Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 13: Lohri festival was celebrated with lot of enthusiasm and traditional fervor. A number of functions were held at different places in this regard.
Three day long Lohri festival organised by Department of Tourism concluded today at historic Raghunath Bazar, where Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Sham Lal Sharma was chief guest and MLA, Ashok Khajuria was guest of honor. Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Shantmanu, Director Tourism, Soujanya Sharma were also present on the occasion.
The main highlights of the festival were Hiran Dance, Dandia Dance and Chhajja Dance. The local artists presented colorful bonanza of cultural items and traditional songs which depicted rich culture and heritage of Jammu. The crowd cheered the artists with their every act.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister said that festivals are harbinger of peace and prosperity and people should celebrate with mutual amity and togetherness.
Ashok Khajuria called for promoting peace and mutual brotherhood between various communities for ensuring development of the Jammu.
On the occasion, the famous painter KK Gandhi presented a painting on historic Mubarak Mandi to the Tourism Department.
President, Raghunath Bazar Businessmen Association, Ved Prakash Khullar presented vote of thanks.
Other members of the Raghunath Bazar Businessmen Association who were present included, Mohit Gupta, MM Sharma, Sanjay Sethi, Om Prakash Mahajan, Amit Kapoor, Ashwani Kohli, Sunil Sharma and Sanjay Gupta.
The workers of National Conference celebrated the Lohri festival at Sher-i- Kashmir Bhawan. The holy fire was lit and mantras were chanted. Rattan Lal Gupta, State vice president was the chief guest, who while speaking highlighted the importance of the festival. He said that such festivals strengthens the bond of the brotherhood among the people and bring peace, prosperity and development in the State. Sheikh Bashir Ahmad, provincial secretary, Laxami Dutta provincial president Women Wing, Jugal Mahajan, Chander Mohan Sharma, Pardeep Bali , Haji Mohammad Hussian Ex-MLC, Dilshada Malik, Veena Oberia, besides many others participated in the function.
Lohri was celebrated at BJP office by lighting a bonfire and offering grains and sweets. Large number of party leaders and activists participated in the celebration which was presided by BJP State President and MLA Jugal Kishore Sharma. Jugal Kishore Sharma termed this festival a secular festival. MLA Ashok Khajuria, Kavinder Gupta, Rajiv Jasrotia, Sat Sharma, Onkar Seth, Lalit Moza, Yudhvir Sethi, Balbir Ram Rattan, Naresh Dogra, Subash Jandial, Arvind Gupta, Surinder Choudhary, Dinesh Gupta, Karan Singh, Amreek Singh, Ashwani Khosla, Ramesh Sharma, besides many other BJP leaders were present.
Udhampur Development Council celebrated Lohri festival at Jagriti Niketan Old Age Home Udhampur. On the occasion, Parvesh Parihar apprised the inmates of the home about the importance of this festival. Anil Paba, Rajesh Sharma, Bharat Paba, Rakesh Padha and Vikas of Udhampur Development Council were also present.
Youth Wing of Peoples Democratic Party celebrated Lohri festival at Gandhi Nagar. Holy fire was lit and mantras were chanted. Addressing the participants Rajender Manhas, vice president Youth wing said that it is a tradition of the people to celebrate all the festival of all the religious with great respect. Vikram Singh, Chaman Angral, Virender singh Sonu, Girish and other party workers were also present.
Lohri was celebrated by BJP Jhuggi-Jhopdi Cell at Bahu Fort Mohalla, Kaccha Talab. Indu Bhushan Sharma, National Executive Member of the cell was the chief guest, while guest of honour was Rajeev Charak, president, State Training Cell, BJP. Baldev Singh Billowria, State president Panchyati Cell, Basheer Ahmed Khatana, president Minority Cell BJP, Anu Charak, State general secretary Ladies Wing and Moti Ram National Executive Member ST, BJP were also present. Addressing the gathering Indu Bhushan Sharma asked people to live with communal harmony and celebrated this festival with joy.
Member Legislative Assembly (MLA) Suchetgarh Choudhary Sham Lal along with BSF troops celebrated Lohri at international border at Octroi Post, Suchetgarh. Commandant, 94th Battalion GS Dhariwal along with MLA highlighted the importance of the festival. Local people also participated in the function.
The inmates of Jammu Red Cross Home for Handicapped, Udheywala and Bhartiya Lok Sangeet Kala Sansthan celebrated Lohri. The function was inaugurated by Madan Lal Sharma, Member Parliament (MP), who was the chief guest in presence of Asgar Ali, MLC, Satish Sharma, Kuldeep Verma, Chairman, OBC, PC Kapoor, president JRC Home, Joginder Chhaterpal, secretary, ML Dogra, Chairman, VK Magotra, Managing Director BLSKS, civil society members and artists of BLSKS. The inmates presented scintillating cultural programme. Madan Lal Sharma assured full support to the managing body of JRC Home. The artists of BLSKS presented traditional folk items. Asgar Ali presented a cheque of Rs 1 lakh to the executive body of JRC Home for gradation of the home.
