North India Celebrates Lohri with Bonfires and Traditions

Millions across North India, particularly in Punjab and surrounding regions, gathered around bonfires on January 13, 2026, to celebrate Lohri, the vibrant harvest festival that heralds the end of winter and the onset of longer days. Observed annually the day before Makar Sankranti, Lohri drew families and communities into evenings filled with folk songs, energetic dances, and shared feasts, symbolizing gratitude for the rabi crop harvest and renewal for the year ahead.

The festival, deeply embedded in the agrarian traditions of the region, coincides with the transition from the Hindu calendar's month of Paush to Magha, aligning with the winter solstice. According to astronomical calculations, the Lohri Sankranti occurred at 3:13 p.m. on January 14, 2026, as noted in traditional almanacs. Celebrants lit bonfires in open spaces or courtyards, circling them in a ritual known as parikrama to honor the sun god Surya and the fire deity Agni, sources of warmth and life-sustaining energy for crops like sugarcane and wheat. Offerings of sesame seeds, jaggery, peanuts, popcorn, and rewri were tossed into the flames as tokens of prosperity and thanks to nature for a bountiful yield.