Jump to content

Lohri


Karen Kaur
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 23
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

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!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share


  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • There is nothing wrong with starched pagg. The Guru is omniscient (all-knowing). You think he doesn't know our intentions? If somebody wears a starched pagg but still respects it as a crown then whats wrong with that? People think that starch automatically makes people lose their respect for their pagg but thats just false.  And dont make this a caste thing I’m Rajput Jatt sikh (not an ounce of Tarkhan or anything else) and we all starch our INDIAN style punjabi paggs (patiala shahi), but respect them as our crowns and our literal lives. A respected starch pagg is better by far than a freshly tied one which people just disrespect. And people forget that these are not ready made or pre-tied turbans. You still tie them initially but just of course not as frequently. What’s wrong with that?  When your relationship is that strong with the Guru then you know what he means. Speak to him directly, explain why and ask him if it’s okay. Btw I know people who dont starch their turbans (all punjabi/morni style btw) and they just wear it again the next day without tying it if they have toed it really nicely the day before. 😂 You cant really even tell who had tied it and who just wore it again without starch. At least we’re open about it. Bhul chuk maaf    
    • Its called a “fifty” becuase when Singhs were fighting in the British army, they would recieve an 8 metre pagg, with a cour four base, because the base layer was half (50%) of the main turban, it’s called a fifty. The practise of tying a keski under your main one is now seen as pretty weird (except for a patka), but the small coloured strip inder the pagg is still used as a fashion statement since its pretty visually appealing. And so, people now just tie a small little “kung-fu strip” sort of thing under their pagg to imitate that effect.
    • Found how to do it. For anybody else wondering, heres how. No one even helped me btw. So much for Guru Ji’s lhalsa always ready to help (and having their Singhs’ backs smh). (Notes: Aim to do this on a hot summer’s day, and dedicate a full day to this, since you only have to do this once every 4 months at least (normally the turban will stay in shape until you wish to untie it and physically pull it open again). This helps it to dry faster, since you have to starch it, HALF DRY IT, pooni it, tie it and then wear it for around four hours for the rest of it to dry, all in the same day. It’s a one day process but it serves you for months). This works for both the UK/Kenyan style (starch is best for this style) as well as the normal Punjabi paghs (such as Patiala shahi, wattan wali and morni paghs). Not sure about dumallas though. Probably not . Pagg Starch: 1) Boil 6 cups of water in a saucepan on low heat (always low heat) 2) Seperately dissolve 4 tablespoons of maida (all purpose flower) with a little water until it is 100% smooth.  You could also use rice or corn starch. Add more water if it is not a smooth liquid 3) Once completely smooth, pour this mixture through a strainer (to make it even smoother) into the boiling water. 4) Now continuously stir it until it goes completely see through. Keep on stirring it on the low heat until it goes totally transparent (it can take a little while to cook, but the pagg will last you for months!) It will at become a thick paste first, but keep stirring until it becomes see through and thinner.    5) Once it’s transparent, pour the starch (again through a strainer) into a big enough, clean bucket to cool down. 6) Once cool, take a clean, dry turban and completely and mix it in with the starch for around 5 minutes. Make sure that it is all evenly and completely soaked and wet with the starch. (Most people use mal-mal material, but I use full voile and I have used Rubia too. They’re all fine. Maybe use Rubin for smaller turbans and mal mal for larger ones) 7) Leave it out in the sun to HALF DRY ONLY!!!!!!! (Don’t ever let your starched turban fully dry before you tie it. If you do, then you will have to spray/ sprinkle water on it which will weaken the starch and ruin the turban) ONLY HALF DRY THE TURBAN IN THE SUN!!! 😎 Once HALF DRY ONLY take the now semi damp turban, and fold/pooni and then tie it like normal (straight on your head, with no base layer such as a Keski or patka underneath). Leave it on your head for around 4 hours just to fully dry and it will be ready and set for months now. Like I said, do try to tie your dastar every day, but if you can’t or really don’t want to, I hope this helps! Like I said this works on both the traditional Punjabi/Indian style paggs, and the more recent UK/Kenyan style paggs. It does for my morni pagg, but the first larr slips up in to the pagg. This is normal dw. Wjkk, Wjkf
    • I guess easier ways of learning have taken precedence. There are so many Youtube channels and podcasts available that people are more ready to listen for knowledge at their own leisure. There are so many great kathas available online that take months to listen, so that people may not really get the time to come here and write.
    • *Bump The current conflict (w/ Iran getting involved) is being orchestrated by a 3rd party in my opinion. We all are going to blame the Jewish community (how they run the banks, how they are brutal and etc.) but they have a point in this conflict.  As soon as people start finding about the truth that's when the real movement will begin. 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use