Lohri Bonfire (January 13)

Lohri is a Punjabi agricultural winter festival signifying the end of the intense winter in Punjab and surrounding areas. Now Bangalore is far from Punjab -- but Lohri was celebrated in the my apartment complex courtyard on Jan 13 (maybe there are a lot of Punjabi transplants?).

According to tradition, in the evening with the setting of the sun, huge bonfires are lit in the harvested fields and in front yards of houses and people circle around the bonfire and throw puffed rice, popcorn, and other munchies into the fire, shouting "Aadar, aye, dilather jaye" (May honor come and poverty vanish!). This is a sort of prayer to Agni, the fire god, to bless the land with abundance and prosperity. People also distribute prasad (offerings made to god) to friends & family (and at the DD Lohri festival -- they gave them to me also). Most people were handing out jaggery (a sweet made from unrefined sugar).