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A 1898 image of Kohala bridge,
Kashmir
(IANS) |
Srinagar: The
salubrious heights of Kashmir stand frozen -- somewhat early in
the year perhaps -- but with a difference.
An exhibition of photographs, dated between 1857 and the 1950s, in
Srinagar has frozen in time vignettes of a forgotten era for those
wishing to trek down memory lane.
"Ours is the largest collection of Kashmir photographs under a
single roof in the world", says Wasim Shoukat Wani as he conducts
people through the two-storey exhibition centre.
It is open to the public at the exhibition grounds here.
There are photographs of mosques, temples, archaeological ruins,
bridges, rivers, roads, education, healthcare, races, customs,
tribes, professions, royalty, natural calamities, poverty, trades,
lifestyles and so much more.
Photographs depicting the contributions of Christian missionaries
in the field of education and healthcare are amazing.
"This was the first school established in the Valley in 1885 at
Drugjam. The school later shifted to Fateh Kadal in the old city
and functioned there," Shoukat Rashid Wani, Wasim's father, who
inspired his son to carry the hobby forward, told IANS.
"It was because of the missionaries who started the Valley's first
formal school that the erstwhile Dogra Maharaja also decided to
open government schools for formal education of Kashmiri
children," he said.
"Till then we had patshalas and maktabs in the Valley, where only
religious education was imparted," he added.
Shoukat Rashid showed a picture in which school children at the
missionary school are seen jumping into the Jhelum River at Fateh
Kadal in old city Srinagar.
"There was a rumour that crocodiles lived in the river and this
had kept the locals away from washing and bathing for many months
during the period," Shoukat Rashid said.
"To allay fears, the school decided to send its children to the
river to swim. Locals watched the event and that finally set the
rumours at rest and made the locals resume their routine washing
and bathing in the river," he said.
There is a section showing the exemplary work the missionaries did
in the Valley by opening charitable hospitals in both towns and
villages.
"Those days Christain doctors with compassion would brave summer
and winter to treat the sick and distribute free medicines in the
Valley," he said.
"Kashmiris have every reason to salute those doctors who came here
to alleviate pain and suffering," he said. "And, mind you, they
did not ask for conversions."
The section on hunting has a photograph showing the Maharaja with
his day's kill of more than 2,100 migratory birds or the Maharani
standing proudly over half a dozen leopards and bears shot by
royal hunters.
Abject poverty, forced labour, fear, despair and despondency
written on the local faces during the rule is also depicted in a
section of the exhibition.
"A majority of the people wore rags; there were no leather shoes.
People made footwear of paddy and wheat straws and wore them round
the year," he said.
"The affluent had wooden sandals, but that was a luxury only the
urban elite or the village headman could afford," said the
collector.
"There is one complete section on trades and crafts of Kashmir. It
is disturbing to note that many of those traditional crafts like
making ring shawls (these would pass through a small ring because
of their velvety softness), paper making, local tweed making and
blanket making are no longer seen," he regretted.
"Even the silk industry, once the largest employer in Kashmir,
weaving 1,250 pounds a day, is now over," lamented the collector.
Some photographs also show the transition from small inhabitations
to the present urban settlements in Srinagar.
"This picture shows just twelve houses in the Rajbagh area of the
city in the 1860s," Wasim Shoukat said. "Now that locality is an
urban jungle of residential houses, shops, schools, hotels and
what not."
(Sheikh Abdul Qayoom can be contacted at sheikh.abdul@ians.in)
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