These proverbs and their meaning have been taken from the remarkable book ‘A Dictionary of Kashmiri Proverbs and Sayings’ by James Hinton Knowles (1885).
Some have wives like a shady chinar, let us go under it and cool ourselves.
Some have wives like the bitch at the door, let us go and get our legs bitten.
Some have wives always in confusion, and some have wives like bad thatch upon the roof.
– Lal Ded
Salman Rushdie used the first line from this proverb in Salimar the Clown but didn’t trace the line’s orgin to Lal Ded.*
2.
Panah san kheyih buni tah jits san kheyih huni
He will eat the chinar tree- leaves and all, and he will eat the dog with the skin.
A regular cannibal, not satisfied with enough.
3.
Preyaghuch buni nah thadan nah lokan nah badan.
The chinar of preyag neither become taller, nor shorter, nor bigger.
A poor sickly child, who does not grow or become fat.
An explanation about the Chinar tree of prayag that can be found in the book:
This chinar tree is in the middle of a little island just big enough to pitch your tent on, in the midst of the Jhelum river by the village Shadipur. The Hindus have consecrated the place, and a Brahman is to be seen twice every day paddling himself along in a little boat to the spot, to worship and to make his offerings.
This chinar tree at Shadipur is believed to be the (sangam) confluence of rivers Indus (Sind) and Jhelum (Vitasta) and is called `Prayag’ by Kashmiri pandits – alluding to Prayag that is Allahabad where Yamuna and Ganga meet up. Kashmiri Pandits used to immerse the ashes and remains of their dead at this spot.
[More about Chinar and Kashmir here ]
[Image on left: The Chinar tree at Shadipore in a photograph by Fred Bremner. 1905 ]
-0-
*The poets wrote that a good wife was like a shady boonyi tree, a beautiful chinar – kenchen renye chai shihiji boonyi – but in the comman parlance the imagery was different. The word for the entrance to a house was braand; stone was kany. for comical reasons the two words were sometimes used, joined together, to refer to one’s beloved bride: braand-kany, “the gate of stone.” Let’s just hope, Shalimar the clown thought but did not say, that the stones don’t come smashig down on our heads.
– Salman Rushdie trying to work linguistic acrobatics in Shalimar the Clown. Although a deft performer of the art, his text here seems to stay flat on trampoline, or so it may seem to a Kashmiri reader. The jump from ‘Boonyi’ to ‘Braand’ to “the gate of stone” seems disjoint.
A newly wed women was often referred to as Braand-kany. The imagery it is supposed to invoke is that the woman is the base of the house and the family. A Braand-Kany actually consists of a small stone stairway that leads to the entrance of the house. If the stones in this stairway were too loose, ill-fitted or just too slippers, often, passage to the inside of the house could become quite hazardous for the visitors. And the visitors were to remeber this house for its bad Braand-kany, a bad reflection on its inmates.
Got off the phone. It was all this and that. Yes. No. Weather, Summer, Sun, Temperature and all. And then I heard it has happened again. Again. An old Kashmiri Pandit reported missing in Jammu. The elderly man went out in the morning and didn’t return home for lunch. Everyone is convinced old man probably lost his way. Happens all the time. It happens every odd year. Mostly in summer. It has been so since last many years.
The temple singers of Jammu, easily identifiable by their typical headgear, sing stories from Shiv puran. On the day of Shivratri their troupes can be found singing in he courtyards of Ranbireshwar Temple of Jammu. They always take coins in the cavity of their bells.
You might know him Khilone walla, but I also knew of him as poo-poo wallah because of the signature sound that he would use to call out to waiting children.
Probably the most popular of Kashmiri folk instrument…maybe because anyone can try their hand on it. We kids used to fight on who will get to play the extra Tumbaknaer at wedding.
The beads come from Ladakh. They are actually supposed to be much more grainy…like rice grain.
As time goes by, they start to resemble green rotten teeth. Or my memories are just mixed up.
At one time, these Bead Necklace were quite popular among old Kashmiri Pandit women.
Photograph from
‘The tomb of Jesus’ by Mutiur Rahman Bengalee (1946).
