Dancers shake a leg at a function organised to celebrate Lohri at Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Hall in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Jan. 13: Lohri celebrations never got this big in the city, as thousands poured in today at Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Hall to soak in the festive gathering organised by the Punjabi Biradri.

Assistant director-general Special Branch, A.S. Nimbran inaugurated the Lohri festival with much joy and fervour.

Children and women danced on numbers like Main jat yamla pagla deewana and Main nikla gaddi leke.

Nimbran wished everyone present at the hall and said: “Lohri is the festival of joy and happiness and it should be celebrated with gaiety by inviting people from all walks of life.”

Punjabi Biradri president S.K. Malhotra said: “Lohri is traditionally associated with the harvest of rabi crop and it is celebrated with mirth. This festival is mostly celebrated in northern India especially in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and by the Punjabi community settled anywhere in the world.”

He added: “The festival assumes greater significance if there has been a birth or marriage in the family. If there is a newborn in the family and it’s the child’s first Lohri, the festival is celebrated on a grand scale.”

“Young girls pray to the bonfire seeking abundance and prosperity. People gathered around the bonfire throw puffed rice into the flame. Punjabis eagerly wait for this family gathering and lavish food like sarson ka saag and makki ki roti are served for dinner,” said H.L. Gulati, secretary general of Punjabi Biradri.