Solar Calendar. Surprisingly, the date of Lohri changes every 70 years because of the shift in the planetary configuration of the Sun. According to this, in the late 19th century, Lohri used to be celebrated on 11th January. Later in the mid-20th century, the festival used to fall on 12th January or 13th January. And now, the popular harvest festival is generally celebrated on 13th or 14 January. This year Lohri will be celebrated on January 14th as Makar Sankranti is on 15th January 2024.

Lohri Festival 2024: Date, History, Significance and Celebrations here

How is Lohri celebrated?

Lohri is celebrated to denote the last phase of the coldest days of winter. The festival celebrates newly married couples and childbirth with great pomp and fervour. In different parts of Punjab, groups of young and teenage children visit neighbours and collect wood logs, grains and jaggery for the Lohri bonfire. People celebrate the annual festival with different traditions and rituals all over the country, such as: 

Bonfire: Lohri is celebrated with a huge bonfire by the end of the day. The bonfire lighting during the winter festival symbolizes the return of warm and long days. According to the folklore of Punjab, the high flames of the bonfire deliver the prayers of the people to the Lord Sun for warm days and good crop yield. 

Lohri Chajja Making & Hiran Dance: The Lohri celebration of Jammu is unique and special. It involves different traditions like Chajja making, Hiran dance and rare Lohri garlands of groundnuts, dry fruits and candies. Chajja is a replica of a peacock carried by groups of young children from one house to another. On the other hand, the Hiran dance is performed by several communities to express gratefulness and celebrate nature.

Collecting Lohri: On the day of Lohri, children visit family and friends singing folk songs. And in exchange get til, gachchak, sugar, jaggery, moongphali (peanuts) and phuliya or popcorn. This sweet and savoury treat is called Lohri.

Lohri is a regional festival, mostly celebrated in the agriculture-oriented states of the country. The day honours and shows respect to the Lord Sun and other elements of nature. People offer the seasonal and fresh produce of the season, like sesame seeds, gur, sugar-candy and gachchak, gur, moongphali (peanuts) and phuliya or popcorn rewaries on the bonfire, sit around it, sing and dance till the fire dies out. 

Since the Mughal era, Lohri has been celebrated in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu. The day is an official holiday for people in Punjab, Jammu and Himachal Pradesh. However, it is not a gazetted holiday in Delhi and Haryana. Also, the harvest festival is a mutual occasion to celebrate for Sikhs living in India and Pakistan.

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