Bengalee was instrumental in bringing
Ahmediya movement to North America in the 1930s.
According to the fantastical stories the rod of Moses was also originally kept at the grave of Yus Asaf of Khanyar but was later moved to the shrine of Sheikh Zain-ud-din at Aishmuqam, that there is another grave the real grave underneath the present one kept at the location. And so on. The stories are fantastic. Recently some one even wrote a thriller around the stories titled ‘Rozabal Line’ inspired by the’Rose Line’ in “Da Vinci Code”.
I first read about – ‘Rozbal, Jesus in Kashmir, grave of Yus Asaf (Kashmiri Jesus) at Rozbal Khanyaar…and so on’, many years ago as a teenager when one afternoon I discovered a tattered old thin book (don’t remember its name) in the Ranbir Singh library of Jammu about the Kashmiri Jesus. I was certainly intriguing, especially at that age. Now I am intrigued by interest of people in this tale. And since then, having read some original sources, I have learnt some new things about it the origins of this Jesus.
These fantastic stories about ‘Jesus in Kashmir stories’ first started doing rounds towards the end of 19th century and were spread and started by Ahmedias. It actually had more to do with power tussle among the Muslims.
Muslims believe Jesus Christ was not crucified but rather ascended straight to heaven. They also believe that his second advent would signal the end of world… that would be Qiyamat (the Day of Judgement). As opposed to this Ahmedians have their own concept of the last Messiah. Ahmedians believe Christ, wounded and in an unconscious state, was removed from the cross at the last moment and moved to a secret burial altar . Special ointment (marham-i-isa) was applied on his wounds and over days he eventually got better. But then he came out of the burial vault and traveled to the holy land of Kashmir where he taught the lost tribes of Israel, became known as Yus Asaf, lived until the age of 120 and was finally buried at Khanyaar.
Today’s the start of 20th century thee stories were picked by visiting foreigners who were already fascinated by the ‘Jewish’ looking Kashmiris and now by these interesting tales about Kashmiri Jesus.
Sir Francis Younghusband, Resident of Kashmir for three years starting 1906, about these Jesus in Kashmir stories, wrote in his book ‘Kashmir’ (1911):
“Other interesting types of Kashmir Mohamedans are found among the headmen of the picturesque little hamlets along the foot-hills. Here may be seen fine old patriarchal types, just as we picture to ourselves the Israelitish heroes of old. Some, indeed, say, though I must admit without much authority, that these Kashmiris are of the lost tribes of Israel. Only this year there died in the Punjab the founder of a curious sect, who maintained that he was both the Messiah of the Jews and the Mahdi of the Mohamedans; that Christ had never really died upon the Cross, but had been let down and had disappeared, as He had foretold, to seek that which was lost, by which He meant the lost tribes of Israel ; and that He had come to Kashmir and was buried in Srinagar. It is a curious theory, and was worked out by this founder of the Quadiani sect in much detail. There resided in Kashmir some 1900 years ago a saint of the name of Yus Asaf, who preached in parables and used many of the same parables as Christ used,as, for instance, the parable of the sower. His tomb is in Srinagar, and the theory of this founder of the Quadiani sect is that Yus Asaf and Jesus are one and the same person. When the people are in appearance of such a decided Jewish cast it is curious that such a theory should exist ; and certainly, as I have said, there are real Biblical types to be seen everywhere in Kashmir, and especially among the upland villages. Here the Israelitish shepherd tending his flocks and herds may any day be seen.”
The founder of the sect (Ahmedian) was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian who died in 1908.
The really interesting thing is that at the root of these stories was a Russian Jew converted to Greek Orthodoxy, a man named Nicolas Notovitch ( believed to be the inspiration for the character of Great Game Spy in Rudyard Kipling’s Kim).
In 1887 Nicolas Notovitch, visited India and Tibet. Notovitch claimed that during his travels in the Himalayas, at the monastery of Hemis in Ladakh, he came to know about the ‘secret life of Jesus’ through a ‘Tibetan gospel’ (that he translated as) “Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men.” In 1894, Notovitch got this ‘unknown gospel’ published in French as La vie inconnue de Jesus Christ. And it later became famous ‘The Unknown Life of Chris’.
