Darakshan Hassan Bhat
Every year on January 13, people celebrate Lohri, a festival that marks the end of the harshest part of winter and the start of longer days, that is, longer hours of light that gradually reclaim space from the darkness of extended nights. This transition has guided agrarian societies across the Indian subcontinent for centuries and is still deeply relevant today. Lohri is a living civilizational expression of gratitude, continuity, and collective hope.
Lohri, which has its roots in agricultural rhythms, commemorates the harvest of rabi crops like wheat and sugarcane and honors the labor of farmers who persevere through the cold and uncertainty with hope for the upcoming season, serving as a reminder to society of the unbreakable link between human resilience and the natural world. The most popular places in India to celebrate Lohri are Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Delhi, and portions of Rajasthan. There, people congregate around bonfires, sing folk songs, offer seasonal foods like peanuts, popcorn, sesame seeds, jaggery, and sugarcane to the fire, and share warmth that transcends physical heat to represent emotional and social bonding.
Beyond national borders, Lohri has traveled with the Indian diaspora to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and several regions of Europe. There, it is observed in community halls, cultural centers, and gurudwaras, serving as a reminder that Indian culture is not limited by geography but rather is sustained by shared memory and collective participation, projecting India's inclusive and pluralistic identity on the international scene.
Muslims, Christians, and people of other faiths have long participated in Lohri celebrations in villages, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces, joining not out of ritual obligation but out of social harmony and shared cultural life. Despite Lohri's deep historical roots in Punjabi Hindu and Sikh traditions, it has not been the festival bound by religious exclusivity because its core symbolism is seasonal and cultural rather than theological. The ethos of Kashmiriyat, the centuries-old cultural philosophy of Kashmir that emphasizes coexistence, mutual respect, and shared social spaces where festivals have historically served as bridges rather than barriers between communities, resonates strongly with this inclusive participation.
Lohri, especially in Jammu and parts of the Valley, reflects this tradition. Muslim families have frequently joined their neighbors around the Lohri fire, exchanged seasonal foods, and marked the turning of the season together, reaffirming the idea that culture belongs to society as a whole and not to any one religious identity. In Kashmir, cultural life has historically reflected participation over segregation, with people celebrating each other's festivals with warmth and familiarity. Lohri is a natural extension of Kashmiriyat rather than an external imposition, as this collective participation shows that Kashmir's cultural fabric has always been woven through shared practices and lived traditions rather than isolation.
The symbolism of Lohri becomes even more profound when longer days and more hours of light are taken into consideration. This is because the festival takes place at a time when daylight gradually increases and nights start to shorten, providing a potent metaphor for human societies that aim to move past cycles of fear, division, and conflict. In this symbolism, Lohri conveys a universal message for the world, expressing the hope that humanity may benefit from this growing light by moving toward peace, progress, coexistence, and cooperation, allowing understanding to replace mistrust and dialogue to replace discord. As nights shorten, darkness must also retreat from thought, action, and intention.
The Lohri fire serves as a reminder that light is inclusive rather than aggressive, that it illuminates rather than dominates, and that it becomes stronger when people congregate around it in a world that is frequently overshadowed by conflict, polarization, and miscommunication. In the context of Indian civilization, this symbolism is in perfect harmony with the fundamental notion of unity in diversity, in which various identities coexist within a common cultural framework, much as people of various languages, faiths, and geographical locations come together around the same Lohri fire without losing their unique identities.
Celebrating Lohri alongside other regional and religious holidays in Jammu and Kashmir strengthens the region's natural cultural ties to the rest of India through shared seasons, common agrarian memories, and communal joy rooted in everyday life rather than through political assertiveness or force. Centuries of trade, cohabitation, and shared experiences have shaped this cultural and civilizational bond, which represents an India united by lived customs rather than enforced uniformity. Thus, the Lohri bonfire becomes a metaphor for the Indian concept itself: a place where warmth is shared without prejudice, where light is shielded from being overshadowed by darkness, and where diversity enriches rather than divides unity.
The festival carries the hope that the shadows of intolerance, violence, and division may continue to fade as daylight gradually expands, enabling societies to advance with empathy and cooperation. In this way, Lohri serves as a reminder of responsibility as well as a celebration of the harvest or the season. It calls on communities to maintain harmony, foster coexistence, and make sure that the growing light represented by longer days translates into better social realities. The message of Lohri takes on particular significance in Kashmir, where history and circumstances have put cultural harmony to the test. It reinforces the idea that peace is maintained not only through policy but also through shared cultural life, respect for one another, and the basic human act of coming together.
Lohri calls on the entire world, not just one area or one country, to let darkness fade and work together towards a future characterized by mutual understanding, stability, and advancement as the nights get shorter and light gradually spreads.
(The author can be reached at darakshanhassanbhat@gmail.com)
