How Mourning Rituals Are Keeping The Kashmiri Language Alive

I first noticed it in words.

Some Kashmiri words, ones you do not hear in daily conversation, came easily to me, even though I hardly spoke the language outside my home.

I wondered where this familiarity came from. Was it my grandmother? Those occasional talks with older family members?

Only later did I understand the source.

It came from years of attending majalis and listening to Kashmiri marsiya and nohay.

I did not always know the exact meanings of these words. But I understood how they were used, the feelings they carried, and the moments they belonged to.

As I grew up, I began to notice something else.

While Kashmiri is slowly giving way to Urdu and English in most social spaces in the valley, especially in cities like Srinagar, it still survives in one place.

That place is the azakhana.

This kind of preservation happens without planning.

Kashmiri Shi'as mourn the tragedy of Karbala mainly in their own language, even though Urdu also remains an important part of the rituals.

In the early days of Muharram, people gather every day, and younger generations, many of whom do not use Kashmiri in daily life, sit and listen to elegies recited in the language.

Over time, the language is taken in through repeated listening.

This pattern is especially clear in Srinagar, where the decline of Kashmiri has been the most visible.

As part of my fieldwork, I spoke to around fifteen people, including marsiyakhwan, scholars, and, most importantly, young adults who are at the center of this research.

Many of them spoke about how little they use Kashmiri outside religious and family spaces.

“In our daily lives, at school, university, or work, we mostly speak Urdu or English,” one young participant told me.“It's during Muharram rituals that I engage with Kashmiri the most.”

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