Vinayak Razdan, Author at SearchKashmir

April 29, 2014October 12, 2020

Serious Union/Gambhira Sangam

Feb. 2014.
Overlooking the old bridge

Serious Union/Gambhira Sangam= Vitasta + (Vishav + Rembyar, Stein’s Gambhira). Gambhira Sangani of Rajatarangini. Sangam at Kakapora. Between Bijbehara and Avantipur.

Something about the bridge from updated Rājataraṅgiṇī:

“It may be noted that this crossing has a certain strategic impotence. On occasion of a rising in 1930 in parts of Jammu territory, sympathizers in the Kasmir valley took care to burn the wooden bridge by which the modern motor road from Srinagar to Banhal pass crosses here the river. It has been since replaced by an iron one duly guarded.” ~ Luther Obrock (ed.) Marc Aurel Stein – Illustrated Rājataraṅgiṇī (2013)

April 29, 2014October 12, 2020

Burzahom Pit Sleepers

Burial pit. Burzahom. A decade long digging and study by T.N. Khazanchi that stated in early 1960s. From ‘Indian Archaeology – A Review, 1962-63’.

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April 28, 2014October 12, 2020

Migrant da Dabba, Delhi, 1992

A scene from early 90s. “On a makeshift fire, Kashmiri migrants run a kitchen in Delhi to support themselves.” Since there in not single work in early 90s on this specific tribe, these pieces come from multiple sources. This one is from the book, “The Kashmir Tangle : Issues and Options” (1992) by Rajesh Kadian.

The story of Delhi Migrants that I remember from this era involves an unnamed Pandit who became a bus conductor in Noida. The man, a misfit in the big bad city, was murdered, it was said by fellow conductors over petty professional rivalry. I waited, but no one wrote his story.

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April 27, 2014October 12, 2020

Kanakavatsa, the Bihari Monk in Kashmir

14th century Thangka painting via: British Museum

Kanakavatsa, the legendary figure from Buddhism, one among the sixteen Arahat of Indian origin from Buddha’s time, is believed to have been born in Bihar and lived with his 500 Arahats on the “Saffon Hill” in Kashmir under the patronage of the local King. In the the iconography of Kanakavatsa, a barbarian King is often shown kneeling before him worshipping. In the above image, an “an Indian adorant offers coral” while the ethnicity of Kanakavatsa by his color.

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April 26, 2014October 12, 2020

Boat Life in Kashmir by Brunhilde Chesney, 1918

From ‘Asia – Journal of the American Asiatic Association’ (Volume v.18 n.04), April, 1918.

Miss Brunhilde Chesney, who was born and lived in India, offers a glimpse into the life of Hanjis.

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April 25, 2014October 12, 2020

Winter Walkers

In the furnace of summer, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible winter.

~ Alkheyakh Kemmu

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April 24, 2014October 12, 2020

Untitled Post

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April 23, 2014October 12, 2020

Portrait of Pandit Shakyashribhadra

Kashmiri Pandit Monk Shakyashribhadra (1145-1244), about 1300, Shakya Monastery, Tibet. He went there in about 1204 after destruction of Nalanda, and returned after a decade to live another three decades in Kashmir. This is one of the rare portraits in which ‘Kashmiriness’ of his features is prominent. Came across it in the book “The Arts of Kashmir” Ed. by Pratapaditya Pal.

In Tibet he is known as Kha-che-Pan-chen (‘The Great Kashmiri Pandit’)…where Kha-Che, the synonym for Kashmiris in Tibet, means ‘big mouth’.

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Previously: Shakyashri Raw Data in Hypertext

April 23, 2014October 12, 2020

Seda Khan’s Tomb Inscription

Tomb inscription of one Seda Khan – who died in a battle in the reign of Mummad Shah (1484-1537). It is in the cemetery next to Ziarat of Bahauddin at Hariparbat. The inscription is in Sharda as well as Arabic script. Photograph by Kakori Lewis.

Came across it in the book “The Arts of Kashmir” Ed. by Pratapaditya Pal.

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#tovisitinfuture

April 23, 2014October 12, 2020

Sharaf Rashidov’s Song of Kashmir

In 1955, on a diplomatic goodwill mission for USSR to Kashmir, Uzbek communist leader Sharaf Rashidov, a name that in later years would be called ‘a communist despot’ and a few years later would be called ‘a true Uzbek hero’, came across Dina Nath Nadim’s opera Bombur ta Yambarzal, a modern re-telling of an inspiring old Kashmiri story. By the end of 1956, Rashidov was already out with his interpretation of the story in a novella titled ‘Kashmir Qoshighi’ ( also known as Song of Kashmir/Kashmir Song/Kashmirskaya song) acknowledging Nadim’s work.

I finally managed to get my hand on it. This is the English edition published in 1979 by Gafur Gulyam Literature and Art Publishers, Tashkent. Translation by A. Miller, I. Melenevsky. Illustrations by K. Basharov and R. Halilov.

From the foreword:

“Memory is a drawing on a rock and a picture on a canvas.

Memory is line of words carved on a stone slab and a book.

Memory is a fairy-tale, a tradition and a legend.

Memory is song and music.

In them we find the people’s memory, which widens its banks as it flows from generation to generation. This is where we find the people’s wisdom, the blazing torch that is passed from generation to generation.

Take it, bear it, pass it on!

Add grain to grain and line to line, fruit to fruit and music to music, blossom to blossom and song to song!”

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Previously: Russia and Bombur ta Yambarzal, including bits about the Russian animated film from 1965 based on the story.