Happy lodhi/pongal/sankranti.

Hi all,
Wishing you a very Happy Lodhi/Pongal/Sankranti to you all.

I think many of south Indians are not introduced to this festival which is very major festival of North India popularly by Punjabi's.The festival is celebrated on 13th Jan every year.
A week before Lodhi children gather fire wood and old unused wood.They visit houses ask for unsued wood or money.The family members get together,i have seen that people very far take time to join their family on this eve.The first lodhi to newly born and newly wed is very important.They believe its mark of fertility.
In the morning they vist Gurudwara and offer prayers. The main celebration begins in the evening, the wood gathered by the younger lot of the family is put on bon fire,If u r in punjab one can see competitions held for the biggest bonfire.This is still followed here in this Tech Gen also, where i feel sad that sankranti though has the similar celebrations has almost vanished even in villages.There is no Bhasavayya(Decorated Bull) or Haridasu who visits the streets singing prayers and wishes good luck to the families.
Well again coming to the celebrations of Lodhi, The worship of Fire God is the main theme of this festival,the bon fire is offered til,gud(jaggery),puffed rice, fresh yield of groundnuts etc.The newly wed couple of the family (if any)is first made to pay homage to the bonfire and they do pradikshana and offer the offerings to Fire God,if the family has any new born then the parents with their new born pay homeage first to the bonfirewhich is followed by the rest of the family and guests.The young ladies sing songs do gidda around it.The gents perform bhangada and followed by rich food like Ghanne ke Kheer( payasam made of fresh sugarcane juice) it tastes divine,matchless.and various chikkis made of til,peanuts,mixed dry fruits r served and they make this typical laddo called Pinni.this is the menu generally served on Lodhi.
We were fortunate to enjoy this festival on our 3yr stay in Bhatinda(Punjab).Our milkman there invited us always to join them on Lodhi and Bhisakh(their harvest falls in month of April).
It feels nice to see the traditions of every place r followed and celebrated with great zeal and respect..The culture is deck up in this westernized era.We have given up our attire in the name of comfort,our families in the name of employments and education,Festivals in the name of Outdated or Superstitious Belief.Whereas if u see the jews,muslims take their religion and tradition very seriously.I know transformation has effected every sects of life,every individual finds disappearance of cultural values in their respective faiths.
Wishing u all in advance a Very Happy and Joyous Pongal and Sankranti and a very Happy Lodhi
JAI HIND.

 

Hi kalyani,
Yes Lodhi is just similar to wht we celebrate in south.In the south pongal is celebrated for 3 days.
On first day it is celebrated as Bhogi , 2nd makara sankranti, 3rd kanuma 4th mukkanuma by few.
The celebrations begin almost a month before the festival with rangolis,kite flying,collecting wood etc,on bhogi bonfire is lit in the weehrs and when the sun raises milk is boiled and pongal is prepared as offering to sun god.
On sankranti Sun God is welcomed into makara raasi and on Kanuma - cattle in the house is worshipped for their hard work they done whole yr.And on Mukkanuma the offerings to the onces who have demised in the family is performed.

Hi Jasgeorge and monsi,
Nice to hear abt ur lodhi celebrations,Jas i am sorry i have no idea of how Ghane ka kheer or Pinni is made but had loads n loads of it when we were in punjab.:mrgreen:
bye!