TARANGA, DEJHOOR AND ATH. 3 IMPORTANT THINGS THAT HELPS IN IDENTIFYING A KASHMIRI PANDIT BRIDE AND PART OF WEDDING CEREMONY. The ‘taranga’ has in real terms both, religious and historical importance for Kashmiri Pandits. Some argue that the ‘taranga’ is associated with the great philosopher Shankaracharya who visited the Valley in the eighth century and lodged atop the hill in a shed with Brahmans of the temple. Swami Abinaugupta was the Acharya of the then head institution here, since Kashmir was one of the chief centre of learning and called the ‘‘Shardapeetha’’. Students from distant parts of the World used to come there to study Sanskrit. A simple discussion between the two, Swami Abinaugupta and Swami Shankaracharya brought the latter to the Shakti cult. Some claim that the Goddess Sharda administered the final test to Shankaracharya to prove to the World his power to ascend the throne of learning and character when he defeated all the participants in the discussion except the Brahman’s daughter-in-law who discussed the Shakti doctrine with him. He was extremely pleased with her mastery of the subject and awarded her a skull cap called ‘taranga’ to dress the head. Before the arrival of the ‘Sari’ to Kashmir almost every Kashmiri Pandit lady used ‘taranga’ and ‘phiran’. It gradually faded away from the advent of Indian dresses after the accession in 1947. Today, there are a couple of shrines under the name of ‘Sharda’ but the main shrine is situated on a small hill, above the junction of the Kishenganga river with a small stream to this day as Madhumati which flows to the south east. The pilgrimage to this place was considerably known in the old days. The valley has earned a proud title as a home of scholarship and special attention abroad to the tirtha which bore the name of ‘Sharda’ for its above explained importance. The ‘dijhor’, elegantly shaped is a golden ornament, all most the size of an almound, suspended through both the ears either by golden chain or coloured thread up to chest from the day of the marriage. The ‘dijhor’ is to Kashmiri Hindu women (Panditani) what ‘Mangalsutra’ is to the Hindu women in rest of India. The ‘dijehor’ is suspended through the ears to strike with the women’s chest for wishing the long life of her husband. THE DIJHOR MEANS COMBINATION OF SIVA AND SHAKTI. Now the ‘taranga’ has remained confined to a few hours on the day of marriage of a bride. Further, there is a grave danger to ‘tranga’ once the Kashmiri Pandits are out of the valley with the arrival of the militancy on the scene. Currently, the Kashmiri Pandit community is no doubt under a tremendous strain and facing a great threat on every front and it shall be then their fundamental duty to save the cultural heritage and traditions if they have to live for tomorrow. The Kashmiri Pandit community shall have to take care of ‘dijhor’ and ’taranga’ to maintain customs and traditions in keeping with culture to save these from extinction. A collective sincere spirit within the community will ensure a safe future for the cultural heritage taking it to the other parts of the world by foreigners who have already shown a lot of interest for ‘khawa, sheer chai (salt tea), Kashmiri dishes and dresses’. Let us wish a similar future for these traditions as the ‘phiran’ etc. The ‘phiran, Taranga and dijhor’ are the last three left with Kashmiri Pandit community especially women as a result of mass migration from the valley of Kashmir. No matter, if confined or restricted to the event of ‘Yaganopavit ceremony or marriages but the community can afford to take it along in future too. Interestingly, with the revival of the ethnic look in ladies dresses and gents clothing, the ‘phiran’ in an ersatz form can be seen worn by non-Kashmiri ladies in most urban centers of the country. Perhaps an example of a cultural mix.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 09:30:00 +0000
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