Sozni is a popular needle point embroidery technique from Kashmir valley. It is usually practised by the local craftsman in a home-based workshop called Karkhanas. Most of these are located in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district. In the local dialect, the craft is also referred to as Sozni Kaem, Kani Sozni or setchzinikaem. To make a...
Process of dyeing of aari thread staple: 70 year old Bashir Ahmad works in his family owned, 122 years old dyeing karkhana at Bohri Kadal, Srinagar. Bashir is among the last hand-dyers or Rangrez in Srinagar who continue to manually dye silk and woollen threads especially for aari embroidery. Bashir started working at the karkhana...
Embroidery is more than a craft to the Kashmiri craftsman; it is an emotion woven into threads over a period. The craftsman does just everything from the collection of the finest raw material to thread selection best suited as per the required fabric count. The higher the count, the finer the yarn is and the...
31-year-old Fawzul Kabeer is a young entrepreneur from Kashmir. He has made his mark in the international market for his GR8 willow bat industry, whose bats are being used by many of the top national and international cricket teams. Kabeer’s story has been one of hard work. It took his one and a half years...
Before the onset of harsh winters (chillai kalan) in Kashmir, every house would have vegetables strung on the windows or balconies of their houses, to be sun-dried. These can still be seen in a few houses in the Downtown area. In olden times harsh winters severely restricted people’s movement. As there wasn’t any agricultural activity...
The smoked fish delicacy from Kashmir, is getting rarer with each winter. When autumn ends and winter begins, stacks of dry grass start piling up in Soura, Srinagar, along the Anchar lake. Soura, a locality of Srinagar is located at the edge of Anchar lake. Soura is famous for Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, a...
Srinagar’s ‘Arq-i-Gulab Waan’, the last surviving rose water distillery in Kashmir, is located near Khanqah-e-Moula in Downtown. The 102-year-old shop is owned by the 66-year-old Abdul Aziz Kozgar. A man of few words, Kozgar’s rose water distillation process is a closely guarded family secret of nearly 500 years. Kozgar’s shop was opened around 1820 by...
A kangri (kanger in Kashmiri) is an indigenous earthen pot woven around with wicker filled with hot embers used by Kashmiris beneath their traditional clothing pheran to keep the chill at bay. It is a portable heater, normally kept inside the Pheran, or inside a blanket or just to keep hands warm. It is mostly...
With more than 20,000 households engaged in saffron farming, Pampore, a tiny town 14 kilometres from Srinagar, is referred to as the ‘saffron capital of India’. The saffron grown in the area is of the highest quality and sells for up to Rs 250,000 per kilogram, for which approximately 150,000 flowers are required. Grown in...
26-year old Basit Ahmad is the 6th generation of Shaitan Wazas, the well known wazas (chefs) of the valley who have been making wazwan since the last few centuries in the valley. The shop Wazwan Ziyafat located in Fateh Kadal area of old city/downtown is famous for making varieties of pickles – both non-veg and...
