The culture of Kashmir encompasses the spoken language, written literature, cuisine, architecture, traditions, and history of the Kashmiri people native to the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The culture of Kashmir was influenced by the Persian as well as Central Asian cultures after the Islamic rule of Kashmir. Kashmiri culture is influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism and later by Islam. [1]
Vedic art and culture grew in Kashmir, and some early Vedic hymns were composed there. [2]
The Bharata Natya Shastra , which is notable as an ancient encyclopedic treatise on the arts which has influenced dance, music and literary traditions in Indian culture, originated in Kashmir. [3]
2nd century BC writer Patanjali compiled his compendium on Yoga in Kashmir. [2]
The Panchatantra is also said to have originated in this region. [4]
At the time when Pali was the primary language for Buddhist literature in the rest of India, all the Buddhist literature produced in Kashmir was in Sanskrit. Kashmiri women held high status in society, as Bilhana records that Kashmiri women were fluent both in Sanskrit and Pali.[ citation needed ]
Kosh Shastra, a work on the science of sex, second to the Kamasutra , was developed in Kashmir. [5]
Some more examples of the major texts that also originated in Kashmir are the Vigyan Bharaiv Tantra, Yoga Sutras, Sapndi Karkika [6] Tantra Loka [7] and Para-Trisika-Vivarana. [8]
Rice is the staple food of Kashmiris and has been so since ancient times. [9] Meat, along with rice, is the most popular food item in Kashmir. [10] Kashmiris consume meat voraciously. [11] Despite being Brahmins, most Kashmiri Hindus are meat eaters. [12] Kashmiri beverages include Noon Chai or Sheer Chai and Kahwah or Kehew.
The Kashmir Valley is noted for its bakery tradition. Bakers sell various kinds of breads with golden brown crusts topped with sesame and poppy seeds. Tsot and tsochvor are small round breads topped with poppy and sesame seeds, which are crisp and flaky; sheermal, baqerkhayn (puff pastry), lavas (unleavened bread) and kulcha are also popular. Girdas and lavas are served with butter. Kashmiri Bakarkhani has a special place in Kashmiri cuisine. It is similar to a round naan in appearance, but crisp and layered, and sprinkled with sesame seeds. [13] It is typically consumed hot during breakfast. [14]
Primary festivals of Kashmiri Hindus include:
Primary festivals of Kashmiri Muslims include:
Kashmiri or Koshur (کٲشُر, कॉशुर, 𑆑𑆳𑆯𑆶𑆫𑇀) [15] is a language from the Dardic subgroup of Indo-Aryan languages, spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris, primarily in the Indian administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir. There are also speakers in parts of the neighbouring Pakistani territory of Azad Kashmir.
The official languages of Jammu and Kashmir are Koshur, Dogri, Hindi-Urdu and English. Kashmiri is recognised as a regional language in the state and is also among the 22 scheduled languages of India.
Kashmiri has split ergativity and the unusual verb-second word order.
Although Kashmiri was traditionally written in the Sharda script, [16] [17] [18] it is not in common use today, except for religious ceremonies of the Kashmiri Pandits. [19]
Today it is written in Perso-Arabic and Devanagari scripts (with some modifications). [20]
The Perso-Arabic script is recognised as the official script of Kashmiri language by the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. [21] [22] [23] [24]
Nowadays, the Perso-Arabic script has come to be associated with Kashmiri Muslims, while the Devanagari script has come to be associated with the Kashmiri Hindu community. [25]
The Bharata Natya Shastra is notable as an ancient encyclopedic treatise on the arts one which has influenced dance, music and literary traditions in India, originated in Kashmir.
Kashmiri Music primarily includes:
Kashmir is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has since come to encompass a larger area that includes the India-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered territories of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.
Literature of Kashmir has a long history, the oldest texts having been composed in the Sanskrit language. Early names include Patanjali, the author of the Mahābhāṣya commentary on Pāṇini's grammar, suggested by some to have been the same to write the Hindu treatise known as the Yogasutra, and Dridhbala, who revised the Charaka Samhita of Ayurveda.
Kashmiri or Koshur is a Dardic Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris of the Kashmir region, primarily in the Kashmir Valley and Chenab Valley of the Indian-administrated union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, over half the population of that territory. Kashmiri has split ergativity and the unusual verb-second word order.
The Kashmiri Pandits are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, located within the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri Pandits are Hindu Kashmiris native to the Kashmir Valley, and the only remaining Hindu Kashmiris after the large-scale conversion of the Valley's population to Islam during medieval times. Prompted by the growth of Islamic militancy in the valley, large numbers left in the exodus of the 1990s. Even so, small numbers remain.
Kailash Mehra Sadhu is a Kashmiri singer.
Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language of the Western Pahari group, primarily spoken in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India, with smaller groups of speakers in the adjoining regions of western Himachal Pradesh, northern Punjab, and north-eastern Pakistani Punjab. It is the ethnic language of the Dogras, and was spoken in the historical region of Duggar. It is currently spoken in the districts of Kathua, Jammu, Samba, Udhampur, Reasi and other adjoining districts of Jammu Province Unusually for an Indo-European language, Dogri is tonal, a trait it shares with other Western Pahari languages and Punjabi. It has several varieties, all with greater than 80% lexical similarity.
Kashmiri cuisine is the cuisine of the Kashmir Valley. The cuisine has strong influences from neighbouring regions in central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Rice has been a staple food in Kashmir since ancient times. The equivalent for the phrase "bread and butter" in Kashmiri is haakh-batte.
Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language and originating from the Kashmir Valley, which is today located in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
Dhar is an Indian surname. It is commonly found among the Hindu Bengali Kayastha and Baniks including Subarnabanik community in Bengal region. Dhar or Dar is also used by some Kashmiri and Punjabi-Kashmiri clans and communities native to the Kashmir Valley and Punjab, and common today among Kashmiri Hindus and Kashmiri Muslims.
Kashmiriyat is the centuries-old indigenous tradition of communal harmony and religious syncretism in the Kashmir Valley in Indian-administered Kashmir. Emerging around the 16th century, it is characterised by religious and cultural harmony, patriotism and pride for their mountainous homeland of Kashmir.
Kheer Bhawani,Ksheer Bhawani or the Ragnya Devi temple is a Hindu temple situated at a distance of 25 kilometres (16 mi) north-east of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, in the village of Tulmulla in Ganderbal. It is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kheer Bhavani constructed over a sacred spring. As is the custom with Hindu deities, the goddess has many names including Ragnya or Rajna, along with variations in honorifics such as Devi, Mata or Bhagavati. The term kheer refers to a milk and rice pudding that is offered to propitiate the goddess. Kheer Bhawani is sometimes translated as 'Milk Goddess'. The worship of Kheer Bhawani is universal among the Hindus of Kashmir, most of them who worship her as their protective patron deity Kuladevi.
Sharada Peeth is a ruined Hindu temple and ancient centre of learning located in the Neelum Valley of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. Between the 6th and 12th centuries CE, it was among the most prominent temple universities in the Indian subcontinent. Known in particular for its library, stories recount scholars travelling long distances to access its texts. It played a key role in the development and popularisation of the Sharada script in North India, causing the script to be named after it, and Kashmir to acquire the moniker "Sharada Desh", meaning "country of Sharada".
Jammu and Kashmir is home to several valleys such as the Kashmir Valley, Chenab Valley, Sindh Valley and Lidder Valley. Some major tourist attractions in Jammu and Kashmir are Srinagar, with its renowned Dal Lake and Mughal Gardens, Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Bhaderwah, Patnitop and Jammu. Every year, thousands of Hindu pilgrims visit holy shrines of Vaishno Devi and Amarnath which has had a significant impact on the state's economy.
Islam is the majority religion practised in Kashmir, with 97.16% of the region's population identifying as Muslims as of 2014. The religion came to the region with the arrival of Mir sayed Ali shah Hamdani, a Muslim Sufi preacher from Central Asia and Persia, beginning in the early 14th century. The majority of Kashmiri Muslims are Sunni Muslims.
Professor Ghulam Nabi Firaq was a Kashmiri poet, writer and an educationist.
Sarazi or Sirazi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Saraz region of the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is native to the Saraz region, a hilly area taking up the northern half of Doda district and parts of neighbouring Ramban and Kishtwar districts. Sarazi is spoken as a first language by 46,000 people, primarily Hindus, but it is also used as a lingua franca of the Saraz region and so is also spoken as a second language by Muslims, whom are native speakers of Kashmiri.
Kashmiri Transliteration refers to the conversion of the Kashmiri language between different scripts that is used to write the language in the Kashmir region of the Indo subcontinent. The official script to write Kashmiri is extended-Perso-Arabic script in both Jammu-Kashmir and Azad-Kashmir cutting across religious boundaries. Some sections of the Kashmiri Hindu community use an extended-Devanagari script to write the language. Transliteration is hence essential to cross this script-barrier imposed by religious affiliations and convert texts to cater all the Kashmiri people.
Parimoo or Parimu is a Kashmiri Pandit clan and surname native to the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is used by both Kashmiri Hindus and Kashmiri Muslims.
Drabu or Draboo is a Kashmiri Pandit clan or surname, native to the Kashmir Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Drabu or Draboo as a last name is shared by both Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir.
Rice was, as now, the staple foodris in ancient times.
But perhaps the most popular items of the Kashmiri cuisine were meat and rice.
Since Kashmiris consume meat voraciously and statistics reveals that on an average 3.5 million sheep and goat are slaughtered annually for our consumption, the skin can be utilised for production.
Though Brahmins, Kashmiri Pandits have generally been great meat eaters.
Media related to Culture of Kashmir at Wikimedia Commons
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