Punjab
The origin. Community bonfires in every mohalla, children's Lohri songs house to house, saag and makki di roti for dinner, and bhanga and gidda around the fire until late.
Loading page
लोहड़ी
Punjab's bonfire night — the end of winter and the start of the harvest season.
This date has passed
Lohri 2026
No login needed to share or download anything on TyoharHub.
The night before Makar Sankranti, at the end of the month of Paush
Lohri is a Punjabi harvest festival celebrated on the night before Makar Sankranti, on 13 January in 2026. It marks the end of the winter solstice period and the beginning of the longer days, and it is the day the new harvest and the new financial year were traditionally acknowledged in Punjab.
The festival is built entirely around a bonfire. Families and neighbourhoods gather around a fire, throw in til (sesame), gur (jaggery), rewri, gajak, popcorn and puffed rice, and circle it. Children go from house to house singing the traditional Lohri songs and collecting sweets and money, in a form that closely parallels trick-or-treating.
Lohri has a specific social function in Punjab: it is the festival at which the birth of a child, and particularly a son, was traditionally announced and celebrated with songs. That gendered element is now widely criticised and substantially changed, and many families now celebrate the birth of a daughter at Lohri as well. The festival is also a major occasion for recently married couples.
Sarson da saag and makki di roti, with a large amount of ghee and jaggery, is the standard Lohri meal. The festival is also celebrated in Himachal Pradesh and in Delhi's Punjabi community, and among Punjabi communities abroad with community bonfires.
Copy any message in one tap. Written by hand, not pulled from a quote database.
Happy Lohri! May the fire bring you warmth, prosperity and a great harvest year.
Wishing you a very Happy Lohri. May this year bring you everything you wish for.
Lohri di lakh lakh vadhaiyan! May your home always be full.
Happy Lohri! Here's to saag, roti and a very warm fire.
In the order a household actually does them.
Stack wood in the community ground or courtyard in the late afternoon. Keep it clear of overhead wires and trees.
Circle the fire and offer til, gur, rewri, gajak, popcorn, puffed rice and sugarcane into it. The first offering is traditionally made by the eldest member of the family.
Children sing the traditional Lohri songs house to house and receive sweets, gajak, rewri or money.
Sarson da saag and makki di roti with white butter and gur, followed by gajak and rewri. This is a winter meal, and the ghee and jaggery quantities are deliberate.
This is where most festival sites give one national answer to a question that has several.
The origin. Community bonfires in every mohalla, children's Lohri songs house to house, saag and makki di roti for dinner, and bhanga and gidda around the fire until late.
Celebrated with bonfires and local fairs, particularly in the lower hills. Children collect sweets in the same way as in Punjab.
Observed widely by Punjabi and Haryanvi communities, with society-level bonfires in housing colonies and the same songs and sweets.
Lohri is a major community event abroad, with large public bonfires organised by Punjabi associations, particularly in Surrey, Toronto, Melbourne and Southall.
Gift categories, honestly described — not a list of sponsored products.
The most on-theme Lohri gift, since these are the sweets thrown into the fire and eaten around it.
Suits: parents, neighbours, family, staff
Lohri falls on one of the coldest nights of the year, and gifting blankets and warm clothes on it is a traditional form of charity in Punjab.
Suits: parents, grandparents, staff, workers
Mustard greens, makki atta, ghee and jaggery as a hamper — practical, and exactly the ingredients for the festival's meal.
Suits: family, neighbours, newly married couple
TyoharHub does not currently use affiliate links. These are plain links to a marketplace search, with no tracking attached. We earn nothing from them. Read the full disclosure.
With honest budget ranges and a difficulty rating for each.
A wood stack with the base ringed with gajak and rewri packets and a marigold garland. Keep a two-metre clear radius, a water bucket and no overhead cables.
Budget: ₹500–₹3,000
Sugarcane stalks and marigold at the door, with a small rangoli. Sugarcane is the harvest marker and reads immediately as Lohri in Punjab.
Budget: ₹200–₹700
If hosting, clear a circle around the fire for bhangra and gidda with a speaker set outside the fire radius. Practical rather than decorative — but it is what makes the night work.
Budget: ₹0–₹1,000
Including a note on why each dish belongs to this festival.
The dish Lohri is inseparable from in Punjab — mustard greens slow-cooked for hours, served with makki di roti and a large cube of white butter.
About 90 minutes
Ingredients
The two sesame and jaggery sweets that are thrown into the Lohri fire and eaten around it — warming food for the coldest night of the season.
About 30 minutes
Ingredients
Every page below has its own content — we do not publish empty topic pages.
Lohri falls on 13 January 2026, the night before Makar Sankranti.
It marks the end of the winter solstice period and the start of longer days, and traditionally the end of the harvest season and the financial year in Punjab. The bonfire and the offering of til, gur and rewri into it are the central ritual.
Children go door to door singing traditional Lohri songs and collecting sweets, gajak and money — a custom similar to carol singing or trick-or-treating.
Til (sesame) and gur (jaggery) are winter foods and part of the new harvest. Offering them to the fire is a thanksgiving for the harvest and a request for a good year ahead.
Historically Lohri was the occasion on which the birth of a son was announced and celebrated, and the traditional songs reflect that. The custom is now widely criticised and substantially changed — many Punjabi families celebrate the birth of a daughter at Lohri, and the festival is also a general harvest celebration.
Last reviewed 6 October 2026. This page covers a regionally specific festival — where practices differ, they are described separately rather than averaged. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct it.