Pann Puja: Why Kashmiri Pandits celebrate this day on Vinayak Chaturthi

Out of the many festivals celebrated in the country, Vinayak Chaturthi has special significance in Kashmiri Pandit community. The day is dedicated to Goddess, locally known as Beeb Garab Maej (Maej standing for mother).

Pan or Pann pooza as Kashmiris call it falls on the Vinayak Chaturthi (Vinayak Tchoram in Kashmiri) or Ganesh Chaturthi. It is originally associated with the spinning of newly produced cotton and worshipping the twin agricultural local goddesses, Vibha and Garbha to whom the devotees offer Prasad known as roths.

A roth is a sweet bread kind of a preparation which is first offered to the goddess and then distributed amongst each other. It is also believed that two local goddesses transformed into one, known as Beeb Garab Maej—the mother goddess who is prayed to on this day.

Also, Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi are revered in the puja as well. Beeb Garabh Maj, the goddess who is worshipped on this day is seen carrying lota or a water pot which is placed at the Puja place. Then, most importantly, a single long cotton thread is tied to the pot's neck with a handful of dramun or runner grass kept inside it, pointing again to its agricultural origin.

Some of the rice, flowers and dramun grass is then distributed among the family members who sit in the puja and the roth preparations are kept in front of the goddess and earthen pot to signify the prasad offering to the goddess. Also, some fruits and offered to mother goddess besides roth.

Then a legendary story of the Beeb Garab Maej is read by one person while others attentively pay heed to it. The story is quite similar to the Satyanarayana Katha.

Here is the Pann story in Kashmiri:

After the story has been read, the people present at Pann Puja offer the drama grass, rice and flowers to the pot and pray with folded hands to the goddess for prosperity and good health.

The prasad of Roth and fruits is consumed by the devotees and the rest of the roths are distributed among friends and family. There is also a tradition which goes like, you distribute the exact number of roths to particular families respectively and the practice of sharing the roth prasad should continue year-after-year without a fail.

It signifies prosperity, auspiciousness and holds greater significance in Kashmiri households.