Punn

Punn, which means thread in Kashmiri, literary continues unbroken even in exile. Punn is a festival that is celebrated by the Kashmiri Pandits with much aplomb and religious fervour in the month of Bhadon (August/September). The festival falls on the Ganesh Chaturthi (Vinayaka Tsoram) day, with worship of Lakshmi and Ganesha being a common feature of this festival.

After exodus, when many festivals and customs have lost their original charm, Punn festival is still celebrated with the same devotion with which it was celebrated in Kashmir. Perhaps it has something to do with its simplicity and the social message it carries.

Most Kashmiri Pandits remember by heart the story told during Punn Puja mostly by a elder of the household, which is quite similar to the Satyanaryana Katha. The much loved story begins``It was the month of Bhadon, Venayak Chorum te Athwar (fourth lunar day and Sunday), a long time ago, in Kashmir there was a Hindu king ruling comfortably''.

The special feature of this festival is the Roth (sweet thick pancakes fried in ghee) that are prepared and later after puja distributed among relatives, neighbours and friends for ushering in prosperity and auspiciousness..

In Kashmir where Pandits used to live in distinct localities far away from each other, Punn festival also helped in keeping social links active as each household had to distribute Naveed (prasad) of this function in the form of Roth to all their neighbours, relatives and even strangers.

According to the renowned Kashmiri scholar Dr Shashi Shekhar Toshkhani, Punn festival was originally associated with the spinning of newly produced cotton and worshipping the twin agrarian local goddesses, Vibha and Garbha to whom roths were offered. Though scholars dispute that Kashmir is not suitable for growing cotton, but the traditions seems to have preserved the earlier agricultural practices in codified rituals, which suggest that cotton might have been grown in Kashmir in the past.

The twin goddesses later seem to have merged into one another assuming the identity of the folk deity Beeb Garabh Maj (Beeb Garabh Mother), which is represented by a small brass water pot (gadwa) which is placed in the centre of the place where Puja is performed. A cotton thread is tied to neck of the water pot and a handful of runner grass (dramun) is kept inside the pot.

The Story:

There lived a poor Brahmin family comprising of Brahmin, his wife and beautiful young daughter. Brahmin used to support his family by pittance collections he used to get as Bhikshya. The daughter used to go to the forest for collection of firewood. One day during the month of Bhadoon Shakula Paksh on 4th day, when she was in the forest, she saw some Devis descending from Heaven. She hid herself behind a tree and was keen to watch them and to know why they have come to the forest. She saw Devis cardooning off an area and cleaning it thoroughly. They Devis started kneading wheat flour and mixed sugar and ghee and cardamom etc in it and then they baked it on hot plate.. After finishing Devis looked around to find a girl, as they could not perform Pooja without presence of a girl. They took the notice of Brahmin girl hiding behind the tree and called her over. They gave her a bath and a new dress to wear. After finishing pooja they gave her Roth prasad and some money as Dakshana. After this the Devis left for their abode. The Brahmin girl was dazed with what she witnessed and was happy to receive new clothes and some money. She went to her home where her parents scolded and thrashed her on her possessions. They thought that she has got it some ill means. The Brahmin girl narrated to them entire thing that she had witnessed but her parents did not trust her. Days passed by and the routine of their hardships followed.

Brahmin girl developed a desire within to do same thing what Devis had done on the same auspicious day next year. She started preparations for the same in advance. Having no money with her, she collected cow dung where from she separated wheat grain and collected them over for some days, dried them and converted them into flour. She could not afford sugar or ghee and thus made roth without these materials on the auspicious day after cleaning the area etc as Devis had done. This she was doing with absolute faith, which was being witnessed by Devis in their abode and they were happy with such dedicated faith of Brahmin girl. Devis decided to reward her. The Brahmin girl performed pooja of Roths, which she had kept under a cover. After pooja when she removed the cover she was astonished to see Roths converted into golden cakes. She could not believe her stars but knew it was a miracle possible only by blessing of Devis. Thus she thanked Devis and rushed to her home with prized possession. On seeing golden cakes, her parents locked her in a room and thrashed her to maximum thinking that this time she has done some bigger crime. The girl kept on pleading and pleading and told them everything she had done, but her parents did not believe her. During the night Devis came in the dream of her parents and told them about what girl had done and that she should be treated nicely. On listening to Devis, the parents blessed the girl with love and affection. Thus the status of Brahmin family improved and they kept on repeating this Roth puja every year. Devis kept on blessing them with prosperity and wealth.

Years passed by, and one day the King of the state was returning from hunting expedition when he took notice of Brahmin girl who was relaxing under a tree in her courtyard. Her youth and charm fascinated the king and he decided to marry her. He summoned her father to the court next day and asked for his daughter's hand. The marriage was solemnised with great pomp and show and the Brahmin girl became queen of the state.

When the Roth day was approaching, she asked the King to arrange the materials for the performance of Roth Pooja. King asked his minister to do the necessary arrangements. The Minister ill advised the King that it was just a fantasy of the queen and it was not necessary. He did not believe that she could have afforded the material that the queen had asked for while she was not married. He suggested that it was her greed that she is demanding such a huge amount of materials for doing some Puja of which he had not heard of. The king was convinced by Minister's logic and refused to give any material to the queen.

The queen was very upset and she pleaded with the king. She cried and begged of King without any luck. She went to Puja room and begged of Devis to pardon her for no fault of hers.

During the night King dreamt of Devis who warned him that he would lose his kingdom next day as he had not fulfilled the necessary arrangements requested by the queen. Very next day, neighbouring state king invaded his kingdom and he was dethroned and exiled. He realised his mistake and asked his wife to pardon him. His wife in turn asked him to seek pardon from Devis and to take a pledge not to do such things in future. He prayed and prayed and prayed. Finally Devis took mercy on him and blessed him since he vowed to perform this pooja irrespective of whatever condition he would be in. Next day the faithful soldiers of the King who got wind of where the king was hiding came to see him. They assembled in large numbers and worked out a plan to conquer back their kingdom. In next few days the King with the help of his soldiers regained his kingdom. Ever since the king and entire state performed the Roth Pooja every year.

Concluding prayer:

Now we pray Almighty to bless us in the same way as they blessed the Brahmin girl and to strive in us a true, dedicated & strong faith in the pooja.