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Lohri


Karen Kaur
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vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

At the gurdwara I go to, they do NOT celebrate Lohri as it is all brahminism (as clarified by akal purakh di fauj). However, families book a programme (because it ties in with Lohri) and at the end give ladoo out. What makes me really angry is when families who don't have a son feel misfortuned. I think its something to do with the surname business, if it is then they are also going away from the khalsa principle (i.e. not to believe in caste...etc)

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

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vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

At the gurdwara I go to, they do NOT celebrate Lohri as it is all brahminism (as clarified by akal purakh di fauj). However, families book a programme (because it ties in with Lohri) and at the end give ladoo out. What makes me really angry is when families who don't have a son feel misfortuned. I think its something to do with the surname business, if it is then they are also going away from the khalsa principle (i.e. not to believe in caste...etc)

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

Same situation in my local Gurdwara. There was a Bhog for a family's Akhand Path on Sunday which so conveniently coincided with Lohri. The Granthi mentioned in the Ardaas that the family were asking for Guruji's blessing because it was the newly weds couples first Lohri.

So now I am more confused. Not only is Lohri about having boys, but it also appears to be an important landmark part of the year for Punjabi families. Akhand Paths are not booked to celebrate ot

her periods in the year. So why Lohri ?

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Lohri is categorically NOT a religious festival!

To include it with discussions on Holi, Rakhi, Dushera etc and their relationship with Sikhi is not comparing like with like.

Let's keep the discussion on Lohri alone, as there are plenty concerning Rakhi etc elswhere.

Lohri, unlike the Gyani Ji cited in the first post, is nothing to do with Pralad and people do not 'pray to the fire'!

This is however a 'punjabi' festival and concerns itself purely with the cold of the Poh month and really is no different to have a bonfire and warming up marshmellows on sticks (except in Punjab the use natural things like Monkey Nuts and Revrea).

There is no praying, no religious association with Lohri like there is with say Holi (concering Pralad and Holika and also the exploits of Krishna) or Rakhi or Dushera etc.

Whether it is worth celebrating by Sikhs is a question worth raising, just like it is for celebrating Pooranmashi, Sangrand etc -which are not the same as the above mentioned traditions like Holi and Divali, which clearly have their own religious connotations.

Festivals like Vaisakhi, Lohri, Sangrand, Pooranmashi have been long used within even Orthodox Sikh circles as a means to gather for Sat Sangat as these were days that people would tend to congregate anyway.

If one looks as Lohri from a manmat perspective, all you'll see in a typical Punjabi Pind is a couple old booted Jat folks gathered around a fire to keep them warm and talking bukwas about how they missed out on 'getting some' when they were younger (excuse the reference, this relates to an actual occurance, which I won't spell out any fur

ther).

By the same token, those who are devout, will simply use the time to go to their local Gurdwara to meet with Maharaj, just like most of us in the West do on a Sunday, not because we believe it to be a 'holy' day or a Sabath, but simply because it's the day off in the week and most folk traditional use it for a family gathering or going to Church -likewise with the origins of Lohri.

Let's calm down a little bit, there's not much Bipran Reet in getting together with your family on Lohri and either have a kirtan at your house, social or going to the Gurdwara.

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Niranjana ji, you are usually right but this time I'm gonna disagree with you on this.

I don't know what is the actual history of Lohri and where it started from and why. But today Lohri is celebrated by a family if they had a baby boy. They do nothing if they had a baby girl, but if its a boy they almost definitely gonna celebrate in their village by giving out ladoo to everyone. Even ppl out here in other countries...my Bhua ji had a baby boy couple years ago and she is in India right now celebrating Lohri. She also has a girl older than the boy...she didn't have no celebration for the daughter....why? Cuz we've forgotten Guru Nanak Dev ji's updesh that boys and girls are equal.

If there is a Gursikh family celebrating Lohri in India for their boy but they didnt' for their girl, ask them why this sort of discrimination? Whats so special about the boy that he deserves it but the girl doesn't? Whats wrong with a girl? Perhaps they have forgotten Guru's updesh about this.... rolleyes.gif

I was watching TV Asia news yesterday...they showed a Lohri celebration in a pind...they had singers there, it was like a mela. News reporter interviewed some punjabi guy and he says that Lohri is for the boys or newlywed couples....and he says However, we also need to remember the girls cuz they are equal to boys and we need to stop female infantoecide.

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i generally am in agreement with niranjana's post but i think people are missing that he's not advocating lohri, he's explaining it.

on that note, i agree with simran 9

i like niaranjana's post, especially the part that "what is wrong if it gives people the "excuse" to go to gurdwara".. i think we'll all agree that whether we want to go or do NOT want to go...any time spent with maharaj will be beneficial. so i like that... i like that part alot.

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Niranjana is correct. Lohri is not a "Hindu" festival. The only place Lohri is celebrated is in Punjab, hence, Lohri is a Punjabi cultural festival.

Unlike religion and religious festivals which have a fixed meaning, culture and cultural traditions are ever evolving. Lohri is a good example of this. If anyone would care to check the Chandigarh Tribune Lohri is being celebrated all over Punjab now for both female and male children.

I dont think anyone here is in any position to judge an entire people (Punjabis) and preach what they should and should not be doing and how they should live.

Some of you really should read the Asa Di //, over and over again, so that it becomes burned into your minds that true Sikhs do not interfere or judge other people.

If Punjabis are celebrating Lohri for whatever reason, then leave that to them. It has no affect or relevance on you as a person or your conncection with God.

Regards,

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Fateh,

I know families who celebrate lori for the birth of both boys and girls... and they just do it in celebration of a new life... is it still wrong to do that. (When i say celebrate its not only partying, but to do paath and kirtan around the same time or day)

pul chuk maaf

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