Srinagar, Feb 25 As the Kashmiri Pandit community celebrates its holiest religious festival of Mahashivratri, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday greeted people on this auspicious occasion.
PM Modi said on X, "Herath Poshte!"
"This festival is closely associated with the vibrant culture of our Kashmiri Pandit sisters and brothers."
"On this auspicious occasion, I wish for harmony, good health and prosperity for everyone. May it also fulfill dreams, create new opportunities and bring lasting happiness for all."
Kashmiri Pandits historically have been celebrating the Mahashivratri as the community is constituted by Shaivite Brahmins.
Other than being a holy religious festival, Mahashivratri has been a symbol of the eclectic, multi-religious culture of Kashmir.
This centuries-old festival of religious tolerance and brotherhood begins with the nightlong 'Puja' on the first day. This would be followed by Muslim neighbours and friends calling on their Pandit brothers to greet them the next day.
"In my 35 years in Kashmir till we migrated in 1990s, there hasn't been a single Shivratri when our Muslim neighbours and friends were not invited for dinner."
"One special dish prepared on every Shivratri is fish cooked with lotus stems called the 'Nadru' and radish. Other dishes would be an addition to this main delicacy of the festival."
"After our migration, we still cook fish with Nadru and radish, but this dish hasn't ever since tasted the same because of the absence of our Muslim friends and neighbours on the Shivratri dinner."
"My first Shivratri greetings still come from my Muslim friends back in the Valley, but those greeting phone calls make me more nostalgic," said G.L. Daftari, who lives in Roop Nagar locality of Jammu after his family migrated from Fateh Kadal area of old city Srinagar.
The feelings of Daftari are common to every old and middle-aged member of the Kashmiri Pandit community, but the new generation of this community born after the community's exodus from the Valley have no sweet memories to cherish.
They hear about the stories of communal amity and brotherhood from their parents and yet to the new generation, these stories appear to come from a far off land emotionally.
Members of this community still living in the Valley visit Shiv temples on the festival to pray.
The Shiv temple atop the Shankaracharya hillock in Srinagar city is one such temple where prayers are held in the evening.
Almost every major town in the Valley has a Shiv temple where local Pandits would converge on Shivratri to pray and celebrate the festival.
Walnuts are an important part of the 'Puja Samigri' on Shivratri.
Walnuts soaked in water in an earthen vessel are sent by parents to their daughters, by brothers to their sisters and by the local Pandits to their Muslim neighbours and friends.
After their migration from the Valley, the members of this community are living in different parts of the country.
The festival of Shivratri keeps the community united and its roots in the Valley intact till they return back to their home and heart in Kashmir.
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