Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 13: The festival of Lohri was celebrated in Jammu today with traditional fervour and gaiety as various functions were held by different organizations and institutions across the region to mark the day.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) organized a function to celebrate Lohri in which local residents, shopkeepers and party leaders participated.
“The folk festival of Jammu was celebrated today by lighting a bonfire and offering groundnuts and sweets as a thanks giving to the almighty on conclusion of harvesting of crops and onset of spring season,” a PDP Spokesman said here today.
Prominent among others who participated in the programme were Girish Sharma, Chaman Angral, Pawan Mehra, Neeraj Chandel, Vinod Mahajan, Bittu Pardan, Surinder Singh, Veeresh Mahajan, Sanjeev Dogra, Dimple Tak and Hardeep Singh. Speaking on the occasion, Vikram Singh expressed satisfaction and happiness over preserving age old cultural heritage and spirit of tolerance with one and all by celebrating the Festival jointly with the people of all faiths.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has also extended his greetings to the people of the state, “Happy Lohri everyone. Toss a bit of the sesame seeds in to the bonfire on my behalf as well,” he wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
In another tweet he wrote, “While on the subject of festivals, makar sankranti and pongal greetings too.”
A function was organized by the National Conference (NC) leaders at the party office in Jammu where they celebrated the festival of Lohri.
“This is a tradition of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to celebrate all the festivals of all the religions and with great respect. Such types of festivals strengthen the bond of the brotherhood among the people,” State vice-president of the party Rattan Lal Gupta said.
The party leaders and workers who participated in the Festival were Sheikh Bashir Ahmad, Thakur Kashmira Singh Ex-MLC, Jugal Mahajan, Bimla Luthra, Chander Mohan Sharma, Pardeep Bali, Rajesh Bakshi, Rashida Begum, Dilshada Malik, Ashok Dogra, Rohit Bali, Pinky Bhat, ML Munshi, Vinod Tak, Som Dutt, Reeta Gupta, Kasturi Lal Gupta, Sucha Singh and Dr Dang.
The festival of ‘Lohri and Makar Sankranti’ was celebrated by BJP activists with senior leaders, state office bearers, newly elected MLAs and Morcha presidents at party headquarters at Pt. Premnath Dogra Bhawan, Kachi Chawni with reverence and gaiety. The traditional fire was lit and various nuts and sweets were offered. The enthusiastic workers performed ‘bangra’ on the tunes of drum beats and congratulated each other on the occasion.
Those who took part in the celebrations included Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, Ashok Khajuria, Dr Nirmal Singh, Shamsher Singh Manhas, Chander Mohan Sharma, Chander Prakash Ganga, Ramesh Arora, Col Uttam Singh, Ashok Kaul, Kavinder Gupta, Bharat Bhushan, Sunil Sethi, S S Bijral, Yudhvir Sethi, Bansi Lal Bharti, N D Rajwal, Sat Sharma (C.A), Munish Sharma, Charanjit Singh Khalsa, Mamta Singh, Chander Mohan Gupta, Brig. Anil Gupta, Surinder Bhagat, Priya Sethi, anil Gupta, Rajesh Gupta, Subash Jandial, Murari Lal, Krishan Lal, Varinderjit Singh, Nand Kishore, Naresh Dogra, Rajinder Sharma, Arun Chhibber, Rashpal Singh, Vikram Randhawa, Jaideep Sharma, Vinay Gupta, Advocate Naveed Choudhary, Dr Gagan Bhagat, Pardeep Sharma, Arvind Gupta, Ramesh Sharma, Surinder Choudhary, Vijay Choudhary, Narotam Sharma, Ajay Vaid, Sangeeta Gupta, Dinesh Gupta and Prashant Puri.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) Jammu also organized a function where they, apart from celebrating the festival, also welcomed a group of students from North Eastern States.
“We are celebrating the Festival and welcoming the students from North Eastern states. Such type of programmes are a welcome step to know about the culture and heritage of different states of the country,” CCI president Rakesh Gupta said.
Arun Gupta, secretary general CCI welcomed the students from North Eastern States and also the ABVP team and congratulated them for organizing the tour “Bharat Ko Janno 2015”.
Sham Lal Langer, Sr vice president CCI presented the vote of thanks.
Later, Lohri pooja was also held in front of Chamber House wherein chief geuest, Shantmanu, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, office bearers of CCI and all the visiting students and delegates participated.
Dogra Sadar Sabha, J&K celebrated Lohri Festival with bonfire in the premises of Dogra Sadar Sabha with religious fervour and zeal where a large number of prominent members of the civil society participated. The speakers threw light on the importance of this Festival.
Gulchain Singh Charak, president Dogra Sadar Sabha while speaking on the occasion congratulated the people of Jammu in maintaining communal harmony. He prayed for the Universal brotherhood, peace and social harmony of the region and the State.
