Boe’nni – the majestic Chinars,
Spread far and afar,
standing up and so tall,
with roots of great strength,
giving shade and warmth,
to one and all, big or small,
suiting the climatic condition;
Never making any distinction,
of any faith or colour,
be it winter or summer.
all across the valley;
As they have been within the precincts-so holy
of our own Ma’ej Ra’eghny Bhagvati,
to goddess’s each and every devotee,
under their beautiful “canopy”,
considerably vast,
from many a centuries in the past,
or, even from their ‘fallen’ leaves-
known for their look, so graceful;
and, situated in village Tulamulya – now Tulmul;
Laden in snow presently, like the entire valley,
Boe’nni, here, stand frozen in silence,
like sacred Himalayas, far-off, covered in snow and ice,
or nearby “largest” lake, Wular-the Mahapadmasaras,
highly shrunk, thanks to misdeeds of the lice;
or polluted, presently frozen lake-famous as Dal;
surrounded by a forlorn sight and haze,
in stillness, under the benign gaze,
of revered Mae’j Bhavani – the bountiful;
forced by the ongoing chillai-kalaan,
or distressed about goddess’s devotees,
scattered across the globe, including, in Hindu-sthan,
for having done not anything tangibly wrong;
yet, still been forced into exile for so long,
the current one nearing three decades now,
pondering deeply-can Pandits return, at all
in immediate future, when and how?
to their ancient roots in Satisara of Kashmira-
drained by a divine intervention with a plough,
thus ending the dreadful sway of demon Jalodbhava,
reveals the treasure of Sanskrit text Nilamata Purana;
return to the land of Lalitaditya and Abhinavagupta,
of Kshemendra, Kalhana, Lal Ded and Reshipeer,
to their very homeland in Panun Kashmir?
For now, the crop of Islamic terrorists continues to rise,
with no sign of any decrease in their scale and size !
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Boo’en : (a derivative of Sanskrit word
Bhavaani : the mother Goddess) as a Chinar tree is called in Koshur (Kashmiri) language.
Ma’ej : Mother in Koshur language
Ra’eghnya : Most revered presiding goddess of a famous temple in Tulmul. The goddess is believed to have had Her abode in Sri Lanka before the wicked king Ravana was killed by lord Rama. Lord Hanuman, upon being directed, by Lord Rama, carried the Goddess to Satidesha. One can see a small temple dedicated to Hanuman just at the entrance of the holy precincts of revered Bhavaani. Incidentally, a small village named Rampur (existing even today) lies nearly two kms on the route that pilgrims used, while coming from Srinagri (Srinagar) for reaching the holy shrine on foot in earlier times.
Tulmul : A village in district Ganderbal, Kashmir; nearly 20 kms away from summer-capital city Srinagar.
Mahapadmasaras : The ancient Sanskrit name of present day Wular lake; supposed to have been “one of the largest fresh water lakes of Asia”.
Chillai-kalaan : Spread over forty days, this is considered as the severest part of seventy-day long winter in Kashmir. Other two parts are Chillai-Kho’rrud (20 days) and Chill’a-baccha (10 days).
Pandits : The earliest inhabitants of Kashmir valley known for their intellectual prowess and scholarship. The community has unfortunately suffered repeated genocides in last over seven hundred years and are once again forced to live in exile as ‘refugees’ in their own country following their seventh exodus from the valley in 1989/’90.
Satisara : Sar (Lake) of Sati; the sacred abode of goddess Sati also known as Uma and Kashmira. Satisara is the most ancient Sanskrit name of the valley of Kashmir also called “Vaitastika– the land of the river Vitasta”.
Jalodbhava : A water born demon who had created havoc by killing the local populace of the time.
Lalitaditya : “The most powerful ruler of the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir region in the Indian Subcontinent”. (8th century AD); Founder of acclaimed Martand sun-temple, now lying in ruins in district Anantnag, in Southern part of Kashmir.
Abhinavagupta : The most outstanding intellectual, mystic, Shaivite philosopher, writer from Kashmir (10th century AD). The author of much acclaimed Tantraloka and other works.
Kshemendra : One of the outstanding poets/writers of Kashmir (11th century AD).
Kalhana : The celebrated author of Rajatarangini from Kashmir (12 century AD).
Lal Ded : Foremost Kashmiri saint known for her mystic poetry popularly called ‘Vakhs’ (14th century). Her Vakhs form the earliest known specimen of Kashmiri literature.
Reshipeer : A highly revered saint of Kashmir valley (17th century AD).
Panun : A Koshur word which means ‘our own’.
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