Lohri is a popular winter Dogra and Punjabi folk festival celebrated primarily in Northern India. The significance and legends about the Lohri festival are many and these link the festival to the Duggar region and Punjab region. It is believed by many that the festival marks the passing of the winter solstice. Lohri marks the end of winter, and is a traditional welcome of longer days and the sun's journey to the Northern Hemisphere. It is observed the night before Maghi.
Punjabi woman waiting to participate in Gidda
Gurh, solidified and unrefined sugarcane juice is a traditional festive sweet.
Bhangra
Ready to perform Punjabi cultural dance" Gidha"
The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere. For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, and when the Sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky. Each polar region experiences continuous darkness or twilight around its winter solstice. The opposite event is the summer solstice.
Sunset at Stonehenge in England during the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere
The seasons with the transition points of the June solstice, September equinox, December solstice, and March equinox
Sunlight entering the passage of Newgrange in Ireland on the winter solstice
Neolithic site of Goseck circle in Germany. The yellow lines indicate the directions in which sunrise and sunset are seen on the day of the winter solstice.
