Ground Report

 Jammu March 15 (Scoop News) –Jammu and Kashmir  Governor,  N. N. Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdulla  have greeted the people on Navratras and Navreh, hoping that the auspicious occasion would be the harbinger of harmony, brotherhood, amity, peace, progress and prosperity in the State.

 In his message of felicitations, the Governor said that the Navratras have a special significance, as thousands of devotees from across the country during these auspicious days, come to pay obeisance at the holy cave shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi.

 The Governor also extended warm greetings to Kashmiri Pandits, who celebrate the day as Navreh, the beginning of the new-year and the onset of spring.

 The Governor prayed for the well-being and prosperity of the people of the State.

 Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today extended warm felicitations to the people on  Navratras and Navreh and wished for their welfare and prosperity.

In a message, the CM expressed hope that the day will be a harbinger of peace and development in the State and the Country and further strengthen the bonds of amity and brotherhood between various sections of the society.

Praying for progress and prosperity of the State,  Omar said that Navreh signifies New Year of Kashmiri Pandit and wished them a very prosperous and happy year.

 Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand  has greeted the people on the auspicious occasion of Navratras and Navreh.

                In his greetings, Tara Chand hoped that the day will bring peace, progress and prosperity in the State. He hoped that the occasion would also be the harbinger of harmony, brotherhood and amity in the State.   

NAVREH is the lunar New Year which is celebrated in Kashmir and many other parts of the country. This coincides with the first day of the Chaitra (spring) Navratras.

 According to P.N. Ganhar that Navreh is the first day of 5074 of the Sapath Rishi Samvat which falls on March 29, 1998, this year and is the oldest New Year. It is this calendar, according to which Hindus generally celebrate their birthdays, anniversaries, festivals and other religious functions. This day finds mention in Rajtarangini and Nilamat Purana of Kashmir and is regarded as sacred in Kashmir as the Shivratri. The celebrated Arab scholar Alberuni has written that Kashmiris celebrate the second of Navaratras to commemorate victory of their greatest and famous king – Lalitaditya – with great festivity, pomp and gaiety. The first was a festival as the New Year in its own right. Srivara, the famous poet- historian of mediaeval Kashmir, has also mentioned this Chaitra festival in his Rajtarangini. Late Pt. Zinda Koul, popularly known as Masterjee, has written a poem on Navreh and the message it brings.       

 In Kashmir, the day was celebrated with great enthusiasm and sanctity. It is on the eve of Navreh that the Kulguru of a Pandit family gets a new almanac (nachipatra – Sanskrit: Nakshetra-patri) and an illustrated scroll (Kreel Pach) with a sacred picture of Ma Sharika on it and some sacred verses. Formerly the Nachipatri used to be in the form of a tolled scroll but now it has taken the form of a small booklet known as Jantari.

 NAVRATRA — This celebration in honour of the goddess, the mother of the world, begins on the first day of Ashvin, and goes on for nine days. The goddess is the personification of Power, or Shakti. She is known by many names: Kali, Laxmi, Sarasvati, Chandi-ka, Durga, Bhavani, Ambika, Ashtabhuja (eight hands). Her main task is to punish the wicked. She is engaged in war, and weapons are in her hands (four, eight, eighteen…) She is sitting on a lion. Her weapons are the shul (pike), chakra (wheel), parshu (axe) and talvar (sword). Kali is known as Mahisha-surmardini, the slayer of the demon Mahishasur. The fight against the demon begins on the first day until he is defeated on the ninth day

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