Wishing you a very Happy Lohri | SWAG

Origin of Lohri

 The origin of the Lohri can be traced back to the tale of Dulla Bhatti. By the end of the first week of January, small groups of boys ring the doorbell of houses and start chanting the Lohri songs related to Dulla Bhatti. In turn, the people give them popcorn, peanuts, crystal sugar, sesame seeds (til) or gur as well as money. Turning them back empty-handed is regarded inauspicious. 

Lohri marks the end of winter on the last day of Paush, and beginning of Magha (around January 12 and 13), when the sun changes its course. It is associated with the worship of the sun and fire and is observed by all communities with different names, as Lohri is an exclusively Punjabi festival. The questions like When it began and why is lost in the mists of antiquity. 

The origin of Lohri is related to 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. He arranged their marriages to Hindu boys with Hindu rituals and provided them with dowries. Understandably, though a bandit, he became a hero of all Punjabis. So every other Lohri song has words to express gratitude to Dulla Bhatti. 

Some believe that Lohri has derived its name from Loi, the wife of Sant Kabir, for in rural Punjab Lohri is pronounced as Lohi. Others believe that Lohri comes from the word 'loh', a thick iron sheet tawa used for baking chapattis for community feasts. Another legend says that Holika and Lohri were sisters. While the former perished in the Holi fire, the latter survived. Eating of til (sesame seeds) and rorhi (jaggery) is considered to be essential on this day. Perhaps the words til and rorhi merged to become tilorhi, which eventually got shortened to Lohri.

Ceremonies that go with the festival of Lohri usually comprises of making a small image of the Lohri goddess with gobar (cattle dung), decorating it, kindling a fire beneath it and chanting its praises. The final ceremony is to light a large bonfire at sunset, toss sesame seeds, gur, sugar-candy and rewaries in it, sit round it, sing, dance till the fire dies out. People take dying embers of the fire to their homes. In Punjabi village homes, fire is kept going round the clock by use of cow-dung cakes.


Lohri Girls Songs

“Hulle nee maiyee hulle 
do beri patte jhulle 
do jhul payeaan kahjurran 
khajurran suttya meva 
es munde de ghar mangeva 
es munde di voti nikdi
oh! khandi choori, kutdi 
Kut! Kut! Bharaya thaal woti bave nananaa nal 
Ninaan te wadi parjaee 
So kudma de ghar aayee! 
My bebe doesn?t remember the lines after this so she tells me.. 
Chant
mein lohri lain aayee!”

Translation 
“Two berry leaves are hanging 
Two date leaves are also hanging
The tree shed the fruit 
There’s an engagement in this boy’s house 
This boy’s wife is short 
She eats and grinds choori(a punjabi dish) 
She grinds and grinds and fills the plate?.the wife sits with her sisters in law
Sister in law and the elder son’s wife 
Are in their in-laws house 
My bebe doesn’t remember the lines after this so she tells me.. 
Chant 
I have come to take my Lohri ”

Lohri Boys Songs
“Te 'ho's are in chorus 

Sunder mundriye ho!
Tera kaun vicaharaa ho!
Dullah bhatti walla ho!
Dullhe di dhee vyayae ho! 
Shera shakkar payee ho! 
Kudi da laal pathaka ho! 
Kudi da saalu paatta ho! 
Salu kaun samete! 
Chache choori kutti! zamidara lutti! 
Zamindaar sudhaye! 
bade bhole aaye! 
Ek bhola reh gaya! 
Sipahee pakad ke lai gaya! 
Sipahee ne mari eet! 
Sanoo de de lohri te teri jeeve jodi! (Cry or howl!) 
Paheenve ro te phannve pit! ”

Translation 
“The 'ho's are in chorus 
Who do you have 
The groom with the tandoor 
The groom’s daughter got married 
He gave 1 kg sugar! 
The girl is wearing a red suit! 
But her shawl is torn! 
Who will stitch her shawl?! 
The uncle made choori! 
The landlords ate it! 
He made the landlords eat a lot! 
Lots of innocent guys came 
One innocent boy got left behind 
The police arrested him! 
The policeman hit him with a brick! 
Cry or howl! 
Give us lohri ..long live your jodi!”