According to this text Jesus at the age of thirteen ( start of his lost years ) traveled to India and learned the local religions of Jains, Hindus and Buddhists and preached to them.
And so the stories goes on.
Now, here’s the interesting part.
In 1887, Nicolas Notovitch wasn’t the only one traveling in that region, another great gamer – Francis Younghusband was also on a journey that took him from ‘Peking to Kashmir via the Gobi Desert, Kashgaria, and the Mustang Pass’. The two men met on the edge of Zojila Pass somewhere between Srinagar and Leh. Nicolas Notovitch was on his way from Kashmir and Francis Younghusband was on his way to Srinagar.
Sir Francis Edward Younghusband was himself very much interested in the ‘new’ and strange ideas of ‘Easter Mysticism’, ‘Spiritualism’ – ‘the Occult’, Madame Blavatsky kind of ideas, the one in which world was run by secret cult of masters living in Tibet (again an idea first conceived in 1870s ). Younghusband certainly toyed with these ideas, especially in his later years – often to an absurd level, one can even call him the ‘Grand Daddy of Hippies’. At one time he did mingle with Theosophists of Blavatsky.
And yet in his book ‘The Heart of a Continent: A Narrative of Travels in Manchuria, 1884-1894’ , published 1896, Francis Younghusband wrote:
“A march or two after passing Skardu, the chief place in Baltistan, I met the first European on the south side of the Himalayas. He was not an Englishman, but a Frenchman, M. Dauvergne; and in his tent I has the first good meal and talk in English I had had for many a month. A few marches further on I met another European. This one at any rate, i thought, must be an Englishman, and I walked up to him with all the eagerness a traveller has to meet a countryman of his own after not seeing one for nearly seven months. But this time it turned out that the stranger was a Russian! He announced himself as M. Nicolas Notovitch, an adventurer who had, I subsequently found, made a not very favorable reputation in India. I asked M. Notovitch where he had come from, and he replied that he had come from Kashmir. He then asked me where I had come from. I said from Peking. It much amused me, therefore, when leaving he said in a theatrical way, “We part here, the pioneers of the East!”
The same M. Notovitich has recently published what he calls a new “Life of Chirst,” which he professes to have found in a monastery in Ladakh, after he had parted with me. No one, however, who knows M. Notovitch’s reputation, or who has the slightest knowledge of the subject, will give any reliance whatever to this pretentious volume.
But the stories were already travelling and there were many takers, there always are.
In fact according to one view, Notovitch actually took inspiration from an idea that was already in the air. This idea came from a fictional work of Blavatsky titled Isis Unveiled (1877) in which a traveler with the broken leg is taken to Mount Athos in Greece where, in the monastery library, he discovers the text of Celsus‘ True Doctrine . The idea of Jesus’ flight to India was also inspired by a particular statement in IsisUnveiled that alludes to his travel to the Himalayas. She wrote:
Do what we may, we cannot deny Sakya-Muni Buddha a less remote antiquity than several centuries before the birth of Jesus. In seeking a model for his system of ethics why should Jesus have gone to the foot of the Himalayas rather than to the foot of Sinai, but that the doctrines of Manu and Gautarna harmonized exactly with his own philosophy, while those of Jehovah were to him abhorrent and terrifying? The Hindus taught to return good for evil, but the Jehovistic command was: “An eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth.”
Pierre Sonnerat (1748-1814), a French naturalist and explorer, between 1769 and 1781 traveled deep into southeast Asia and documented the religious practices, sciences, arts (and birds) of the places he visited.
