In
a typical
household, the
continues to be the main, inexpensive source of keeping an individual w.mp3
during the winter months. A
is made up of two parts. The outer part is an encasement of wicker. Inside,
there is an earthen bowl-shaped pot called a .
The is filled
with
(charcoal) and embers. A medium sized
holds about a pound of ,
and its fire lasts for over six hours. Many Kashmiris fill a
with
toh
(chaff) or ('guh')
(dry cow-dung). A
is a constant companion of Kashmiris during the winter months. It is n.mp3ally
kept inside the Kashmiri cloak, the ph'aran, or
inside a blanket if the person does not wear a
ph'aran.
If a person is wearing a jacket, it may be used as a hand-w.mp3er.
The origin of the
is not known. Knowles (1885) makes the following observation:
It has been suggested that the
Kashmiris learnt the use of the k'angar from the Italians in the retinue of
the Mughal Emperors who often visited the valley, but no reliable particulars
have as yet been ascertained.
In Kashmiri folklore the
has occupied a prominent place. In the following poem we see the role of the
in a Kashmiri's life. (see J. H. Knowles, A Dictionary of Kashmiri Proverbs
and Sayings, Bombay, 1885, p. 128)
A free translation of the above
poem is given below. The kashmiri months, like
ma:g
and
pha:gun, roughly correspond to the Christian
calendar, January and February. However, there is no one-to-one correspondence.
ma:g
came and you were hard to get,
hay,
pha:gun
came and a plot
was laid against you,
hay,
came and no one cared about you,
hay,
vah'ak
came and there
was no place for you,
hay,
came and you became useless,
hay,
ha:r came and you were
chased away,
hay,
came and your youth disappeared,
hay,
came and sickness came to you,
hay,
came and I sent you a messenger,
hay,
ka:rtikh came and I put
some embers in you,
hay,
came and we became concerned about you,
hay,
poh came and I filled
you up with
toh,
hay,
The
is specially made for brides. On the first
he:rath
(Shivratri)
after getting married, a bride brings a specially decorated
to her in-laws' house. These have elaborate ornamentation and usually have a
silver tsa:lan. The
are not terribly comfortable because of their size, but they are extremely
attractive and used essentially for decoration.
The
tsa:lan
looks like a small 'cake server' and is used to turn the coal inside a
in order to increase the heat. It is usually tied to a round wicker hook on the
back of the .
The expensive
have silver
with silver chains. An inexpensive
has a wooden
tsa:lan
attached by a string.
The word
in refers
to artistic ornamentation. The t.mp3
is also used in the context of embroidery or silver and gold work.
The
is a small
specially made for small children. These vary in their size.
The
is a bowl-like pot which holds the ,
charcoal, and .
The (plu.)
vary in size according to the size of the .
The t.mp3
means charcoal in general, but for the ,
a special type of charcoal is used. People usually prefer charcoal of
bo:ni
(chinar) leaves.
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