Lohri was celebrated at Rich Harvest School with lot of exuberance and fanfare. Ruchi Chark, Trustee, Dr Shivani Singh, Principal lit the sacred bonfire to initiate the celebration. Students attired in traditional dresses, presented cultural items.
Kashyap Rajput Sabha, Moti Bazaar organised Lohri poojan function under the chairmanship of its president Murari Lal Balgotra, in which executive members of the sabha and people of Kashyap Samaj participated. Gopal Krishan Sanotra, general secretary, Bodh Raj Dogra, advisor, BL Bhardwaj, advisor, Jeet Raj, vice president, Anoop Kumar, vice president, Mangat Ram, advisor, Shub Kumar, secretary, Subash Chander Dogra, organizing secretary, Suresh Dogra, secretary, Ashok Kumar, Rattan Lal, secretary, Bansi Lal Chowdhary, convener OBC, Ravi Kumar Dogra, Neelam Kumari, secretary, Arjit Kumar Kashyap, president and other members of the Sabha were also present.
Club De Francais, French Language Club, Jammu celebrated Lohri at Balniketan Ashram, Ambphalla. The function started with the introduction about the French Language Club by Meenakshi Barua, senior member of French Club. Purshotam Sharma, secretary, Balniketan Ashram threw light on the importance of Lohri festival. Sofia Rana, Senior member of French Club also highlighted the importance of Lohri celebration. On this occasion Bhupesh Mehta, Black belt in Taekwando showed some self defense tips, followed by song by Sheita Khanna, member of French Club and cultural items by the students of Balniketan. Arun, a budding artist also performed some songs on guitar for Balniketan Students. Managing Director of The Strings Institute of Music Naresh Sharma along with his team also enthralled the audiences. Harminder singh, general secretary, French Club, Dr Sanjay, Sunil, Aditya, Vishal, Amit, Ravijot, Sanjay, Umaid, Naureen, Rohika, Mehak and Poonam Dalia were also present.
On the eve of Lohri festival, Bhartiya Kala Sangam organised dance and music programme at Mubarak Mandi, in which renowned artists gave their performance. Sujanya Sharma, Director Tourism while presenting the welcome address said that cultural programmes will be organised on regular basis at Mubarak Mandi. Minister for Tourism and Culture GA Mir, Ashok Khajuria, MLA, retd KAS Officer TR Sharma, Rajini Sharma, renowned Radio and TV anchor, Ramesh Singh, Director, Bhartiya Kala Sangam were also present. The artists who performed on the occasion were Surinder Manhas, Rakesh Slathia, Nirbay Slathia, Chaman Mattoo, Tilak Raj Tagotra, Anjana Paudwal, Darbari Lal and Bandana.
Dogra Brahman Pratinidhi Sabha organised lohri celebration function, which was presided over by president of the sabha VP Sharma along with Virender Magotra, vice president, Satya Paul Sharma, general secretary, NC Sharma, secretary, Madan Lal Sharma, treasurer and executive members. Ashok Khajuria was the chief guest, while JMC Commissioner Kiran Wattal was the guest of honour. Soujanya Sharma, Director Tourism, KK Sharma, Director Floriculture and Advocate Chander Mohan Sharma were also present.
All residents of Sector-4, Roop Nagar JDA Colony celebrated Lohri festival. A holy fire was lit on the occasion. The function was held under the chairmanship of Committee’s president Narinder Sharma while executive committee members DK Sharma, Ram Prakash Sharma, Manmohan Pal Gupta, Rahul Pant, P Parmar, Rafiq Ahmed Sheikh, Shafiq Raina and Zahid Wani were also present.
A cultural programme was organised for the jail inmates on the occasion of Lohri festival at District Jail, Jammu. The inmates danced on the tunes of songs. Superintendent, District Jail, Jammu and jail staff members were also present.
Lohri festival was celebrated in District Jail Udhampur, in which Jail inmates participated. A cultural programme was presented by the Jail inmates. Jail Staff also participated in the said festival. Bushan Lal Bali, Superintendent District Jail Udhampur highlighted the importance of the festival.
Surya Vihar Welfare Committee, Patta Bohri celebrated Lohri festival, in which all the committee members participated. The function was held under the chairmanship of president of the committee Hans Raj Manhas and Parshotam Sharma, secretary.
Lohri festival was celebrated at Directorate of Distance Education, University of Jammu, by MEd batch 2013-14. The function was started with welcome speech by Chandralekha Kotha and it was followed by poetry recitation and songs by students of the batch. Some of the students participated and presented colourful items. Director Prof VD Singh, MEd Programme Coordinator Dr Jaspal Singh, Academic Counsellors Prof CL Shivgotra, Prof Ramzan Ali, Prof Rakesh, Prof Deep Kumar, Prof Rashmi Gupta, Prof OP Sharma, Prof Divya, besides many others were present on the occasion.
Trikuta Nagar Welfare Society celebrated Lohri at Main Chowk, Sector 6, in which residents participated. BD Gupta, Chairman of the society welcomed the residents. Raghubeer Gupta, Gurdeep Singh and Tara Chand were also present.
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