Lalleshwari

Lalleshwari (1320–1392) was a mystic of the Kashmiri Shaivite sect. She was a creator of the mystic poetry called vatsun or Vakhs, literally "speech". Known as Lal Vakhs, her verses are the earliest compositions in the Kashmiri language and are an important part in history of Kashmiri literature. She inspired some of the later Sufis of Kashmir.

She is also known by various other names, including Lal Ded, Lalla, Lal Diddi, Laleshwari, Lalla Yogishwari and Lalishri.

Life:

Lalleshwari was born in Pandrethan (ancient Puranadhisthana) some four and a half miles to the southeast of Srinagar in a Kashmiri Pandit family. She married at age twelve, but her marriage was unhappy and she left home at twenty-four to take sanyas (renunciation) and become a disciple of the Shaivite guru Siddha Srikantha (Sed Bayu). She continued the mystic tradition of Shaivism in Kashmir, which was known as Trika before 1900.

Literary works:

Her poems (called vakhs) have been translated into English by Richard Temple, Jaylal Kaul, Coleman Barks, Jaishree Odin, and Ranjit Hoskote.

An example of Lal Vakh in Kashmiri:

yi yi karu'm suy artsun

yi rasini vichoarum thi mantar

yihay lagamo dhahas partsun

suy Parasivun tanthar

English translation:

Whatever work I did became worship of the Lord;

Whatever word I uttered became a prayer;

Whatever this body of mine experienced became

the sadhana of Saiva Tantra

illumining my path to Parmasiva.

Legacy:

The leading Kashmiri Sufi figure, Sheikh Noor-ud-din Wali, also known as Nooruddin Rishi or Nunda Rishi, was highly influenced by Lal Ded. One Kashmiri folk story recounts that as a baby, Nunda Rishi refused to be breast-fed by his mother. It was Lal Ded who breast-fed him.

Lal Ded and her mystic musings continue to have a deep impact on the psyche of Kashmiri common man, and the 2000 National Seminar on her held at New Delhi led to the release of the book Remembering Lal Ded in Modern Times. A solo play in English, Hindi and Kashmiri titled 'Lal Ded' (based on her life), has been performed by actress Mita Vashisht all over India since 2004.