With kite flying and pujas, India welcomes the harvest season
The festivals of Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Bhogali Bihu, Uttarayan, and Paush Parva significantly mark the harvesting season of crops as the winter season ends and ushers in the spring
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Lohri is a much celebrated folk festival that marks the passing of the winter solstice and celebrates the arrival of longer days. To mark the festival, a youth flies a kite on the occasion of Lohri festival during a foggy day in Amritsar. AFP
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Lorhi marks the beginning of the harvest season. On this auspicious day, people across the country celebrate the fest with full fervour and enthusiasm. AFP
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As per the tradition being carried on since ages, people on this day eat gajak, sarson da saag, til rice, jaggery, makki di roti, radish and ground nuts. By evening, bonfires are lit and families come together with love and respect. AFP
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Pilgrims perform rituals as they pray at the beach during the Hindu religious festival of Gangasagar Mela on Sagar Island, some 150 kilometres south of Kolkata. Besides Lorhi, every year thousands of pilgrims visit Gangasagar village for a dip at the confluence of the Ganges and the Bay of Bengal. The annual fair runs on the holy river Gangotri banks for two months (January - February), usually crowded the most on the Makar Sankranti. AFP
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A child hold kites for sale at a market ahead of a kite festival in Ahmedabad. AP
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Villagers participate in a community fishing event during Bhogali Bihu harvest celebrations at Goroimari Lake in Panbari, on the outskirts of Guwahati. AFP
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Residents carry kites on a rickshaw on the eve of Lohri, the spring festival, in Amritsar on Jan (Photo by Narinder NANU / AFP)
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Flower vendors sell garlands in market ahead of the Makar Sankranti harvest festival in Bengaluru. AFP
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