Prominent among those who were present on the occasion included Dr N K Dogra, Sr vice president, Prem Sagar Gupta , general secretary, Kulbir Singh, D K Singh Advocate, Santosh Magotra, Ex-Corporator, Ghani Sham Singh, Ajmer Singh, Bawa Ditta and Munish Pathania.
Sanatan Dharam Sabha J&K celebrated its traditional Dogra Festival Lohri with religious gaiety and fervour at Geeta Bhawan, today. Prant Sanchalak-Suchet Singh, retired Brigadier was the chief guest, while social worker Sat Pal Gupta, Kavinder Gupta, Sat Sharma, Rajesh Gupta and Kiran Wattal, Commissioner Jammu Municipal Corporation were the guests of honour.
The School run by the Sabha presenterd colourful cultural items on the occasion. Presidents of the Sabha, Jagdish Dogra presented vote of thanks.
A colourful programme was organized in District Jail Jammu by HelPage India, an NGO to celebrate Lohri today.
Sunita Santoshi, Senior Manager HelPage India alongwith her staff visited District Jail Jammu and celebrated the Festival with elders of the Jail.
Harish Kotwal, Superintendent District Jail Jammu thanked HelPage India for sharing the festivity. Sweets were distributed among the Jail inmates by HelPage India on the occasion.
The Lohri Festival was celebrated at District Jail Kishtwar in presence of Shiv Kumar Khajuria, Superintendent Jail along with prisoners and Jail inmates. Sweets and groundnuts were distributed among the inmates on the occasion.
On the eve of Lohri, under its ongoing Tuesday Series, Nat Manch today presented a Dogri Play ‘Aaye Lohri’ at Shakti Nagar, here.
With the presentation of today’s Play, the Nat Manch also completed 145 shows in its ongoing Series. The Play was written and directed by Tarun Sharma, young theatre personality of Jammu and Kashmir. The story of the play was based on Lohri.
The actors who performed in the play were Tarun Sharma, Rahul Kumar, Mohit Sharma , Amit Sharma , Ranjeet Singh, Nikhil Sharma, Sourav Mehra and Nikhil Verma.
New Young Blood Organization, Sheikh Nagar, Bahu Fort, Jammu celebrated Lohri Festival with pomp and show in Old-age Ashram and Orphanage Ashram, here today.
Prominent among others present on the occasion were Ashok Verma, chairman of the Organization, Naveen Gupta, Kuldeep Singh, Karan Salaria, Rajesh, Ramesh Tak, Ashwani Kumar, Paplesh Sharma and Raj Kumar.
Despite un-conducive atmosphere in District Samba due to Pak firing, the people celebrated Lohri with religious gaiety and lit bonfire to preserve tradition.
People said that they celebrated the festivals of Diwali, Karwachouth, Ganesh Sankat Choudas (Pugga Bratt) and now Lohri in the relief camps and appealed the Central Government to take measures in bringing peace on the International Border. They also demanded 5 ‘marlas’ plots at safer places for border families.
The Festival of Lohri was celebrated with pomp and show at Sector-6 Main Chowk, Mini Market, Trikuta Nagar, today.
The residents and shopkeepers of Trikuta Nagar participated in the celebrations and distributed sweets and groundnuts among the people on the occasion.
The NSS Unit of the Government College of Education Jammu, organized a special cultural bonanza with a theme ‘Kudiyan Di Lohri’. The mega cultural event, in which students presented songs, poems, gazals, gidda and bhangra, which was appreciated by one and all.
While speaking on the occasion, Principal of the College, Prof (Dr) Ajeet Angral advised the students to imbibe value and also work with all dedication, commitment and above all be good human and be global leader.
The programme concluded with a vote of thanks presented by the NSS Programme Officer of the College, Prof Ashu Jolly. All the teaching and non-teaching staff and students were present in the function. National Youth Day was also celebrated at Government College of Education Jammu.
Let’s Learn: An Activity Zone and Devs Kids World School Katra celebrated Lohri with great enthusiasm. The students who were in colourful costumes assembled around the bonfire and sang the traditional songs of Lohri.
The Festival was celebrated in the presence of Director Devs Kids World School, Ajay Singh Kotwal, Director Let’s Learn: An Activity Zone, Arvind Sharma and Principal Dev Kids World School, Shardha Devi.
Students and staff members of R M Public School celebrated Lohri and Makar Sakranti with religious fervour and enthusiasm. Principal, Ravinder Kour and Trustee Reeta Mengi threw light on the rituals related to Lohri Festival. The groundnuts, popcorns and revari were distributed among the students and staff members. A colourful cultural programme was also presented by the students around the bonfire. Reeta Mengi also threw light on the importance of the day.
Jammu Sanskriti School celebrated Lohri with great fervour and festivity.
On the occasion, the bonfire was lit by the Principal-cum-Vice Chairperson, Rohini Aima and the teachers with the motive that they will take initiatives for spreading love and peace.
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