As it is rightly said that Kashmir is the heaven on earth and the beauty of this heaven enhances in the winter season. In winters Kashmir turns into white-carpeted heaven. Kashmir is in a different zone from December to March, as the temperature decreases beauty of Kashmir increases.
The snow-capped mountains with bare chinars, beautiful pine trees, and frozen lakes add to the Kashmir’s view and can make a person spellbound. The temperature in Kashmir can drop as low as -6 to -8 degrees. Kashmir has winters for 5 months but the coldest are forty days from December 21 to January 31 and are called Chila Kalan. There are different items which are specially designed to use in winters and to protect the body from the cold weather.
The houses have Bukharis in them to keep them warm. Bukharis are also used in houseboats, some hotels, huts etc to provide warmth. People in the houses wear Pheran and kangris to keep themselves warm. The water in the pipes, taps, and lakes gets frozen. In winters, people in Kashmir enjoy winter sports like ice skating, skiing etc. There are a lot of changes in the food and lifestyle of people during winters to apt the climate changes and adjust to the winter weather and keep themselves warm.
For centuries, locals in the landlocked Kashmir Valley have relished dried vegetables, brinjal, tomatoes, pumpkins, turnips, smoked fish and wild herbs to survive the extreme winter. As connectivity with the outside world would often get snapped because of heavy snowfall, locals would painstakingly store washed and dried vegetables to hold them in good stead during winter, which lasts for almost for five months.
Fresh vegetables are now available round the year in the local markets due to better road connectivity and superior vegetable growing techniques – but for nostalgia, the locals still throng markets to buy dried delicacies. Special to winter cuisine in the Valley is smoked fish known locally as ‘farrigad’ and dried fish called ‘hokhegad’. Many Kashmiris who have migrated out of the Valley still request their friends to bring them these dried delicacies.
