Kashmir and Lord Shiva (Shiv-Ratri special)

Kashmir is the abode of Lord Shiva. The presence of the Lord is dominantly felt everywhere in Kashmir. Every nook and corner suggests the glaring presence of the Lord in one form or the other. Besides the abundance of man-made temples there’re numerous mysterious spots and places that indicate to the live presence of Lord Shiva. The world famous Swami Amanath Swami Cave Temple is the prime example. Kashmir Shaivisim is a significant contribution to the spiritual world. Shiv-Sutras of Vasu Gupta are said to contain the basic tenets of the philosophy. The contribution of the great poet-scholar of Kashmir Abinav-Gupta who wrote and practiced extensively about the Lord is tremendous. Lalleshuri (Lal-Ded) was the first Kashmiri mystic and poet who taught in the simplest language of common man the comprehensive secrets of Shaiva philosophy with such an impact on the listeners that her poetic compositions (vaakhs) were preserved and carried through generations as a sacred word of the Lord. And strangely her impact on the people of Kashmir has crossed all bounds of religion, caste and creed. Next in the line is the famous Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali also called Sheikh-ul-Aalam or Nunda-Rishi who also sang the praises of Lord Shiva in his very popular poetic compositions (Shrukh). A number of other Muslim Sofi poets of Kashmir have sung numerous immortal songs in the praise of Lord Shiva. They include besides lots of less renowned, Shah Gafoor, Rahim Saeb, Shamas Faqir, Samad Mir, Ahad Zargar and Ahmad Batwari. The immortal songs of these mystic poets, far above the discrimination of faith, have created the unwavering faith among masses that only Lord Shiva is the prime diety of Kashmir. One more glaring example worth quoting is that of Ali Mardan Khan, an Afghan Governer of Kashmir and a devout Muslim who had a strange dream in which he saw Lord Shiva along with his royal consort riding a bullock. The impact was so great that immediately in the morning he wrote his famous poem in Persian, “Humaan asl’e Maheshwar bood / Shab Shah’e ki man dee’dam ----” describing the strange aspect of the Lord that he saw in his dream and singing His praises. The other immortal songs written in the praise of the Lord that dominate among the Kashmir Pandits especially are sung by numerous KP mystic poets notably Pandit Parmanand of Mattan and his disciple Laxman Ji. Krishna Joo Razdaan of Vanpuh, the famous poet of numerous devotional poems is also the poet of the famous Shiva Leela --- “Bell'e tay Madal Vaine gulab -----” sung and rendered to beautiful music by the Kashmir legend Ustaad Tibat-Baqaal quite popular among all Hindus and Muslims equally.