First Nauratra (March-April) is a special day for Pandits from Kashmir. Its NAVREH (New Year Day) in Kashmir. The first day of Saptrishi Samvat of the lunar year is celebrated as New Year by Kashmir Pandits (KPs). It is also the Basant or Sounth in Kashmiri. It is celebrated on Chaitra Shukla Pakhsh Pratipada. It’s said on this momentous festival Lord Brahma created the whole universe. On this day the new almanac, the annual calendar with new astronomical data and lot of other information commences for the new Hindu calendar year. With this day the most soothing season of the year, the spring starts with a renewed life. The nature wears a new look. Fresh fragrance of new flowers and blossoms fill the air immediately after snow melts in Kashmir. The notes of early migratory birds, Poshnool, Phambseer, Cheni-Hagur, Katij, Kukil, Sheene-Pipienetc are heard after a long spell of winter. Navreh is also a celebration of an escape from the clutches of the severe cold of winter with a new lease of life and a season of regeneration and fertility. Prior to the festival the family Brahmin brings in the new almanac (Panchang) of the New Year, called Janthari or Nechepater in Kashmiri. In olden days the family Brahmin brought in a beautifully designed handmade scroll of paper with paintings of Goddess Saraswati and Sharika along with a brief calendar of the year showing dates of various important days and festivals called Kreel-Patch but with the advent of the detailed Panchang (Janthari) started in early twentieth century the handmade Kreel-Patch got discouraged. On the night prior to Navreh the eldest lady of the house fills a big plate (Thali) with uncooked rice and arranges various items on it. The new Janthari occupies an important place with a twig of fresh seasonal flowers, some coins, walnuts (three, five or seven), a small mirror, aKatori filled with Yoghurt, a pinch of salt, a lump of cooked rice, a pen with an inkpot, a golden ornament (a ring or a bangle), a piece of bread or Kulcha etc as per the family traditions are placed on this rice filledThali. The ritual is called ‘Thal Barun’. On the early morning of Navrehbefore sunrise all family members have a Darshan of all this Thali with all the items placed on it and look their faces especially in the mirror and the ritual is called ‘Buth-Vuchun’. All the things arranged on the rice filled Thali have a special significance. The rice being the principal diet of Kashmiris guarantees abundance, the walnuts ensure regeneration and stability, coins and gold ornament prosperity, the pen and inkpot education, wisdom and knowledge, curds fullness and stability. Seeing one’s face in the mirror on the early morning of Navreh dispels all evil influences if present in the house and guarantee a carefree time ahead. The walnuts are thrown into the flowing water and the rice used for making a yellow cooked rice called Taher and is taken as Prasad. This festival reverberates our past visits to Hari-Parbat hillock situated in the periphery of Srinagar, an ancient and the holiest of the holy shrine of Kashmir. It’s the abode of Jagatamba Sharika Bagwati also known as Maha-Tripursundari or Raja-Rajeshuri. The eighteen armed Goddess is considered the presiding deity of Srinagar city. The Goddess Sharika is represented by a self-made Srichakra also called Mahashriyantra, which consists of circular mystic impressions and triangular patterns with a dot (bindhu) at the Centre. The holy Srichakrais engraved on a vertical holy rock (Shila) located at the middle of western face of Hari Parbat. Shri-Yantra is the most auspicious, most powerful Yantra worshipped for attaining all worldly desires. The saints and spiritually elevated persons devote themselves to it and achieve liberation from the cares of the world. The shrine called ‘Chakrishwar’can be approached by a flight of one hundred and eight chiseled stones. The number one hundred and eight has a mystical significance in Hindu mythology. The devotees used to visit Hari-Parbat regularly and reach the Shrine of Chakrishwar in the wee hours of the morning. On the occasion of Navreh thousands of KPs used to pay obeisance at the shrine and wish for their prosperity. Ashaad Navami (Har Navum) is said to be the Birthday of Maa Sharika. On this day the devotees made a sacrificial offering of ‘Teher-charvan’ (rice cooked with turmeric powder and mixed with oil, salt and cooked liver of goat) to the Goddess. This ritual was locally called ‘Chout Kharun’. The whole hill of Hari Parbat seems to be the