"ONIONS AND KASHMIR "

                                                                                                   

                                             ( A view En-route Gulmarg )

"ONIONS AND KASHMIR "

I held a  belief that onions entered kashmir in early fourteenth centuary . Had a reason to believe that possibly Syeds brought it with them. Sometimes felt that may be it came to kashmir via Pathaans . Many said "No" , Maharaja Ranjit singh's Army brought it to kashmir. Thought could be so as Punjabis too call it GANDAA . Kashmiris too call it Gandaa. KALHANA proved me wrong . Came across a reference to onions in  Rajatarangini today . I quote 

" A HUNDRED OR TWO HUNDRED , SHOULD BE RECKONED ON AN AVERAGE OF THE ENTIRE COST TOWARDS THE SUPPLY OF INCENSE , THE ROOTS OF SANDA AND ONIONS PRESENTED TO GURUS "

(SOURCE TARANGA VIII CANTO 143 RAJATARINGINI BY KALHANA TRANSLATED BY RANJIT SITARAM PANDIT  PAGE 418 PUBLISHED BY SAHITYA ACADEMY )

surprisingly onions have been described  by Kalhana as something that was offerred to Gurus ( Brahmins ). It had been a settled practicce with Brahmins of Kashmir   not to bring onions to  their kitchens even uptil early twentieth centuary  . Surely onions were a Taboo amongst Brahmins of kashmir  .All this has  undergone a radical change now. The younger generation consumes onions as any other community or group. Learned translator of Kalhana's work too makes  mention of the practice prevailing in Nepal wherein onions  form a part of PUJA.An honoured guest is given onion as a present .

( Autar Mota )                                                        

Chinar shade by Autar mota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.