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'Ryetav manza ryethah, Baedearpyethah, Venayka Tsoram to Aathvar'- The month is
Bhadrapada, the day fourth day of the bright fortnight and hopefully a Sunday. This is the festival
known all over the country as Ganesh Chaturthi and celebrated in Kashmir in a unique way. Early
morning a metal pot is cleaned and placed at a suitable clean place, with some water filled in it. The
ladies of the house prepare a sweet pancake called 'Roth'. Poppy seeds are fixed over these on both
the sides. The family members sit near the pot and the lady of the house narrates a story of Beeb
garaz Maej. This story has a moral that by performing pooja of Shri Ganesha on this day, preparing
sweet pancake and offering the same to the deity, poverty and the miseries of the person are
removed and one lives a pious life full of comfort. The story is very similar to the one narrated on
the occasion of the Satya Narayana Pooja. After listening to the story, all the members fill the pot
with flowers and a specific variety of green grass, which they hold in their hands throughout the
narration of the story. The sweet pancake prepared on this day becomes the prashada and is
distributed among relatives, friends and neighbours. Distribution of such things as Tahaer, Roth,
Yogurt, cakes, walnuts is a common feature of the Kashmiri life and helps make it a close-knit
community bound by love, concern and care for each other.
The Sanatan Dharma allows, in addition to the prescribed rituals in accordance with the tenets of
the Vedas, observance of additional customs called Lokachar, Deshachar or Gramachar peculiar to
the place and environment one may be living in. This prescription has made marriage, yajnopavit
and other ceremonies different for different groups of people in point of detail. Two such customs
which are distinct in our community are briefly explained below:
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