multi-dimensional figure of geometrical figure of Goddess Sharika and at the corner of the hill is this magnificent and holy rock and those who have the eye to look at it can find different geometrical images in the shape of triangles, squares and pentagons. One gets lost while gazing at this energy centre as it emits different figures while concentrating on it.The whole of Hari-Parbat is the holy of the holiest shrines as it’s the abode of numerous gods and goddesses. Since each and every stone, pebble, mound and slope of the hillock is auspicious so there was a tradition of going around the hill (Parikrama) in the wee hours of the morning and in olden days hundreds of KPs used to observe the Parikrama regularly, some of them all their lives, before their daily routine started. Now after the KPs having moved out of Kashmir these auspicious places seem neglected including Hari-Parbat though many a casual visitor visit the shrine and are welcomed by the security forces posted there for security. Hari-Parbat or only Parbat as it was fondly called has been since time immemorial a very fond attraction for the KPs especially of Srinagar. An old legend says that the place was a large lake inhabited by a ferocious demon Jalobhava. In order to save the valley from the demonSati Mata the royal consort of Mahadeva took the form of a bird (Haerin Kashmiri) with a small pebble in its beak. She dropped it on the head of the demon and the miracle that ensued was that the stone enlarged rapidly and took the shape of present Hari-Parbat and the demon was crushed under it. The hill thus formed in place of the lake became the abode of numerous Gods and goddesses and particularly the shrine of Chakhrishur on its western face where Mata Tripursundari Sharika is seated graciously represented by the self made Srichakra engraved on a vertical holy rock (Shila). Number of holy temples representing various deities is located on all sides of the hill. So as a devotion to all these deities the devotees circumambulated the hillock to get their desires fulfilled. TheParikrama starts from the Lord Ganesh’s Shrine, which is located on the south-western corner. Inside the temple the deity is represented by a huge Shila. The next place of obeisance on the Parikrama route is theSaptrishi-Sthapna (Satresh) which is marked by an open space on the slope of the hillock near a big boulder in the vicinity of a Chinar tree. Here, the devotees ascertain their luck (locally known as Phal) by random picking up of some rice grains scattered on the boulder. There are two Parikrama routes, one along the foot-hill of the hillock and the other along the fortified stone wall. The devotees have the option of taking either of the two. Further on, the next holy spot on theParikrama is the shrine of Goddess Kali, which is marked by a small temple adjacent to a Chinar tree with a large flat open space in front known as Sidh-Peeth-- a place of lively divine presence. The shrine is said to be invested with very strong divine vibrations. An old fort on its top built by Mughal Emperor Akbar exists there with ruins of a tall strong stone wall around the hill called Kallai in local dialect with ruins of two magnificent gates, Sangeen Darwaza and Kathi Darwaza. The wall enclosed an old populous city with the King’s palace along with the royal armory on its top. The view of Dal Lake and a part of the valley from the fort is most fascinating. Just near the southern side of the outer wall there is Gurdwara Chati-Padshahi which commemorates the visit of the Sikh Guru Shri Hargobind Singh Sahib. Pokhribal, the shrine of the mother Raghnya is another holy spot on the Parikarma route. The holy spring inside the temple complex is the attraction of thousands of devotees. With the displacement of Pandits outside valley Hari-Parbat and lots of other important Hindu shrines in Kashmir seem in a state of neglect as most of them are guarded by security forces that’re unaware about the importance and sanctity of these places. It’s unfortunate that Kashmir, once a proud face of the Hindu India is changed altogether with its essential Hindu flavour missing now that was once its essential ingredient and none of the concerned neither the administration nor the people of this great country raise even a single voice against this great human trageHAPPY NAVREH ................ NAVRATRON KI HAARDIK SHUBH KAAMNAAYEIN DIL SE.....
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 15:16:34 +0000
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