Lohri; losing out on traditions Ashutosh Sharma "Lohri" traditionally has been celebrated with fervour and brotherhood.
The festival falls on the last day of the month of "Paush" and the day following Lohri marks the beginning of the month of "Magh".
According to Hindu beliefs, this is an auspicious day to take a holy dip in the river and give away charity to "nullify" sins.
According to the Hindu calendar, Lohri falls in mid-January usually on January 13.
The earth, farthest from the sun at this point of time, starts its journey towards the sun, thus ending the coldest month of the year, "Paush", and start of the month of "Magh".
Lohri comes along with special cheer for the children as they get excuse to collectively sing and dance.
On this auspicious day they get into their best clothes, visit the places of near and dear ones and collect money from them.
On the evening of Lohri, with the setting of sun neighbours sit before bonfire and exchange traditional sweets besides warm wishes.
They also circle around (parikrama) the bonfire and throw puffed rice, popcorn and other munchies into the fire, singing popular flok songs.
This is a sort of prayer to Agni, the fire god, to bless the land with abundance and prosperity.
After the parikrama, people meet friends and relatives, exchange greetings and gifts, and distribute prasad (offerings made to god).
The Lohri fire is symbolic of the homage to the sun.
People believe that the fires they light take their message to the sun, and that is why on the morning after Lohri, which is the first of the new month Magh, the sun's rays suddenly turn warm and take the chill out of our bones.
There are various Customs and Legends associated with the event.
In the morning on Lohri day, children go from door to door singing and demanding the Lohri "loot" in the form of money and eatables like til (sesame) seeds, peanuts, jaggery, or sweets like gajak, rewri, etc.
In other parts of India, Lohri almost coincides with the festivals of Pongal and Makar Sankranti, all of which communicate the same message of oneness and celebrates the spirit of brotherhood.
Unfortunately with the fast changing times the charm of festival is fading away.
People are fast forgetting the folklores associated with Lohri besides rituals which were associated with it are also fast diminishing.
In the urban localities results are visible on social scenario.
In almost every city of Jammu, the festival has lost its cultural charm.
Contrary to past, people now deem it below their dignity to allow children to sing and collect money by wandering door to door.
So the small-processions passing singing and dancing joyfully through mohallahs are no more in vogue during the festival.
Bhangra dance by men which used to begin after the offering to the bonfire amid the beat of drums are also missing from the scene.
In other words it can be said that "Lohri" now warms homes and hearths rather than communities as it used to de on the bygone days.
*********** State Polytechnic to be equipped with latest infrastructure: Haji Nissar KT NEWS SERVICE JAMMU, JAN 12 - Minister for Technical Education and Youth Services and Sports Haji Nissar Ali today visited government Polytechnical Colleges for boys and girls respectively and took stock of the functioning of these colleges.
He expressed satisfaction over the working of these institutions and hoped that they would carry on like that in future also.
Haji Nissar inspected units of various disciplines including electronic workshop, project lab, computer centre, science labs, Computer Aided Drafts and Designing (CADD) at government boys polytechnic college.
He also inspected examination centres were students of the college were taking exam.
At Women Polytechnic College the Minister inspected the Conference Hall, Computer lab meeting hall, library and Learning Resources Unit centers.
Saying that there was tremendous scope for the pass outs of these institutions, the Minister urged the authorities to ensure their proper placements.
He stressed them to make regular correspondence with different placement cells and agencies for proper and satisfactory absorption of these students in various private and public enterprises.
The Minister also directed the Administrators of the two colleges to keep a network system where by job profiles of the pass out students could be ascertained as and when required.
He also assured full cooperation from the government for provision of infrastructural facilities to these institutions.
