Ramayana in Kashmir: “Ramavatar Charita”

Kashmir has been the centre of knowledge and spiritual consciousness from the ancient times. It contributed to the knowledge pool of the entire world that has no parallel in the annals of history. Knowledge has been the eternal treasure of this land as its people preferred education to ignorance. It can be gauged from the fact that the reputed university was existing in Kashmir by the name of Shardapeeth that produced graduates and scholars of international repute. Due to turbulence in and around 14th century many knowledge centres were destroyed and darkness engulfed the society. It goes to the credit of Kashmiri scholarship that amid trials and tribulations from time to time it never gave up its yearning for scholarship and devotion. Kashmir is undoubtedly the only place in the world that has the well documented socio-political and cultural history. This history has been preserved in the five Rajatarangini’s. It is unfortunate that people know only about Kalhana’s Rajatarangini. Mostly it is unknown that there are four more Rajatarangini’s written by Jonraja, Srivara, Pragyabhatta and Shuka respectively. For this ignorance we have to blame ourselves. As we never valued the scholarship of our ancestors. These four Rajatarangini’s give a comprehensive record of the Kashmir’s transition from heaven to the place of subversion. Policy makers too must share the blame for not consulting the original scholars in the present times to seek their advice to restore Kashmir’s scholarly legacy. Today when the entire nation is celebrating the restoration of the place consciousness and aesthetics of Ayodhya. The sacred place where the Lord Rama was born. He was a God incarnate. Who with his personal example set the new benchmarks of good governance, ideal polity, morals, ethics and above the values of being a good human being. His ideal life has been venerated not only in India but all across the globe in various languages. The Ramayana-A chronicle of his life and times has been written and rewritten by many sages and scholars in various languages. Whole world is aware about the Valmiki’s Ramayana and Goswami Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas that decode the essence of being Rama. Indian folklore is rich with the Rama Katha’s that reverberate during festivities in both villages and towns. Lord Rama in folk tradition has been sung by grandmothers and mothers from times immemorial. But again how many of us know that Kashmir also has the distinction of having a Ramayana that was sung in every village and town in lucid and traditional Kashmiri. It was equipped with metaphors and satires to equate the present situations with the instances of the Lord Rama’s times. Around the 19th century Prakash Ram Bhat also known as Prakash Ram Kuryagami who lived near Qazigund in Kashmir had written the “Ramavatar Charita”, popularly known as the Kashmiri Ramayana. Ramaavatar Charita elucidates the Ramayana in terms of place consciousness of Kashmir and Bringesh Samhita that is the comprehensive manual of all the Tirthas of Kashmir. It also identifies the places in Kashmir where Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana had stayed in the valley during their 14 years of exile from Ayodhya. The policy makers must encourage the research of this text of Kashmiri Ramayana. Only yesterday, a well- known Kashmiri lyricist, singer and artist, Kanwal Peshin had uploaded his well –researched video on You Tube singing the verses from the Kashmiri Ramayana that is Ramavatar Charita by Prakash Ram Kuryagami along with a Ram Bhajan composed in terms of Kashmiri tune and folklore. It has been shared by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on his own channel that features Ram Bhajans in 62 languages. And this version by Kanwal Peshin is one among them. This is a matter of pride for us. We need to encourage such artists who do research on the religious folk of Kashmir. When Lord Rama is being welcomed in his home in Ayodhya today after a lapse of hundreds of years. We Kashmiris also welcome him with our traditional Ramavatar charita written in Kashmiri by Prakash Ram Kuryagami and sung by another Kashmiri Kanwal Peshin. It would have been a great confidence building measure if an artist like Kanwal Peshin would have been invited to recite the Kashmiri Ramayana-Ramavatar charita in Ayodhya allowing Kashmiris to seek Sri Ram’s blessings for peace, prosperity and harmony in the union territory. Hope that would be done soon to boost the morale of our talented artists.