The Beautiful Kashmiris !

Captivating ! Isnt it !
I recently saw my kashmiri friends dressed for a marriage in their traditional Kashmiri ornaments which prompted me to write this post.

Kashmir is inhabited by people from different communities like the Kashmiri Pandit, Ladakhi and Dogra tribes. This post is more about the dress and ornaments of the Kashmiri women - the muslim inhabitant in Kashmir as well as the Kashmiri Pandit.

This is a picture of an actress in a hindi movie. ( Couldnt find a clearer picture of a Kashmiri lady )


Here are some information on the picture -

Image: Sharmila Tagore in Shakti Samanta's Kashmir Ki Kali (1964). Religion unknown. Most likely a Muslim lady.

Tchand're Taa'che - Moon Headgear. Kashmiri Pandit woman also wear it.

Kan'waaj'e - Ear Rings - Typically worn by the muslim women.

The women are sometimes very handsome. The parda-nashins are, of course, very rarely seen. The men wear a long shirt called firan, which in the case of Hindus has long, narrow sleeves, and Muhammadans short, full ones. The Hindu woman or Punditani wears a girdle and has a white cap, whereas the Mussulman! wears a red head-dress. The black hair of young girls is braided in many thin strands, covering the back and forming a semi-circle, with a knot of hair hanging down the back, and stretching sometimes nearly to the feet.

- John Collett, A Guide for Visitors to Kashmir (1984)Here is a picture of Pandit Nehru's mother - a Kashmiri Pandit lady.

Notice her ear ornaments. The Kashmiri Pandit women wear the Dejharoo, Athroo as a symbol of their marriage - much like the mangal sutra is worn by women in some states of India.

The dejharoo is a pair of gold pendants, hanging on a silk thread or gold chain which passes through holes in the ears pieced at the top end of the lobes. You can read a very good description of the dejhoor over here.

I find the varied culture of the various states in India very fascinating. Some other day , some other post , I might put up something on the dressing of women of some other state.

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Note and Acknowlegement : A lot of information on this post, including the pictures are from this site http://www.searchkashmir.org