In 1782 the account of his travels was published in two volumes under the title (french) ‘Voyage aux Indes Orientales et a la Chine, fait par ordre du roi, depuis 1774 jusqu’en 1781. Dans lequel on traite des mœurs de la religion, des sciences & des arts des Indiens, des Chinois, des Pégouins & des Madégasses‘ ( Journey to the East Indies and China, Undertaken at the King’s Command, from 1774 until 1781: In Which the Religious Mores, Sciences, and Arts of the Indians, the Chinese, the Pegouins, and the Madegasse are Discussed. )
Volume 1 was completely dedicated to India and Volume 2 covered the far east including China, Burma, Madagascar, the Maldives, Mauritius, Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), Indonesia, and the Philippines.Volume 1 has some wonderful illustrations of Hindu deities (probably based on original bronze works)and Volume 2 had lot of illustrations of ‘new’ birds.
The book is available for free download at Google Books (Vol 1, Vol 2)
A finer and more detailed copy of these books was recently made available at the The World Digital Library – A UN funded project that let’s you browse the various cultures of the entire world, region by region, using many such scholarly old books. [You can check out Pierre Sonnerat’s work here]
As I browsed through the book, looking at masterly work of art, quite a few of the images turned out to be too tricky to identity the god depicted.
A post on my other blog details some of these interesting images and includes a slideshow of rest of the images of Hindu Gods from the old book.
The image on left, depicting an ancient goddess that the book captioned as Mou Devi, proved to be the most difficult and certainly the most interesting illustration of the set. It’s trail, much to my delight, led me to an ancient goddess temple in Kashmir, simply called Zeethyaar – located somewhere between hills of Shankaracharya and Mughal garden of Chasma Shahi. .
As I looked at the image of Mou Devi, I thought maybe it’s the goddess of measles or smallpox. But that’s Sheetala.
The french cation ‘déesse de la Discorde et de la Misere’ translates (thanks to google) as ‘goddess of discord and misery’
Has to be Sheetala of North, Harita/Hariti – ‘the green one’ – the goddess of smallpox from Gandhara art Kushan dynasty, the demon goddess of 500 children who was reformed by Buddha.
Mou Devi, who is this goddess – the one riding a donkey, and carrying a crow banner, the one not particularly ‘beautiful’ ?
Pierre Sonnerat, in his book, (again) mentions Moudevi and ‘Churing of Sea’ and (in this version) how it produced three goddesses – Saraswati (claimed by Brahma), Laxmi (claimed by Vishnu) and Moudevi (unclaimed).
Southey’s Common-place book added that Moudevi is often represented green.
A book called ‘Roles and Rituals for Hindu women’ by Julia Leslie (1992), that in details mentions a goddess named Jyestha, offered final clues.
Jyestha is often in Tamil called Kakkaikkodiyal (crow-bannered) the one who ride a donkey (Khararudha). Crow is the bringer of bad luck and femine. And the goddess often carries a broom.
In some parts of India, particularly North(in south as Mariamman?), she is identified as Sitla or Sheetala (Aha!) who also carries a broom and rides a donkey.
(Julia Leslie wrote her book, ”In none of the images at my disposal is Jyestha shown with a ‘vehicle’ or mount”. 1992, internet was in infancy. )
So who is Jyestha ‘ Elder’ – ‘Misfortune’?
The story , most of them lead to Sagar Manthan or Churning of the Sea. Apparently, she was the second thing that came out of the sea, just after poison, and finds herself unwanted as she is inauspicious. According to another story, she is in fact Mohini, the female seductress form of Vishnu who saves the Amrit (elixir) from Asuras (demons).
Religions de l’antiquité, tr. refondu completé et dévelopé par J.D. Guigniaut [and others] by Georg Friedrich Creuzer, published 1825, (french had a lot to say about Moudevi) also talked about ‘Moudevi’ and gave her alternate name as “Mahadevi and “Bhoudevi”, born of churning of sea, second wife of Vishnu.
But, Julia Leslie, in her book, did not link Moudevi with Jyestha. In fact, the name ‘Moudevi’ is not mentioned. Julia Leslie also mentions Lingapurana according to which Jyestha, the first one born from Sagar Manthan and married off to a hermit who couldn’t control her unreligious beliefs that make her, feel at ease among “the false mendicant (bhksubimba), the naked Jain monk (ksapanka), and the Buddhist (bauddha).”
According to some other traditions, Jyestha was taken-in by Eshwara (Shiva).
