A village of Kashmir Valley

                                       Kashmiri Wazwan:

Here we shall not discuss in detail the food and dietary items consumed by the people, as it has already mentioned previously. Here we shall only discuss about kashmiri wazwan- kashmiri cusine -.the history of kashmiri wazwan can be traced back to the 15^th century invasion of India by Timur, and the migration of 1700 accomplished wood carvers, weavers architects, calligraphers and cooks from Samarkand to the valley of Kashmir. The descendants of these cooks, the wazas , are the mastercheifs of Kashmir. These wazas make dozens of dishes, mostly of meat , cooked our night by the mastercheif , wazas. Guests are seated in groups of four and share the meal out of a large metal plate, called the Trami. The meal begins with a ritual washing of hands at a basin, called Tasht-e-nar. Then the Tramies arrive heaped with rice , quarted by four sekh kababs , contains

Four pieces of Methi korma , one Tabak maz , one Safed murg. Cord and chitney are served separately.

Mostly common served are the Ristas , are meat balls of finely pounded mutton and cooked in a gravy . Sekh Kababs , Tabak maz , are flat pieces of meat cut from the ribs and fired till the acquire a crackling texture. Yakhni ows its cream colour to the use of curd as a base to meat balls. Yakhni is the last dish to be served. Besides some vegetables like naddu ,etc are also served in wazwan .

                    Breads :

All the local bakery shopes serve typical kashmiri breads like shermaal , bakerkhani , girda. Lavas is a cream colored unleveled breads without which no breakfast is complete. 


    Kangar (kashmiri Fire pot)

Kangar which forms such a important part of kashmiri’s life must not be lift unnoticed . The kangari is a small earthenware bowl of quaint shape, held in a frame of wiker work. In the winter and even in summer when the rains chill the air, heart embers are put in to the kangar and are slipped under voluminous gown (pharan) which all kashmiri wear.

          Chinar/Maple (Boni) :

I think there is no exageretion in saying that chinar tree, commonly known as Boni is the trade mark of kashmiri culture and our village is no exception. The voluminous shade of the chinar tree is highly conducive and

Comfortable for health and gives a cool breeze. But unfortunately the number of chinar trees divides day by day and if this trend goes unjacked the time is not for away when the tree will get extinct from the soil of Kashmir .

                   Customs of birth , death and marriages :

Birth; immediately after the birth of a child a respectable a Muslim name is given to him or her either by the eldest member of the family or by the pir(spiritual master). Then after six to seven months, the head of the child is clean shaved. This custom of clean shaving of head of the child is locally known as Zade-kasen. Generally some reverential place, like the shrine of a sufi or a rishi is choosen for this custom.

Death; Muslims believe in life after death. When a Muslim approaches his death, he is laidon bed with his head towards the north and feet towards the south known as Akher shand . after death the corps is breathed and wrapped in white cloth (kafan) the body is then carried in a coffin (taboot) to the graveyard where it is buried in the grave. At the time burial, Quranic verses are recited by the side of the grave, and supplications and prayers are made for the departed soul by nearby relatives and neighbours. There is active mourning in the family of dead for three connective days and on the fourth day chahrum is observed. During this day, Quranic verses are recited at the deceased home commonly known as Fath khawani are churem.Meal is also arranged During this day for relatives coming from far off distances.

Marriage; Marriage has been the most notable social institution since times immemorial. It has been the primary responsibility of the parents to arrange the marriage of their children.

First of all the services of a match-maker, commonly known as Manzimyour, are availed to get a suitable bride. After the match is fixed the bethrotal ceremony, known as Nishan, takes place in which the groom’s father with some relatives visited and takes presents to the girls house. The visit is later paid back by the bride’s father and her relatives. Later a date is fixed for the marriage, Sathnama, which is duly solemnized in the Nikah ceremony. In the same ceremony a formal consent is elicited from both sides, and the amount of Mahr to be paid by the groom to the bride is fixed.

On the preceding day of marriage, Khander, the groom’s father sends some Mehendi to the bride’s house with which she strains her feet and hands, while the women folk sing traditional folk songs. This night of celebrations and dying the hands and feet is known as Manzraat(the night of applying Mehendi). Bridegroom is commonly known as Maharaz and bride as Maharen.

Next day, the groom visits the brides house along with his friends and relatives (Baratis) and a feast is served to the guests. After the feast is over, the Rukhsati or departure of bride to her father-in-law’s house takes place. A female relative known as Dudmouj accompanies the bride who gives her instructions regarding the formalities to be observed. On reaching her father-in-law’s house the bride is taken to a room which specially decorated for her. After the bride’s arrival, her mother-in-law takes the veil off from bride’s face, and at the same time, the bride passes on a handker-chief containing some golden ornaments or cash to her and this is regarded as mother-in-law’s prerequisite or Hashkent.

It is also worth mentioning here that during this day, hander, a great feast (Sal) is served in both groom’s and bride’s house for public, in which the world famous and choicest Wazwan dishes are served.

Carpet Weaving Industry in Kashmir

Carpet Weaving Industry: Kashmir

Last but not the least among the village oriented small scale handmade industry which deserves here a special mention, and which had once revolutionized the village economy, is the carpet weaving industry (kalin). This handmade industry was introduced in our village by 1970’s, reached to its pinnacle and heights in no time in 1980’s and then very rapidly started to decline from the last decade of the 20^th century.

The process of a production of a carpet was long and laborious. It involved several steps such as cultivation of silk or wool, treating and dying it, deciding the pattern of carpet weaving and then adding the final touches.

Mostly the system which was in vogue was somewhat very similar to Dadni system with the trader of nearby village or locality, or even with the trader of Srinagar, who used to provide raw material and the loom on which the carpet was weaved.

From 1985 to 1994 this industry flourished and reached to its highest pitch of glory in our village. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that this industrial unit was established in almost each and every household, a nearly two to three members on an average of an every household were involved in carpet weaved. This industry has revolutionized the village economy during the period of its pinnacle and culmination to such an extent that the people threw away their government jobs and get involved in this industry.

But from the beginning of the last decade of 20^th century this industry declined very sharply and in no time got completely ruined and disappeared from our village and locality. While interviewing various persons (weavers) who were involved with this industry, I came to know about various factors which led to the ruination of the industry. I have categorized these incomitant factors under the following heads:

(a)Competition in outside market: As the machine made less expensive carpets from others parts of India made their way in to the market, there remained fewer buyers for Kashmiri handmade carpets. Thus this craft which was considered as the trade mark of Kashmir succumbed to the competition, both from within and outside the state the state of Jammu & Kashmir.

(b)Sub standard use of raw material: Though initially the material used in the Kashmiri carpet was the finest quality, but after the lapse of time when the weavers begin to face a competition in markets they took recourse to the use of sub standard raw material. This degradation has not only dented the image and reputation of Kashmiri carpets but also let to the diminishing international market.

(c)No innovation by weavers: lack of innovations in carpets was yet another cause responsible for the decline of this craft. Despite the competition the weavers remained stick to their traditional and age old designs and patterns of flora and fauna.

hilal hayat 

www.hilalhayat.blogspot.com

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