Navreh () or Kashmiri New Year is the celebration of the first day of the Kashmiri new year by

Kashmiri Hindus Kashmiri Hindus are ethnic Kashmiris who practice Hinduism and are native to the Kashmir Valley of India. With respect to their contributions to Indian philosophy, Kashmiri Hindus developed the tradition of Kashmiri Shaivism. After their exodu ...

, with the largest Kashmiri Hindu community being the

Kashmiri Pandit The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, located within the In ...

s. Kashmiri Pandits dedicate Navreh festival to their Goddess Sharika, a form of Goddess

Durga Durga (, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic ...

or Shakti, and pay homage to her during the festival. It takes place on the first day of the bright half (Shukla Paksha) on the month of Chaitra (March–April) of the Kashmiri Hindu calendar.

History

According to the legend, Mother Goddess Sharika's dwelling was on Sharika Parvata (

Hari Parbat Hari Parbat (), also called Koh-i-Maran (), is a hill overlooking Srinagar, the largest city and the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is the site of the Hari Parbat fort, built by the Durrani Empire, and of a Hindu temple, mosques, a ...

) where the celebrated Sapta Rishis gathered. On the auspicious day of 1st Chaitra, as the first ray of sun fell on

Chakreshwari In Jain cosmology, Chakeshvari or ''Apraticakra'' is the guardian goddess or Yakshini (attendant deity) of Rishabhanatha. She is the tutelary deity of the Sarawagi The Sarawagi or Saraogi or Sarawgi Jain community, meaning a Jain Śrāvaka, ...

and paid honor to her, this moment is considered the beginning of New Year and the Saptarishi era for astrologers. Kashmiri Hindu Tradition and astronomical calculations date the beginning of this era to 3076 BC.

Rituals

On the eve of the new year, the priest (''kulguru'') of the family provides a religious almanac (''nachipatra'') for the next year and a scroll (''kreel pach'') of the local goddess. Then a customary large plate (''thali'') is filled with rice and offerings like almanac, scroll, dried and fresh flowers, wye herb, new grass, curd, walnuts, pen, ink container, gold and silver coins, salt, cooked rice, wheat cakes and bread and covered on the eve of Navreh. On the day of the new year, the family members gather together, uncover the thali and view it on the holy day. The rice and coins represent our daily bread and wealth, the pen and paper a reminder of the quest for learning, the mirror represents retrospection. The calendar signals the changing time and the Deity the Universal Constant, and they together are a reminder of the constancy of changing time. The bitter herb is reminiscent of life's bitter aspects, to be taken in stride alongside the good. The bitter herb ‘wye’ is usually eaten with walnuts to bring wholeness of life's experiences in the admixture. Symbolism aside, the consumption of this bitter herb has also been practiced by Native American cultures as well as by some of the American transcendentalist philosophers for various reasons. After seeing (darshan) the thali, each person takes a walnut to be thrown into a river The walnuts from the thali are dropped in the river as a sign of thanksgiving. Then the family members offer turmeric rice in ghee (tahar) to the goddess at the temple and seek blessings.Crump, William D. (2014)
Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide
MacFarland, page 114-115

History

Rituals

See also

References

Further reading