Celebrate the Spirit of Lohri with Your Loved Ones by Gifting Them These Awesome Gift Hampers (2019)!

Agriculture holds a very essential place in the Indian society and many of our festivals revolve around the various agricultural practices that we follow. Lohri being one such important festival for our farmers, especially in Punjab, marks the beginning of the harvesting season and end of the winters. It is usually celebrated on the last day of Paush (which is a month in Hindu calendar), while the day is also called Makar Sankranti in other parts of the country. In terms of the English calendar and dates, the festival of Lohri is celebrated on 13th January every year. The other interpretation of this festival lies in the belief that Lohri pays homage to the Sun God (Lord Surya) for gracing the people and their lands with his presence and helping them attain a bumper harvest. While the legend has it, that Lohri also commemorates Dulha Bhatti who was known to rob money from the rich and distribute the wealth amongst the poor, much like a Punjabi version of Robinhood. In his praise, the locals sing songs and spread his message.

Every festival in India not only has its special significance but also carries some specific customs and traditions which make it distinguished and unique from the flare of other festivities. Lohri also has many traditional practices revolving around it. The preparation of Lohri starts in the winters with village men and women collecting twigs and branches in order to form a huge bonfire. On the day of the Lohri, as the sun sets, this bonfire is lit while people perform dances like Bhangra and Gidda, on songs resonating to the festival. Special food items like reori, peanuts, popcorn, and sugarcane are offered and exchanged amongst the people. A fistful of these munchies are also offered to the fire, in order to present them to the Sun God. A common belief revolving around the festival is of taking a holy dip and also, doing your bit towards charity. Kheer is another popular dessert prepared by using sugarcane juice and is relished and offered to the whole community. Lohri is deemed to be an important festival for the newly married bride and groom and is celebrated with grandeur for them.

Along with the knowledge of the customs and traditions, one should also be well aware of how to dress on the occasion of Lohri. Intricately woven and designed, bright coloured and embroidered Patiala salwar suits are a raging success on Lohri. The dress should be vibrant, well-fitted and intelligently accessorised. Generally, Punjabi women love to flaunt heavy and chunky gold jewellery atop their suits. It goes with the belief that it is a sign of wealth and prosperity that comes along with the blessings of God on this festival. ‘Maang Tika’ is also used to enhance the overall look. Some women might also ditch the Patiala salwar for a saree. Also, women like to beautifully drape their long hair in ‘paranda’ which adds to the grace of their traditional look.

Traditionally, men are seen wearing dhoti and kurta, which is accentuated by adorning a pagdi. Draping a vibrant scarf or a stole, with colours matching their kurta or pagdi, is also an ongoing trend. Regionally made Patiala jutis are worn which further complete the traditional look.

Some things can barely ever go wrong, and chocolates top this list. Handmade chocolates are delicacies that everyone enjoys, and its distinct taste always makes you want for more. Lohri is a festival of building community and spreading joy, and these handmade square shaped chocolates can be the best way to greet your friends and family.

These chocolates come in a traditional looking red packaging with a golden ribbon to wrap it all up. It can be delivered to your friend’s or family’s house, adding accessibility to the list of why we love this product. This set of carefully selected chocolates retails for Rs.599 and is available on the website fnp.com.

Festivals feel incomplete without a range of sweets being prepared at home. The gift hamper that you’re planning to gift must be able to showcase the authenticity of the festival while adding an element of modernity. The hamper of ‘Best Sweetness Deal’ from fnp.com is a perfect confluence of traditional and modern. The package contains 250 g of Soan papdi, a pack full of dry fruits like almonds and cashews (100 g each), and two Cadbury chocolates weighing 38 g each. All these goodies packed in a chic basket, making it look regal and worth gifting. This hamper retails for Rs.1,299 on fnp.com.

While there are combos available in the market with random sweets assembled together and labelled as the ‘festival hamper’, but without adding the authentic sweets made specially on Lohri, the festival hamper is quite similar to any other hamper available.

Sweets like Murmura ladoo, Gur Gajak and Rewri are sweets that are made in every household for the occasion of Lohri. The ‘Lohri Sweetness combo’ has all three- Murmura ladoo (250 g), Gur Gajak (200 g) and Rewri (200 g), wrapped beautifully in a jute potli, earning full points on earthiness and authenticity. This hamper retails for a fair price of Rs.921 and is available on the website of indiagift.com. This combo can be delivered to your friends’ and family’s addresses on whichever date you choose, making long distance community building work smoothly.

With the new age trends taking over people, gifting food items which are both healthy and delicious is gaining popularity all over the world. Gifting things that are health positive show, how much you care about the other person’s wellness and well-being. Also, these gifts make you stand out because gifting hampers related to fitter self aren't that common at the moment. Fitness oriented hampers also show that you’ve added some thought while giving the present and hence, people are most likely to reciprocate with the same zeal.
The New Tree Gift Hamper which contains a Tray of 5 Assorted Packs of vegetarian snacking items which are both tasty and healthy. The 5 jars contain handpicked ingredients like Peanut Butter Mix; Quinoa Puff - Salted Multigrain Mix; Quinoa Puff - Jalapeno Peanut Mix; Wonder Berries and Berries Fruit & Seed Mix. These are dry, take away snacks that can be consumed whenever and wherever. They are fresh, hygienic and surprisingly healthy. The ingredients are great source of protein, anti-oxidants, calcium, vitamins and dietary fibres. The hamper retails for a steal deal price of Rs.1,395 and is sold by the brand “New Tree” on amazon.in.