As I read about Jyestha and Eshwara, I remembered the Zeethyar temple of Srinagar that I visited in the summer of year 2008. The place, picturesque spot surrounded by hills, has a spring dedicated to Zeestha Devi. here also the story of her origin mentions churning of the sea.
The temple, where meat (particularly goat liver) offerings are still the norm, is situated at the foothills of Zabarwan in the vicinity (a mile) of famous Shankaracharya Hill spot of Shiv temple dedicated to Jyesthesvara. [Connection between two spots discussed in a previous post]
[ Images on the left: 1. An old photograph of Zeethyar showing a pandit standing next to the holy spring. The place now has a small temple in the middle of the spring(image 2), just like the one at Khir Bhawani, but the idol of Zeestha Devi, is certainly of recent date with a modern convention hindu look given to the goddess]
As I tried to look for stories and lores (thursday is her day) linking Smallpox and goddess at Zeethyar temple, the trail instead lead to another Goddess, the one seated at Hari Parbat.
Sir Walter Roper Lawrence (1857-1940), in his book “The Valley of Kashmir” (1895), documented the curious custom of Kashmiri Pundits regarding Smallpox treatment. He wrote:
It is a sad fact that the occurrence of smallpox has become one of the accepted customs of Kashmir, and the Hindus have regular ceremonies which must be observed when the disease attacks their families. When it appears that a child is sick with the smallpox, the first thing to be done is to sew rupees into his headdress. He is then placed in a separate room, and is surrounded by clay toys of horses, elephants, palankins, fans and sugar-cakes, water-chestnuts and shells. Until the pustules are developed the child is kept on rice and curd, and no salt may be given to the child or used by the mother or wet-nurse. A little fish or a piece of meat is always hung up in the sick room chhai ratan*, but while the smallpox lasts no meat may be eaten and no prayers may be repeated in the house. When the disease abates the rupees are taken out of the headdress, and are spent on rice boiled in milk, which is distributed to relations and friends. The room is cleaned and the toys and a plate full of rice are flung into the river. If the smallpox is very severe, Sitla Mata, the smallpox deity, must be propitiated, and offerings of sheep, goats, horses or donkeys, and eyes of gold or silver are made to her priests on Hari-Parbat. Forty days after the smallpox first makes its appearance chat jihun**, rice boiled in milk is again distributed to relations and neighbours.
-0-
*chhai ratan: Sh’ai Ra’tin (act of picking the sick spot)or is that Jaay’e Ratin (to pick a spot) **chat jihun: Tchath’ji’hun (one who reached forty) Shoe’til (word usually among Pandits) / Sho’e’tij(word usually among Muslims):Smallpox Shoe’til ‘musil – the disfiguring marks left by Smallpox
-0-
I was 12 when I got my bout of Chicken pox – Mata, as it is called universally in North. Sure enough, I was confined to a corner of a room, an entire corner, a rare luxury as we only had two rooms for the family of seven. Then on the fortieth day, Khir – rice prepared in sweet milk – was prepared and distributed to the neighbors.
After I read about those Smallpox rituals mentioned by Walter Roper Lawrence, I talked around…but everyone instantaneously only recalled the Khir part. The practice of dead fish or meat being hung in the room, now certainly forgotten. Practice of feeding Shooshnaer (windpipe of sheep or goat), liver and heart of sheep to eagles at Hari Parbat is still acceptable, albeit often debated. However, no one associates the practice and the place with Smallpox – a disease whose governing goddess in her time was all power because of the death and destruction that she could bring, a disease so black that people would curse it upon their enemies.
This chinar tree at Shadipur is believed to be the (sangam) confluence of rivers Indus (Sind) and Jhelum (Vitasta) and is called `Prayag’ by Kashmiri pandits – alluding to Prayag that is Allahabad where Yamuna and Ganga meet up. Kashmiri Pandits used to immerse the ashes and remains of their dead at this spot. 
Sir Walter Roper Lawrence (1857-1940), in his book “The Valley of Kashmir” (1895), documented the curious custom of Kashmiri Pundits regarding Smallpox treatment. He wrote: 
