I just wanted to
write a short post about Lohri. Lohri is celebrated the night before Maghi (the
beginning of the month of Magh). It not a Sikh festival, rather it is a Punjabi
festival and therefore cultural. I think this is important to recognize because it helps us distinguish and understand that people of many religions
celebrate Lohri, and not all Sikhs celebrate it.
Lohri celebrates
the ending of cold winter months in India and the beginning of longer days. It
is celebrated by dancing, singing, and sweets. Children do something similar to
trick or treating, going from house to house and are given sweets and money. Over
time Lohri became about celebrating the birth of a boy (or marriage of a
couple). It has now been recognized that this is unequal and unfair to female
children. Basics-of-Sikhi discussed this and made a great point that if we choose
to celebrate Lohri, as Sikhs, we need to remember equality and it should be
celebrated for both boys and girls. I saw an article stating that Lohri is being celebrated for girls everywhere from
Brampton to Malwa. Furthermore in India they are using this chance to talk
about female equality like female feticide and dowry. Sukhbir Kaur Mahal, (a principal)
states, “We need to change the mindset and girls are scaling newer heights,
even doing better than boys in many respects. The gradual change is for the
good, but a better tomorrow for girls needs extensive awareness. A newborn girl
child equally deserves Lohri celebrations, a trend confined earlier to the
newborn boys alone.”
In summary, Lohri is a cultural, not religious festival that some Sikhs celebrate. As Sikhs we should recognize that a key principle of our religion is gender equality and therefore if it is celebrated, it should be done for children of all genders.
References:
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