The observance of Tila Ashtami is associated and connected with the celebration of Shivratri. Maha Shivratri is the biggest festival celebrated by the Kashmiri pandits. This festival of Shivratri has a special importance in the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism, and it is celebrated in a distinct, unique, and special way by the Kashmiri Pandits all over the world. The Shivratri to KP’s commences on the first Tithi - day of Falgun Krishanpaksh in the first fortnight of this auspicious month, lasts for a fortnight, and culminates or comes to a close with Teela Ashtami. In all important festivals of Sanatan Dharma, there is the practice of giving offerings to one's dead ancestors called Pitras in Hindu mythology, and the observance of Tila Ashtami is concerned with offering light to dead ancestors on the eighth day after Mahashivratri. It is a practice and norm with the Kashmiri Pandits that the Shivratri Prasad, such as wet walnuts and bread made from rice flour, is distributed among neighbors, relatives, and friends only before the Tila Ashtami. On this occasion, light is lit in the form of earthen divas and offered to the dead ones to satiate them. Therefore, the observance of Tila Ashtami is connected with offering light to the dead ancestors, and the day is dedicated to them. On this day, all KP households lit earthen divas and put these at important spots, including at the entrance gates in their compounds.
In fact, the tradition and ritual of making offerings to the dead ancestors on the occasions of festivals is part and parcel of all Kashmiri Pandit festivals, and to repay the debt to one's dead ancestors by making various offerings is the important practice connected with the celebration of all important festivals, and on the occasion of Teela Ashtami, earthen diyas are lit, and light is offered to the dead ancestors, and the celebrations of Shivratri come to a close with the observance of this day. Tila Ashtami is observed and dedicated to the dead ones to satiate the Pitras by offering them light. Tila Aatham—Teil Atham/Tila Ashtami is celebrated as a culmination of the Shivratri Festival mainly by Kashmiri Pandits.Tila Ashtami is celebrated on the 8th day of the bright fortnight of the Fhalgun month (Fhalguna Shukla Ashtami tithi). On this occasion puja is offered to Lord Shiva and any other favorite god, and diyas are lit in temples and homes. ‘Jaa Teen Teen’ (tieng Kangri) was the old tradition associated with this festival. It is so disturbing that these days, the tradition has become extinct, and it points towards the forgetting of this old tradition connected with this festival.
There is a need to revive the old traditions and customs and be connected to our rich cultural roots and preserve our rich and vibrant culture for the future generations so that it is not lost in oblivion due to the afflux of time and its seemingly irrelevance in the modern age. In fact, it is common among Kashmiri Pandits to remember their dead ancestors on festivals and make offerings to them in order to satiate them and repay the Pitar Rin-debt. The occasion of Tila Ashtami is celebrated and observed in honor of the dead ones by the Kashmiri Pandit community with great devotion and dedication. The celebration of Tila Ashtami continues even in these days of materialism and the age of modernity among the exiled Kashmiri Pandits, and the womenfolk of this community take special interest and initiative to observe this occasion with all humility in honor of the dead relatives.In North India and other Hindu calendars, the Tila Ashtami day is celebrated as ‘Masik Durgashtami’ in the Falgun month and ‘Holashtak Arambha din.’
The religious festivals of the Kashmiri Pandits have Rigvedic roots. Tila Ashtami is the unique and distinct festival celebrated by the Kashmiri Pandits along with other festivals like Herath, Navreh, and Hur Atham. Pan-Roth Puza, Vinayak Tsoram, Khetsimavas etc. and the Kashmiri Pandits deserve praise and appreciation for celebrating these and other festivals even in the trying times of their displacement from their native Kashmir. It is a matter of satisfaction that Kashmiri Pandits have preserved their culture, traditions, customs, and social mores even today, and they are passing on their culture to the future generations without any adulteration but in pristine beauty.
To be specific on Tila Ashtami, a number of earthen oil-lit lamps are placed at different places starting from one’s home to the riverbank (Yarbal), and also one of the oil lamps is made to float on the river with its base seated on a grass ring or arie. The day of Tila Ashtami also signals the end of the severe cold and winter and the advent of the pleasant season of spring, locally known as ‘Sonth.’
On this day, the changeover of the season is celebrated by children by burning old fire-pots (Kangris), stuffed with dry grass and tied with long ropes around in the air, all the time uttering the words of ‘Jateen-Tantah.’. It marks the final goodbye to the holy festival of Mahashivratri, which is called and celebrated as "Herath" by the Kashmiri Pandits. In brief, the observance of Tila Ashtami is the culmination of the fortnight-long festival of Mahashivratri by the Kashmiri Pandit community even in their exiled life away from Kashmir. The KPs deserve all kudos for celebrating their festivals and preserving these and passing on the festivals to the coming generations.
(Vivek Koul)
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