marriage Archives - SearchKashmir

January 8, 2014October 12, 2020

Child’s Play: Child Marriages

Kings, Queens, Poets, Muses and Commons. They all were married as a child.

“The Boy on the horse is a Bridegroom off for his wedding to a girl nine years old.
He looked scared to death as we passed.”

Photograph: ‘Random Ramblings in India’ (1928) by William H. Danforth.

Kashmiri Pandit Child marriage
(probably) 1920s

Photograph: ‘Fifty years against the stream: The story of a school in Kashmir, 1880-1930’ by E.D. Tyndale-Biscoe

“The young Kashmir girl in her best clothes, standing besides her grandfather, was being prepared for her betrothal. They wait in one of Srinagar’s narrow alleys”

Photograph: ‘Of Sea and Land’ (1945) by Tom Lakeman

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My grandmother was well on way to becoming an exception. Kashmir was changing. She was studying in fifth standard. Her father was a teacher. But she too was married at the age of around fourteen to a man recently out of his teens. The tribal attack of 1947 made people anxious and girls were married off in a hurry. Her education was complete.

She taught me how to spell ‘धन्यवाद’.

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November 27, 2013October 12, 2020

Wedding Song Book from Kashmir

Jammu. November 2013.

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January 28, 2012October 12, 2020

Tinsel Workers. Kashmir-Jammu.Then-Now.

“Photograph of tinsel workers in Jammu & Kashmir in India, taken by an unknown photographer in the 1890s. This image shows three seated workers with the tools of their trade. The tinsel wires are made of silver, or silver coated with gold leaf, and made into a bar in the shape of a candle, which is then forced through a series of holes on a steel plate to obtain increasingly fine-gauged lengths. Traditionally the wire was then wound onto a reel, as seen in the photograph, attached at the other end to a jantar, another steel plate, which allowed for futher refining of the gauge, and wires no thicker than a hair were obtained this way. A tola (180 grains of metal) usually produced 600 to 1,200 yards of wire.”
via: British Library

The frilly things seen dangling in the above photographs are the Atahoor worn by Kashmiri pandit women in their ears (more often around the time of marriage festivities). These are not usually made of metal wires anymore, instead they are now made of synthetic (Sulma/Tilla) threads. And since there aren’t many Atah wearing Pandit women left in valley anymore, the trade of these shiny things (along with some other shiny things like ‘shiny golden’ Kangri, employed for some ceremonies during marriage rites) has now moved to Jammu.

2012. Link Road. Jammu.

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November 8, 2011October 12, 2020

Izband Zalun

If a smell or a sound could take you to a place.

Burning Izband (Harmal/Wild Rue Seeds) inside Kangri,

October 3, 2011October 12, 2020

vyoog

Shared by Man Mohan Munshi Ji from his collection.

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A pair of moths circling the lamp
Bride and bridegroom on a ceremonial vyoog
Having mud-washed her kitchen clean, Tekabatini
Out of the window into tree-shade leaned

~ a few lines of Dina Nath Nadim translated as ‘Sugar Candy and Wormwood’ by GL Labru.

January 27, 2010October 12, 2020

A Kashmiri Pandit marriage procession, 1911

The following incredible photograph (an original scan) has been generously contributed by Man Mohan Munshi ji. A big thanks!
The photograph certainly speaks of an opulent time.

A Kashmiri Pandit marriage procession in 1911 at Bulbul Lankar Ghat Srinagar with an eight year old bridegroom.

[The image name reads ‘Babuji Wedding 1914’]

Update. The photograph is in fact from a private collection. Man Mohan Munshi ji say’s:

It is the marriage photograph of my late father B.N.Munshi 1904-1977 who retired in early nineteen sixty as the first secretary of J&K Public Service Commission and was employed as Registrar, Regional Engineering College , Srinagar from 1962-1966 . We are original residents of Munshi Mohala Bulbul Lankar. Srinagar. The bearded gentleman standing in the Shikara is my late grand father Munshi Amar Chand and next to him is his son- in- law Late Makund Ram Bhan of Agha Hamam.The band with the procession is the state Band provided by Maharaja Pratab Singh. The bride(Gauri) my late mother is in the Zanpana seen in the center of the photograph with ana; white bearded gentlemen is her Dodbab. The Photograph was taken at the yarbal of Bul Bul Lankar in front of the Ziarat of the sufi saint Bul Bul Shah while the procession was returning by boats from Brari Yarbal near Fateh Kadal.

August 27, 2009October 12, 2020

How you hold the cup?

July 19, 2009October 12, 2020

‘Khandar Saal’

meenu kya ows?
A,B,C ti X,Y,Zed

Conversation goes something like this. Conversation went like this for a couple of years. I would hear my father and uncle talk in these codes after each time one of them would return for a marriage ‘reception’ lunch. They wouldn’t tell me what ABC and XYZed stood for. It was some sort of code for the’ standard’ dishes served at these functions. My guess: ABC stood for three vegetarian dishes – Rajma, Chaman (Paneer), and Dum Aloo; XYZ stood for Rogan Josh, Mutsch (how the hell does one write Kashmiri words in Angreez script! It’s the mince meant dish.) and Yakhani. Even if the dishes on the menu were different or more in number, the ABCXYZed code would remain unchanged. I infer it actually means – the feast was a standard belly and artery fulfilling affair. And I guess they would add LMNOPQ…nah A to Z and 0-9 to the code if someday they talk about thirty-six dish Wazwan.

Anyway, here are the photographs of some of these dishes.

Tabakmaaz – fried lamb ribs. I digg these. Best when hot.

Yakhni – Yogurt and saffron based mutton broth

Blurry. Stop pushing, people! I am trying to take a picture here. No use. It’s Mutsch – mince meatballs (often not balls actually. Great if they they got almond inside them)

Roganjosh – Red Hot devil. Lamb curry. Very oily. I felt blurry. Rogan means oil in Persian and josh means hot.

More oil. Dizzy. The famous Dum Aloo. People get served all kinds of things even boiled sweet potatoes when they at some restaurant they ask for Kashmiri Dum Aloo. I laugh when I see my friends eat that stuff. In this picture you can see the authentic Dum Aloo. I actually bought these potatoes from the Sabzi Madi and now I know what a good Dum Aloo potato should be like – it has to be real Pahadi, not sweet, not too big and not too small. It can be small but never big. When buying in bulk, never go by weight, always by number. We bout around 700 of these fine potatoes that day. They turned out to be perfect. For no particular reason, I actually like my Dum Aloo cold and best eaten with a lavasa Kashmiri morning bread.