In January 1832, Colonel Sir Claude Martin Wade — the British Agent to the Governor-General for the Affairs of the Punjab and North-West Frontier (present-day Afghanistan) at the time — witnessed the grand celebration of a "peculiar" festival in the royal court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder and first monarch of the Sikh empire.
"It fell in the first half of January," the Colonel wrote in his journal. "This festival was peculiar to the Panjab as it was not celebrated in other parts of India. Many days before the festival, boys and girls went from door to door singing a special song collecting a couple of small coins from every place. Even the passersby were not spared. The money thus collected was spent on some eatables significant for this day (...)
At night, bonfires were lit. Men, women and children of the Mohalla sat around it. Girls sang and boys danced. All ate their sweets along with parched rice, laughing, joking and story telling.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh observed the festival amidst great rejoicings. His dancing girls performed dances suitable to the occasion. Free drinks and eatables were enjoyed by his courtiers to their heart's content."
Colonel Wade was writing about Lohri — a winter harvest festival popular in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, and Jammu. Lohri is usually celebrated in the middle of January, on the day before the winter solstice.
There are many traditions and histories associated with Lohri, with the oldest aspects of the festival dating back to the Indus Valley Civilisation's celebrations of the winter solstice, which marked the end of winter and the beginning of spring, the harvest season, and the new year. In Punjab, Lohri is marked by sharing sheaves of roasted corn from the season's new crop. Fresh Gurh or sugarcane molasses, Sarson da Saag or mustard greens, and Makai di Roti, or cornflour flatbreads are staples of the Lohri feast, and are traditionally shared and eaten with the community around a bonfire at night.
One of the folkloric traditions associated with Lohri is the legend of Dulla Bhatti. According to the legend, Dulla Bhatti — or Rai Abdullah Khan Bhatti — was a 16th-century outlaw from the Sandal Bar region of Punjab, between the Ravi and the Chenab rivers, in what is now Pakistan. Bhatti led a guerrilla rebellion against the Mughal emperor Akbar, and became a folk hero in Punjab because of his Robin Hood-esque acts of kindness to the poor. His band of outlaws and bandits often looted tributes and taxes collected by the Mughals and redistributed them among the poor.
One of the stories associated with Dulla Bhatti recounts the episode of Sundari — a Sikh girl who was abducted by Mughal soldiers to be sold as a slave. Dulla Bhatti rescued the girl and married her off at his own expense. In time, the wedding celebrations surrounding a bonfire gave birth to Lohri. The popular Lohri song 'Sunder Mundariye' tells this story. Dulla Bhatti was eventually hanged in 1599 in Lahore, but legends of his exploits live on through folklore and Lohri songs like this.
Lohri celebrations represent the agrarian roots of societies across the Indian subcontinent. Its roots trace back to the ancient winter harvest festivals of the region — like Pongal in South India, Makar Sankranti in Bengal, Magha Bihu in Assam, and Hurda parties in rural Maharashtra. The festival marks the end of winter with the passing of the winter solstice and the arrival of longer days coinciding with the sun's journey to the northern hemisphere.
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