It is very disturbing and unfortunate that Kashmiri Pandits are going away from the cultural moorings. In today’s marriages, Yagnyopavit that is sacred thread ceremonies and other important ceremonies there are no Henzea wanvun or very less Hanzea wanvun as Younger KP ladies do not know the Hanzea wanvun or vachun and they also cannot pronounce the Wanvun properly and do not attach any importance to Hanzea wanvun under the influence of modernity. It is so sad that we and our women flock are distracting from their roots and serious and conscious efforts need to be made to connect the KP community with their cultural legacy, their rituals and customs. Our marriages and other ceremonies are becoming shallow and hallow without the Hanzea wanvun and to give freshness to the old rituals ,we need to focus on the Henzea wanvun. But alas! Instead of singing Henzea wanvun our women folk are imitating and copying Muslim wanvun as in our marriages and other ceremonies we often hear Kashmiri Muslim wanvun and we are distancing from our cultural legacy, rituals and traditions.
The need is to revive Henzea wanvun and in this regard the community leaders should make earnest efforts. We are armed with Henzea wanvun books and all that is needed is that our women flock particularly our young women need to be familiarised with Henzea wanvun. Henzea also spelled as Henzay and Henze is not a person but the traditional Kashmiri Pandit folk genre of women’s chants, specially used at weddings and other ceremonial occasions. Originating from a Prakrit term for ‘’O lady,’’ the word signifies the call for women to assemble and begin chanting Vanvun, a traditional ceremonial chant. While historically central to ceremonies like sacred thread investiture, mehkhal and wedding (Khaandar), the tradition of Henzea is now on decline due to language loss, less interest from younger generation, and replacement of such chants with modern music and media. Henzea is considered one of the earliest forms of Kashmiri folk art.
The term is a vocative - a form of direct address meaning ‘O lady' or 'dear ladies' used to gather women for chanting. It serves as the opening hymn for Vanvun sessions, which are sequences of chants performed during significant life-cycle rituals for Kashmiri Pandits, such as the tonsure (Zarakaasay) the sacred thread ceremony (maekhal) and weddings (Khaandar). Hanzae represents a deep rooted cultural legacy, highlighting the socio-cultural aspects of Kashmiri Pandit rituals. It was a common and cherished part of Kashmiri Pandit culture, with these chants being passed down through generations of women. But alas! The Henzea Vanvun is on decline and is fading away from Kashmiri Pandit milieu. Efforts need to be seriously made to revive and continue our traditional ritual of Henzea Vanvun so that we and our women folk is connected with the cultural roots. Young kashmiri Pandits today are often less- fluent in Kashmiri and more interested in modern pop culture,making Henzea less engaging for them. A decline in the knowledge and of the Kashmiri language contributes to the difficulty of preserving and learning the traditional Henzae chants. Some scholars and cultural organisations are attempting to revive the tradition by documenting the chants, releasing it in Roman scripts, holding workshops, and making recordings for younger generations to learn. Henzae is the opening line of Vanvun chat. It is an invocation. It serves to gather women and begin the Vanvun, which are songs sung during important ceremonies like marriages, sacred thread ceremonies and tonsure called Zaarkasay ceremonies by the Kashmiri Pandits.
Henzae is a signifier of tradition. It has much cultural significance. Henzae calls for community participation .It is call for the assembly of a group of women to participate in the ritual. The Vanvun tradition ,including the Henzae, is an important part of Kashmiri cultural heritage. Henzae Vanvun is on decline because of the following factors:
A. Generational Gap: Young Kashmiri Pandits often prefer modern music and lack knowledge of the traditional songs.
B. Language Loss: Many younger people are not fluent in the Kashmiri language ,making it difficult to learn and pass on the tradition.
C. Changing Social Practices: With the shift to modern forms of celebration and less emphasis on traditional rituals, Hanzae is fading from practice.
Efforts are need to preserve it and as such serious efforts are being made to safeguard Henzae Vanvun. Some scholars recorded Vanvun texts and released CD’s and books to help preserve the tradition. Cultural associations hold workshops to teach the songs to schoolgirls, aiming to keep the tradition alive for new generations. Efforts to revive Henzae require a push to keep it a part of family and community life. Vanvun in fact is the cornerstone of Kashmiri Pandit ceremonies. Displacement and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1989-90 gave a serious blow to Hanzae Vanvun as these wedding songs were generally in oral form. Mostly Henzae was not in written form and so to preserve the oral tradition of Henzae is rather very difficult and today the Hanzey is disappearing from the Kashmiri Pandit’s cultural tradition due to the interplay of several factors and there is urgent need to preserve Henzae and keep it alive so that it can be passed on to the future generations. Henzae should not become extinct and concerted and serious efforts need to be made to preserve and protect Henzae for the new generations. The KP leaders emphasize that Henzae Vanvun should remain a vital cultural link. Vanvun is a very important part of Kashmiri Pandit culture and heritage and thus it should be kept alive and passed on to the future generations.
The sound and tune of Henzae Vanvun is mesmerising and alas! It is on the path of disappearing from the KP tradition. Henzae was mastered by the old Kashmiri Pandit womenfolk and they have passed away and the younger generation is not conversant with Henzae Vanvun and so it is on decline. If serious and concerted efforts are not taken to revive it, Henzae will become extinct in near future and it is no good for the Kashmiri Pandit traditions and culture .The youngsters of today are no more interested in traditional Henzae Vanvun and they prefer pop and disco and western music and hence Henzae has been relegated to the background. Leave it as it is, still Henzae has not become extinct as we hear it in KP marriages, sacred thread and Kanather ceremonies. The Henzae is soothing to the mind and it is very sweet and in fact it has Vedic Hymns in it and so religiously and spiritually Henzae is also significant. KP women start Henzae Vanvun with invocation to Lod Ganesh and Mata Saraswati. All the above discussion boils down to the fact that Henzae Vanvun should be kept alive and thus needs to be preserved and transmitted to the future generations.
(Writer: Vivek Koul, Owner of this blogger site)
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