Kashmiri Hindu Calendar

The new year day of Kashmiri Pandits the “ Navreh” which goes according to the Kashmiri Hindu Calendar on the first day of the bright half in the month of Chaitra falls on Sunday the 30 ^th of March this year. Coincidentally just a few days ahead of Eid al Fitr.

As the legend goes the celebrated Sapta Rishi’s gathered on this day in the year 3054 BC at the Chakreshwari temple also known as the Sharika Mata Mandir. As the first rays of Sun fell on this temple which is at the current Hari Parbat (Koh e Maran) in Srinagar they took a unanimous decision to declare this day as the beginning of the new year. The Spata Rishi’s are the revered seven sages (Atri, Bharadvaja, Gautama Maharishi, Jamadagni, Kashyapa, Vasistha and Vishwamitra). Kashmir was the beacon light for the whole sub-continent now called India or Bharat. India of today was not in existence that time.

The Hindus of several parts also followed suit in years to come. Now it is observed as a new year in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka (Ugadi), Maharashtra, Goa (Gudi Padwa) and Manipur (Cheiroba). The Navreh celebrations of Kashmiris, however, are very different from most of these festivals.

For Kashmiri Pandits the day is marked by the priest of the family providing a religious almanac (Nechipatra), a collection of the important events and forecasts for the coming year and a scroll (Kreel-Pach) of the Goddess. All the dates are mathematically calculated. This is followed by preparing the traditional Thali (a metal tray) which is filled with rice, the Almanac, the scroll, flowers both fresh and dried, milk, yogurt, new grass, wye the bitter herb (sweet flag, Acorus calamus), walnuts, a pen, an ink container, a paper pad, coins, salt, cooked rice, bread, honey and a small mirror.

The thali is then covered with cloth at the night preceding the new year. On the day of Navreh the family gathers together and uncovers the thali and view it with reverence. The rice and coins represent our daily bread and wealth, the pen and paper a zest for the desire of learning, the mirror represents retrospection. The calendar signals the changing time and the Deity the universal constant, and they together are a reminder of the constancy of changing time.

The bitter herb is reminiscent of life’s bitter aspects, to be taken in stride alongside the good. The bitter herb ‘wye’ is usually consumed along with walnuts to bring wholeness of life’s experiences in the admixture. After a darshan of the thali, each member of the family picks up a walnut and takes it to a river and drops it in it. It is a gesture of thanksgiving. The special dish of the day is Tahri (boiled rice with turmeric), along with ghee (clarified butter) which is first offered to the Goddess at the temple. Later a portion of it is consumed as a prasad (sacred food) by every family member.

The day is full of celebrations with wearing of new clothes, cooking and serving fancy dishes, and visiting friends and relatives. In good old days before 1990, s there also used to be a mela where families and friends would gather and go for a picnic to view almond blossoms which always coincided with this time of the year, the spring. Before exodus, the pandits living in the areas close to Hari Parbat used to start their day with morning prayers at the temple of the Goddess Sharika and many of them also used to go to the neighbouring Zeyarat of Hazrat Makdhoom Sahib’ in a true sense of affectionate co-existence.

With the dwindling number of Pandits in the valley it is celebrated on the same pattern but in a very subdued manner by the 1.3 lack pandits residing in the Jammu area. “A lot of water has flown under the bridge” since their exodus and only nostalgic memories remain. Recreating the charm and glamour associated with it outside the valley is a very tall order.

Prof Upendra Kaul, Founder Director Gauri Kaul Foundation