The Story of Kashmir

 

The story of Kashmir

There is a very interesting story about how Kashmir came into existence. It is said that a long time ago the whole area where Kashmir is now located was filled with water. It was a lake. Perhaps just like Lake Dal or Lake Wular.  This lake, however, was extremely large. This lake was called . There were no people living there. How could they live there, since there was nothing but water. But some demons called  and   lived in . The leader of these demons was a ferocious demon called Jaldar or Jaldev. These demons would not allow anyone to settle down on the banks of . If any saint or seer came for meditation, they would disturb and trouble him.

It is said that Kashyap rishi undertook a long penance in order to achieve the destruction of these demons. The goddess Sharika was very pleased with him. She came in the f.mp3 of a mynah with a pebble in her beak. She dropped the pebble on the demon leader. He was crushed under it, and the pebble turned into a big mountain. People claim that the present Hari Parbat      ( 'mynah mountain') is the same mountain. By and by, Kashyap managed to have the lake drained. It is said that the water of this lake was drained through Baramulla. The land that was recovered after draining the lake was first named Kashyapmar, then later changed into Kashyap Por and .

After the lake was drained, Kashyap did not live alone in Kashmir. He invited Brahmins from other places to join him. These Brahmins would stay in Kashmir in the summer, but in the winter they would go to w.mp3er places. It was hard and dangerous to live in Kashmir during the winter. Kashmir was still full of aboriginal groups, such as, the  and . They continued to trouble the new settlers.

Kashyap rishi's son, Nilanag, found a way to appease the  and the . He asked the Brahmins to make a gift of food to the  and  of Kashmir. The food was offered to them on special days. These special days are celebrated by Kashmiris even today. , , and , are some of these days.

The story of  is not merely a legend. Many scientists believe that the present location of Kashmir was at one time a huge lake.