Janam Ashtami, the holy festival of the Lord Krishna, occupies great importance in the lives of Hindus all over the world. It is celebrated with great devotion, joy, and emotion in India as well as a number of other countries with Hindu diaspora. For Kashmiri Pandits, this festival also has the added meaning of a day of fasting and worship, but an ability to signify continuity of culture and customs across centuries. It is affectionately called Zaram Satam in the Kashmiri language and the practices associated with it have their roots planted deep in the ethos of Kashmiri Pandit life in Kashmir and later in exile after migration. Traditionally, Kashmiri Pandits would get ready for this festival days in advance. Homes were cleansed thoroughly and decorated with floral decorations, bunting and rangoli.
To provide details of decoration above all focus was achieved on the Krishna Jula, a swing for Lord Krishna commemorating his playful childhood. It was important to women of the house to decorate the jula with fresh flowers, colorful folded paper designs and small bells. The idol or picture of Lord Krishna would be placed on the jula and bhajans, aartis and prayers all day and night would cascade from hearts and mouths. Fasting played an important role in this observance, and some devotees chose to fasting during the day, remaining free of food until midnight at which time it was believed to be the auspicious hour for the arrival of Krishna. After the midnight aarti, devotees would break their fast with simple vegetarian meals.
Prior to the 1990s, when Kashmiri Pandits still inhabited the valley in substantial numbers, Zaram Sathum was not limited to just homes. It was a festival that went out to the community. Kashmiri Pandits would hold processions in honor of Lord Krishna, carrying beautifully decorated palanquins and chanting bhajans in praise of the Lord. These processions would move around different neighbourhoods, filling the air with religious fervour and excitement. This celebration was equally special because of the sense of harmony it created. The local Muslim neighbours participated too, when they greeted the processions and rained flowers and good will gestures to welcome them. It was a wonderful display of community brotherhood that Kashmiri society has enjoyed for centuries, where one communities festivals were celebrated and welcomed by the other. Hindu and Muslim being seen together on the streets of Kashmir, has remained in the minds of older generations. Kashmiri Pandit homes would be equally vibrant with devotion on this occasion.
Each family prepared a ceremonial welcome gate, typically adorned with flowers and green leaves, that indicated Krishna's arrival into their family. They lit lamps in the evening, releasing a divine illumination across the house. In many families, children donned the garb of Krishna and Radha, and small tableaux or dramatizations of the young Krishna's playful exploits, which were frequently naughty, occurred. These playful and entertaining, albeit spiritual rituals, made for a balanced event, full of pleasure and purpose. The elders narrated the stories of Krishna's life and teachings from the Bhagavata Purana and Mahabharata to the children, to ensure that a torsion of the family's history was understood by the younger generation.
However, in the early 1990s, when Kashmiri Pandits were driven out of the valley, the devastation of that lifestyle was profound. They left their ancestral homes and separated into Jammu, Delhi, and other parts of India and the world where they had all been displaced from their home. However, even in the wake of displacement, the people maintained their festivals and research into their identity as a people. The tradition of Zaram Sathum was carried on in migrant camps, temporary accommodation, and later resettled colonies, in the same enthusiastic spirit, in which it was celebrated in Kashmir. While the processions through Kashmiri neighborhoods have come to an end, the essence of the festival was retained and reshaped to the conditions of its new environment. In Jammu, for example, the people replicated the spirit of Zaram Satam by creating Krishna Julas in temples and community halls. Large gatherings were being held where families would come together to sing bhajans and do the midnight aarti. Children from migrant families, who had grown up in exile away from Kashmir and had never seen Janam Ashtami celebrations in Kashmir, were all exposed to traditions retained by elders. These were cultural gatherings, where songs in Kashmiri, prayers, and folk took place, of which the younger generations were taught and also participated to retain it as part of who they are as people.
Before the festival became a religious experience, it became a cultural outlet for Kashmiri Pandit exiles - recalling a sense of home, reminding us of shared memories, and a time of social harmony. It was these decorated swings, a lit lamp, a sung bhajan, that were all symbolic of keeping the essence of Kashmiri Pandit identity alive. Zaram Satam became a string into the past, into the present, to all generations in the name of faith and tradition. Over the last several years, the Kismet of the Kashmiri Pandit has traced all over this planet and the Janam Ashtami celebration has too taken on wider representation. In temples, big, small and regional, across many countries, be it America, Canada, or Europe, Kashmiri Pandit families are now being noticed year after year arriving together in temples, celebrating, Janam Ashtami. Community organizations are stepping up with organizing cultural evenings, spiritual discourses and Krishna Jula competitions. The air of Kashmir can be tangibly felt, be it the singing of Kashmiri bhajans, the painstakingly making of traditional food post fasting or reciting prayers in Kashmiri language. Regardless of all the continued adaptation, the memories of Janam Ashtami in Kashmir are revered. For many elders, memories of Muslims sprinkling flowers on the Krishna processions, homes decorated with lamps by the banks of the Jhelum, the sound of temple bells alongside the azaan from nearby mosques, remain strong reminders of a lost harmonious world. Therefore, the festival is not only a celebration of Krishna's birth but also a commemoration of Kashmir's syncretic culture where devotion and human interaction peacefully co-existed.
For Kashmiri Pandits, Zaram Satam has always represented more than just a festival, but rather a reaffirmation of their resilience, a declaration of continuity and, a celebration of their identity. Even in exile, and despite the difficulties and uncertainties, this festival provided Kashmiri Pandits a reminder that, while homes and lands may be loss, traditions and beliefs can never be taken away. The endurance to move and the desire to hold on to one's culture found meaning in freedoms such as Janam Ashtami. Now, every time a Kashmiri Pandit family adorns a Krishna Jula, sings a Kashmiri bhajan, or tells their stories of Lord Krishna to their children, they are not just doing an activity related to a religious holiday, but they are preserving the memory of their people. In this way, Zaram Satam remains a festival of devotion, culture, and identity for Kashmiri Pandits. It connects the past with the present, the homeland with the diaspora, the pain of exile with the joy of community. It is a festival that resounds with the celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna and the unbroken spirit of a community that has held onto its traditions, with all fervour, despite the challenges. The Kashmiri Pandit lamps lit on Janam Ashtami night may now flicker in Jammu, Delhi, or further afield, but their flame nonetheless still smells of Kashmir, and reminds everyone of their roots among the land they love ceaselessly.
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