Navreh

See also: Indian New Year's days

Navreh
A Navreh Thaal marks the beginning of the new year
Also called	Kashmiri New Year
Observed by	Kashmiri Hindus
Type	Social, Cultural, Religious
Celebrations	Rituals
Date	Chaitra Shukla Pratipada
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Chaitra Navaratri, Ugadi, Gudi Padwa

Explanatory note

Hindu festival dates The Hindu calendar is lunisolar but most festival dates are specified using the lunar portion of the calendar. A lunar day is uniquely identified by three calendar elements: māsa (lunar month), pakṣa (lunar fortnight) and tithi (lunar day). Furthermore, when specifying the masa, one of two traditions are applicable, viz. amānta / pūrṇimānta. Iff a festival falls in the waning phase of the moon, these two traditions identify the same lunar day as falling in two different (but successive) masa. A lunar year is shorter than a solar year by about eleven days. As a result, most Hindu festivals occur on different days in successive years on the Gregorian calendar.

Navreh (ks) or Kashmiri New Year is the celebration of the first day of the Kashmiri new year by Kashmiri Hindus, with the largest Kashmiri Hindu community being the Kashmiri Pandits. Kashmiri Pandits dedicate Navreh festival to their Goddess Sharika, a form of Goddess Durga or Shakti, and pay homage to her during the festival. It takes place on the first day of the bright half (Shukla Paksha) on the month of Chaitra (March–April) of the Kashmiri Hindu calendar.

History

According to the legend, Mother Goddess Sharika's dwelling was on Sharika Parvata (Hari Parbat) where the celebrated Sapta Rishis gathered. On the auspicious day of 1st Chaitra, as the first ray of sun fell on Chakreshwari and paid honor to her, this moment is considered the beginning of New Year and the Saptarishi era for astrologers. Kashmiri Hindu Tradition and astronomical calculations date the beginning of this era to 3076 BC.

Rituals

On the eve of the new year, the priest (kulguru) of the family provides a religious almanac (nachipatra) for the next year and a scroll (kreel pach) of the local goddess. Then a customary large plate (thali) is filled with rice and offerings like almanac, scroll, dried and fresh flowers, wye herb, new grass, curd, walnuts, pen, ink container, gold and silver coins, salt, cooked rice, wheat cakes and bread and covered on the eve of Navreh. On the day of the new year, the family members gather together, uncover the thali and view it on the holy day.

The rice and coins represent our daily bread and wealth, the pen and paper a reminder of the quest for learning, the mirror represents retrospection. The calendar signals the changing time and the Deity the Universal Constant, and they together are a reminder of the constancy of changing time. The bitter herb is reminiscent of life's bitter aspects, to be taken in stride alongside the good. The bitter herb ‘wye’ is usually eaten with walnuts to bring wholeness of life's experiences in the admixture.

Symbolism aside, the consumption of this bitter herb has also been practiced by Native American cultures as well as by some of the American transcendentalist philosophers for various reasons.

After seeing (darshan) the thali, each person takes a walnut to be thrown into a river. The walnuts from the thali are dropped in the river as a sign of thanksgiving. Then the family members offer turmeric rice in ghee (tahar) to the goddess at the temple and seek blessings.

See also

• Kashmiri Pandits
• Kashmiri Hindus
• Kashmiri Hindu festivals
• Mela Patt

Further reading

• Toshkhani, S.S. (2009). Cultural Heritage of Kashmiri Pandits. Pentagon Press.
• Robert Sewell (15 March 2010). The Indian Calendar – With Tables for the Conversion of Hindu and Muhammadan Into A. D. Dates, and Vice Versa. Read Books Design. ISBN 978-1-4455-3119-9.