In a one-of-its kind open-house community celebrations for Doon residents, The Pioneer, Uttarakhand edition, organised an exhilarating cultural show, ‘lohri Utsav-2014’ at Crossroads Mall on Sunday evening.
Incidentally, the day also marked the first anniversary of the shopping mall. Keeping the large crowd entertained and excited for hours, the event pushed Dehradun’s cosmopolitan camaraderie to its brim as people cutting across ages and religion reveled in the pulsating music, dance and conversation around the festival of lohri.
As children jumped on to the grand stand to jive, the elderly guests delved into heartwarming exchanges giving their own meanings to the significance and sentiment underlying the occasion. The event comprised a string of peppy performances by a variety of local ensembles putting their best foot forward in Bhangra, Gidda, vocals and other folk renditions. In keeping with tradition, all the presentations drew from popular Punjabi culture. Spaced well with the stage shows were free-wheeling games that kept the gathered throng engaged excitedly. Also adding to the jubilation were on-the –spot variety entertainment acts as people shed inhibitions and volunteered to sing and dance.
Ably conducted by Aryan, the cultural fiesta succeeded setting the tempo high for lohri, a festival of loud and flamboyant celebrations. Dressed in ethnic costumes, the artists made the modern mall feel more like a rustic earthy village in Punjab. Big, multi-brand shopping malls are a new addition to Doon’s accelerated urbanisation in the last few years. And sure enough, in their young existence these malls have initiated a trend of professionally organised community celebrations at public places as a norm in the West.
Sunday’s event was supported by Navada Heights along with University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Delhi-based Invest Care, MNREGA, Saigrace Academy, Government of Uttarakhand, USACS and Uttarakhand Gramin Bank. VlCC, Taneja Opticals, The Tavern, Perception and looks also pitched in as event sponsors.
The vibrant festival of lohri that revolves around cheerful music, wintry delicacies and the indispensable bonfire. A grand welcome to the harvest season in the various parts of our predominantly agricultural country, the occasion has triumphed in preserving its charm in contemporary times. And in what is heartening indeed, the sacred blaze of lohri has clearly crossed the thresholds of rural hamlets into the up-market urban India. Being a merry part of these is the cosmopolitan Doon Valley, with an array
“I celebrate the festival with my friends. This year too, we shall sing songs, dance and throw sweets and puffed rice into a bonfire on our terrace!” said Reeti Bhatt, an engineering graduate. The originally Punjabi festival is observed every year on January 13 to mark the heralding of spring. The origin of lohri relates to the central character of most lohri songs, Dulla Bhatti, a Muslim Robin Hood like highway robber, who lived in Punjab during the reign of Akbar. Saviour of the common man, he robbed only the rich and rescued Hindu girls being forcibly taken to be sold in the slave market of the Middle East. He arranged their weddings with Hindu boys all with the rituals and dowries.
The undisputed hero of all Punjabis, he is remembered and thanked each year in the many songs that celebrate lohri. Some believe that lohri has derived its name from loi, the wife of Saint Kabir, for in rural Punjab lohri is pronounced as lohi. According to yet another legend, lohri comes from the word ‘loh’, a thick iron sheet tawa used for baking chapattis for community feasts.
Or it may be that Holika and lohri were sisters and while the former burnt in the Holi fire, the latter survived. Whatever be the reason, munching on jaggery sweets, peanuts, sesame seeds and corns with claps and folk numbers enlivening an air warmed by the flames of the ritualistic fire are inspiration enough to celebrate. Here is wishing all our readers a very happy lohri!