Kashmiri Culture
INTRODUCTION
Distinct from the rest of the country, Jammu and Kashmir sports a multifaceted, multicoloured and unique cultural blend. Not only the geographical conditions of the state are different but it can also be set apart demographically with varied ethical and social entities, diversity of religions flourishing in the area, different language and cultural forms and heritage albeit with an over-reigning harmony that blends in with the serenity and beauty of the region. One gets dazed by the sheer diversity and richness of art and architecture, fairs and festivals, rites and rituals, seers and sagas, languages and mountains that thrive amongst the unparalleled cultural cohesion, which is exemplary.
The population living in the Valley of Kashmir is primarily homogeneous, despite the religious divide between Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. The people of the Valley share common ethnicity, culture, language and customs, which is no doubt the basis of "Kashmiriyat". Kashmir’s culture is interlinked with its geography: cut off from the rest of India by high mountains, it lies along the once fabled Silk Route. For centuries it has thus been open to influences from Persia and the countries of the Central Asia.
Ask a visitor to Kashmir what image he associates most closely with the land, and his answer in all probability will be the shakara. Elegant, graceful, even romantic, this gondola-like boat has been figured as a graphic or logo on company letterheads so frequently as to have become a cliché. However, most Kashmiri's themselves do not see it as the most important adjunct to their way of life. Ask a Kashmiri what to him symbolizes his land, and chances are that he will refer either to the Kangri or the pheran. To most Kashmiri's, from the villager to the widely-travelled urbanite, life is unimaginable without either of the two.
LANGUAGE
There are approximately 1635 languages spoken in our beautiful prosperous nation. One among them is this very own language of
Distinct from the rest of the country, Jammu and Kashmir sports a multifaceted, multicoloured and unique cultural blend. Not only the geographical conditions of the state are different but it can also be set apart demographically with varied ethical and social entities, diversity of religions flourishing in the area, different language and cultural forms and heritage albeit with an over-reigning harmony that blends in with the serenity and beauty of the region. One gets dazed by the sheer diversity and richness of art and architecture, fairs and festivals, rites and rituals, seers and sagas, languages and mountains that thrive amongst the unparalleled cultural cohesion, which is exemplary.
The population living in the Valley of Kashmir is primarily homogeneous, despite the religious divide between Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. The people of the Valley share common ethnicity, culture, language and customs, which is no doubt the basis of "Kashmiriyat". Kashmir’s culture is interlinked with its geography: cut off from the rest of India by high mountains, it lies along the once fabled Silk Route. For centuries it has thus been open to influences from Persia and the countries of the Central Asia.
Ask a visitor to Kashmir what image he associates most closely with the land, and his answer in all probability will be the shakara. Elegant, graceful, even romantic, this gondola-like boat has been figured as a graphic or logo on company letterheads so frequently as to have become a cliché. However, most Kashmiri's themselves do not see it as the most important adjunct to their way of life. Ask a Kashmiri what to him symbolizes his land, and chances are that he will refer either to the Kangri or the pheran. To most Kashmiri's, from the villager to the widely-travelled urbanite, life is unimaginable without either of the two.
LANGUAGE
There are approximately 1635 languages spoken in our beautiful prosperous nation. One among them is this very own language of