If you’ll ask any of your Punjabi friends to name one well-known and popular sweets centre, it is much expected that they will name Ghasitaram’s sweets and namkeen. Even if you’re not from regions where Lohri is celebrated with utmost vigour, you can gift them sweets from their favourite vendor and cash on points for your thoughtfulness. Ghasitaram’s besan ladoo and namkeen hamper with free silver plated coin is the perfect gift to give your friends and family on the auspicious occasion of Lohri. Not only does it have the authentic flavours of traditional sweets like the besan ladoo, but also comes with free silver plated coin to mark the festival and its importance. This bumper hamper retails for a reasonable price of Rs.551 and can be purchased from the official website of Ghasitaram sweets.

If your idea of gifting on occasions like the festival of Lohri, is to merge the traditional gifts and the modern ones then giving hampers with the elements of both the worlds would fit your bill perfectly. Gifting sweets on festivals is considered auspicious but there’s no rule that you have to gift the traditional jaggery sweets only. The Giftalove Appreciation Gourmet Box available on the website of giftalove.com consists of a box of Tosita chocolate cookies, two different pouches of handmade chocolates and a splash of traditional flavous in the form of a box of gulab jamun. The hamper nicely mixes the sweet flavours of the traditional sweets as well as gourmet chocolates. You can purchase this Giftalove box for a price of Rs.1,110 only.

Gifting on a festival does not necessarily mean presenting boxes of sweets and eateries always. If you wish to stand out with your gift being both useful and a little different than a box of sweets, you can choose to gift the quintessential Silver Plated Puja Thali With a whole lot of accessories on the occasion of Lohri. The puja hamper comprise of a classic silver plated round puja thali, a silver puja bell, a silver spoon, a silver urn, a silver plated incense stick holder, a silver container and a beautiful diya. This hamper contributes completely to the pious and ritualistic occasion of Lohri and will surely leave the receivers of this hamper, impressed in and out. This 8in X 8in X 1in puja thali hamper retails for a price of Rs.1,150 and can be purchased from the website of igp.com.

Wishing your loved ones on a special occasion is all about the warm feelings, positive thoughts, and grand celebrations. But it isn’t always necessary to make it boring with just a plain and dry call! Wish your beloved friends and family a very happy Lohri, by gifting them a fresh and beautiful bunch of orchids in the form of a nicely wrapped bouquet along with a box of assorted rich dry fruit collection of chocolates. Let your love and your gifts reach their doorstep on the chosen date and time, and surprise them with a call later on! You can buy this hamper service for a price of Rs.1,699 from the website giftalove.com.

Kaju Katli in sweets is amongst the cult classics which are loved and gifted on various occasions, all across the country. The rich flavour of cashews alongside the creamy texture of the sweet is sure to mesmerise anyone who takes a bite into the Kaju Katlis. But, to suit the vibrant festivity of Lohri, gifting just the plain Kaju Katli won’t do any justice. The website of giftalove.com offers a hamper of assorted Kaju sweets in the shape and form of different kinds of fruits. They have beautiful and realistic looking Kaju fruits like the Kaju apple, Kaju strawberry, Kaju pear, and the Kaju melon. This way you can gift the authentic taste of the classic Indian sweet, with the unique and striking look of the fruits! A pack containing four kinds of these Kaju fruits, weighing about 250 grams retails for a price of Rs.399 and can also be delivered directly to the desired address.

With the increasing number of people getting health conscious, and alarmingly concerned about what kinds of sweets they are consuming, it becomes extremely difficult to choose the right kind of gift on occasions like Lohri. You never know if your sweets will make way through their strict eating regimes or not. But, there’s one pleasurably sweet thing that would be wholeheartedly accepted by even the strictest of fitness enthusiasts. Honey!

Natural honey is not only delicious and tasty but, it is the greatest alternative preferred by fitness enthusiasts in contrast to packaged sugar. It helps you achieve the chiselled body and the dewy, glowy skin. This honey motley gift hamper is an amazingly unique combination containing a jar of forest honey, a jar of acacia honey, a jar of honey and nut, a honey orange bathing bar, a honey lavender bathing bar and a pack of honey lemon jellies. Believe it or not, this unique hamper retails for just Rs.995 and can be purchased from amazon.in.

Other than looking for and ordering in these amazing hampers, you can also create a personalised gift hamper at home. All you have to do is to choose a set of compatible options like different kinds of bathing accessories, homemade sweets, or any such objects which would look good together in a hamper.

Keep all of your chosen options in a beautiful basket of choice and lastly, decorate with a bow created with the help of some brightly coloured ribbons and voila! Your homemade, personalised gift hamper is ready!