Festival · 2027
Lohri 2027 — Thursday, 14 January 2027
Lohri is the winter bonfire festival of Punjab, lit on the evening before Makar Sankranti with songs, sesame, jaggery and the warmth of family and neighbours.
In 2026
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
- Sunrise / sunset
- 7:15 AM / 5:44 PM
- Sunset
- 5:44 PM
- Makar Sankranti: 14 January 2026
Rule: The evening before Makar Sankranti: the day before the Sun’s entry into sidereal Capricorn as our calendar fixes it. The bonfire is lit after sunset.
In 2027
Thursday, 14 January 2027
- Sunrise / sunset
- 7:15 AM / 5:45 PM
- Sunset
- 5:45 PM
- Makar Sankranti: 15 January 2027
Rule: The evening before Makar Sankranti: the day before the Sun’s entry into sidereal Capricorn as our calendar fixes it. The bonfire is lit after sunset.
Times follow New Delhi’s sunrise and sunset. In other cities the muhurat shifts by some minutes, and occasionally the day by one. Full festival calendar
What is Lohri?
Lohri is celebrated on the last evening before the Sun enters Makara, the sidereal sign of Capricorn. In the Punjabi solar calendar it closes the month of Poh, the coldest stretch of winter, and the next morning is Maghi, the first day of Magh. As night falls, families and neighbours gather around a bonfire in a courtyard, a street or an open field, feed it with sesame, jaggery sweets, peanuts and popcorn, and sing and dance around the flames until late.
The best-known story sung at Lohri is that of Dulla Bhatti, a folk hero of the Punjab of Mughal times who, the songs say, robbed the rich to help the poor and rescued girls who were being carried off, arranging their marriages as a father would. The Lohri song that children sing from door to door, Sundar mundriye, names him and asks for sweets and firewood in return. These are folk ballads rather than scripture, and they are loved for the generosity and courage they celebrate.
Lohri is also a farmers’ festival. In Punjab the rabi crop of wheat and mustard is green in the fields, sugarcane is being cut and fresh jaggery is being made. The fire is a thanksgiving for the harvest to come and a way to meet the cold together. Many families speak of offering the first share of rewri, gajak and peanuts to the fire before eating them, as a simple gesture of gratitude.
For a household, the most joyful Lohri is the first one after a wedding or after the birth of a child. Relatives are invited, gifts and sweets are shared, and the new bride or the baby is at the centre of the celebration. In recent decades many families have made a point of celebrating the first Lohri of a daughter as warmly as that of a son, and this is now widely seen as part of the festival’s spirit.
How it is observed
- Building a bonfire of wood and cow-dung cakes in a courtyard or open ground and lighting it after sunset.
- Walking around the fire and offering it til, rewri, gajak, peanuts and popcorn.
- Children going from house to house singing Lohri songs and collecting sweets or firewood.
- Singing folk songs, with bhangra and gidda around the fire.
- Celebrating the first Lohri of a newly married couple or a newborn with relatives and gifts.
- Eating sarson da saag and makki di roti, and rice cooked in sugarcane juice in some homes.
- Waking the next morning for Maghi, with a bath and, for many Sikh families, a visit to the gurdwara.
How the date is fixed
Lohri is not fixed by a tithi. It is the evening before Makar Sankranti, so our calendar first finds the Makar Sankranti day, the day the Sun enters sidereal Capricorn as our calendar fixes it (that day itself if the entry is before sunset, otherwise the next day), and Lohri is the day before it. The bonfire is lit after sunset on that evening. The date and sunset time above are worked out this way for your place.
Where practice differs
Lohri is at its biggest in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu, and among Punjabi families around the world. In Jammu the day is also linked with the chajja dance of children carrying decorated paper peacocks. The next day is kept as Maghi in Punjab, as Makar Sankranti in most of north India, as Pongal in Tamil Nadu and as Magh Bihu in Assam, where the Bhogali bonfire has much in common with Lohri. Because Lohri follows the Sun, there is no amanta or purnimanta difference, but a family that follows a printed almanac using a different ayanamsa or sunset rule may keep it a day later in the rare years when Sankranti falls close to sunset.
Dates and times are computed by our own engine (sunrise, tithi and kalas for New Delhi, Lahiri ayanamsa). In another city, or in an almanac of another tradition, the day can differ by one — follow your family’s tradition.
Questions people ask
Is Lohri always the day before Makar Sankranti?
Yes. Lohri is the evening before the Makar Sankranti day. When the Sun enters Capricorn after sunset, Sankranti moves to the next day and Lohri moves with it, which is why its date occasionally shifts by one day.
What time is the Lohri bonfire lit?
After sunset, once it is dark. There is no strict muhurat in the tradition; families light the fire in the early evening and keep it going late into the night. The sunset time for your place is shown above.
Who was Dulla Bhatti?
A folk hero of Punjab remembered in Lohri songs. The ballads say he helped the poor and rescued girls who were being abducted, arranging their weddings himself. The songs are folk memory rather than recorded history, and they are sung for their spirit of kindness.
Why is the first Lohri of a bride or a baby special?
Lohri is a family festival of warmth and plenty, so a new member of the household is welcomed at the fire with relatives, songs and gifts. Many families now celebrate a daughter’s first Lohri as fully as a son’s.