Students wearing traditional Punjabi outfits perform a ritual around a bonfire to celebrate Lohri, the spring festival, in Amritsar. At this time of the year, every state in India celebrates its harvest festival. While it's Lohri in Punjab today, the four-day Pongal festival starts in Tamil Nadu with Bhogi Pongal. Thousands of Hindu devotees from across the country have already reached Haridwar for the Kumbh Mela. The harvest festivals are a celebration of 'unity in diversity'.
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Lohri, the harvest festival celebrated on January 13 every year, marks the end of winter and the time to harvest rabi crops. People across the country celebrate the festival with a bonfire, whirl around it singing Punjabi folk songs, and popping sesame seeds, popcorn, jaggery, and rewaris. Above, students from Shahzada Nand College, wearing traditional Punjabi attire, perform 'Gidha' during an event to celebrate the 'Lohri' festival in Amritsar.
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Villagers participate in a community fishing event during Bhogali Bihu harvest celebrations at Goroimari Lake in Panbari.
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In states like Punjab and Haryana, kite flying competition is also observed. Markets are filled with aromatic traditional delicacies like gajak, peanuts, and popcorns. The vibe turns completely joyous when everybody dances to the beats of dhol, and dives into the scrumptious feast served.
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A woman plays on a swing during an ongoing Pongal festival, inside a college complex in Chennai. Pongal, a four-day harvest festival dedicated to the Sun God is held in the mid of January. This year, it will be celebrated on January 14.
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According to tradition, the festival marks the end of the winter solstice and the start of the sun's six-month-long journey. Above, a boy plays the drum beside bonfires to celebrate Hindu harvest festival of Pongal in Chennai.
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People celebrate Bhogi festival on the occasion of Makar Sakranti, near Charminar in Hyderabad. Bhogi is a festival which is synonymous with discarding the old and bringing in the new, observed by piling up and burning some old wood.
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Traditionally, Lohri is also called as 'Lohi' in Punjabi. In houses that have recently had a marriage or childbirth, the celebrations of the festival are observed at a grand scale, otherwise, people usually have private Lohri celebrations, in their houses.
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Teachers and students celebrate 'Lohri’ festival at GCG College in Patiala.
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A vendor sells sugarcane ahead of the 'Pongal' festival in Thiruvananthapuram.
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Women participate in the 'Samathuva Pongal' celebrations, at Anbagam in Chennai.
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Pilgrims take holy dips in the Ganga river during 'Gangasagar Mela', at Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district. This year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities are anticipating less number of pilgrims during the annual pilgrimage that coincides with the Makar Sankranti festival on Jan. 14.
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Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) 166 Battalion Jawans celebrated the Punjabi folk festival of Lohri in Jammu.
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Students clad in traditional Punjabi dresses fly kites on the eve of the Lohri festival in Amritsar.
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Villagers take part in community fishing as part of celebrations for the Assamese festival of Magh Bihu at lake Panbari in Kamrup.
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Students wearing traditional Punjabi outfits take selfies as they celebrate Lohri, the spring festival, in Amritsar.
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Hindu devotees gather at a ghat of the River Ganges ahead of their religious Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar.
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Students of a women's institute celebrate Lohri festival in Faridabad.
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A Hindu holy man offers tea to others as they wait during their religious festival of Makar Sankranti on Sagar Island.
Image Credit: AFP
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